Once the 2017 college football recruiting season got underway last week and coaches started extending offers to next year’s class, Ben Brown got a lot of attention.

St. Aloysius’ junior offensive tackle already had scholarship offers from Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech. Louisiana-Lafayette called, and so did Missouri. By the end of the weekend, Vanderbilt asked him to join their program.

Once Ole Miss chimed in, however, there was no more debate. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Brown was going to be a Rebel. He got their offer Friday and verbally committed Tuesday night, nearly a year ahead of national signing day.

“I waited and talked with my parents about it over the weekend. Vanderbilt offered me on Sunday,” Brown said. “We just knew that Ole Miss was the place for me. I always wanted to be an Ole Miss Rebel. That’s something I’ve always aspired to. It means a lot to me to have that opportunity.”

If Brown had always aspired to be a Rebel, it was because his ties to the school and its football program run deep.

When he joins the program in the fall of 2017, Brown will become the sixth member of his family to play football for Ole Miss. His father, Tim; uncle Birch Brown and granduncle Alton Brown; and grandfathers Allen Brown and Bobby Robinson all played for the Rebels. Allen Brown was a tight end, and the rest of his relatives were offensive linemen like Ben.

“It means everything. Not just to me, but to my family,” Ben Brown said. “They made it clear to me that I could go wherever in the country I wanted to go. To have my family’s back, and several other people, means so much to me.”

The Brown family has certainly ingrained itself in Ole Miss football history, but it was hardly a family favor that made its latest member a sought-after recruit.

Ben Brown has attended Ole Miss’ summer camps the past two years and is rated as a three-star recruit by 247Sports.com. He was also invited to attend the scouting combine at the U.S. Army All-American All-Star Game in San Antonio in January.

Ole Miss offensive line coach Matt Luke and wide receivers coach Grant Heard had been in regular contact with Brown, and left a message last Friday for Brown to call him.

“Coach Luke told me he had something he wanted to tell me. He said, ‘We’re going to offer you a scholarship today,’” Brown said. “I was so out of words. It meant so much to me.”

Just as family wasn’t the only reason the Rebels extended an offer, it wasn’t the only reason Brown committed so quickly. He said he genuinely liked Ole Miss’ coaching staff and wanted to play in Oxford.

Now he just has to wait more than 11 months until signing day 2017 to make it official. Verbal commitments are non-binding.

“I always have considered the other schools. But I feel connected with Ole Miss’ staff,” Brown said. “They’re great men and great coaches. To have the opportunity to play under (head) Coach (Hugh) Freeze and Coach Luke is an opportunity that should be taken.”