If your athlete is a high school senior who wants to cheer in Oxford next fall, the calendar is already running. Ole Miss picks its 2027-28 squads from athletes it has scored at a clinic and watched on video, and the two dates that matter this autumn are October 18 and November 30. Here is what the program publishes now, what the skills list asks for, what it costs to get looked at, and how Ole Miss compares with the other SEC programs a family usually applies to at the same time.
Ole Miss cheer teams and coaches
Ole Miss runs two cheer teams: an all girl team of up to 36 athletes and a coed team of up to 30, with the exact split changing year to year. The current roster lists 31 all girl and 26 coed athletes. Both teams cheer football home and away, men's and women's basketball and volleyball, and both can compete at UCA College Nationals in Orlando each January. The program calls membership a full year commitment, with practice weekends in June, July and August, three to four practices and two lifts a week in the fall, and two to three practices and two lifts a week in the spring.
The head coach is Skylar Casey, who cheered on the 2017 Ole Miss coed team, was an assistant for the 2022 title and now holds the title of coordinator of spirit squads. Rachel Levetzow is director of spirit squads and also coaches the Rebelettes, the separate dance team. Cheer and the Rebelettes only perform together in the Spirit Program Game Day division, which is how Ole Miss won its 2023 title.
Ole Miss cheerleading national championships and recent results
Ole Miss has four UCA national championships, all won since 2018. Three came in game day divisions, where teams are judged on crowd material such as the fight song and sideline chants, and one in a traditional division with a full routine.
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| Year | Result | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Champion, D1A All Girl Game Day | The first of four titles in eight years |
| 2022 | Champion, D1A All Girl Game Day, 97.2333 | All Girl also third in traditional cheer |
| 2023 | Champion, D1A Spirit Program Game Day | Cheer and the Rebelettes dance team on stage together |
| 2024 | Runner up, D1A Spirit Program Game Day | All Girl fifth, Coed seventh |
| 2025 | Champion, D1A Traditional All Girl, 91.4 | First title in a traditional, non game day division |
| 2026 | All Girl sixth, Coed seventh | Alabama won All Girl, South Florida won Coed; all girl group stunt sixth |
You will see the 2025 win described as the program's first ever national title. That is accurate only for the traditional all girl division. Counting game day, it was the fourth. For a recruit, the useful reading is that the all girl side is where Ole Miss has been strongest, and that the 2026 finishes (sixth and seventh) leave room on both teams for athletes with elite skills.
How Ole Miss cheer tryouts work for 2027-28
The program's own wording is that it has adopted a recruitment style process in lieu of holding tryouts. In practice the decision is made over five steps, and missing the clinic ends the process before the video is even watched.
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| Step | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Interest form | Open now | Everyone who plans to attend Ole Miss in fall 2027 fills it in. It does not make anyone a recruit. |
| 2. In person fall clinic | September 13 or October 18, 2026 | Required. Seniors and transfers get a number at check in and are scored on everything taught that day. |
| 3. Recruitment video | July 22 to November 30, 2026, 11:59 pm CST | $105 per team, YouTube link, five minutes at most. Top girls trying for both teams pay twice. |
| 4. Admission to Ole Miss | Before the team is set | Send the acceptance letter for fall 2027 to the head coach as a PDF. |
| 5. Recruit weekends | Fall and spring, by invitation | Top recruits only. The 2027-28 teams are final in late spring 2027. |
The clinic is the step families underestimate. Ole Miss says it is required for anyone interested in the program, that seniors and transfers are evaluated on all material and skills presented that day, and that top recruits hear from the head coach by email two to three weeks after the clinic. It also says attending only one clinic does not guarantee top recruit status, so an athlete who was at the September clinic and can make October 18 should go again. Clinics have been listed at $142 each, $135 plus fees.
The video has strict rules. It goes in as a public or unlisted YouTube link, runs five minutes at most, and has three parts: an introduction of up to two minutes answering set questions (why Ole Miss, family ties, position, academics, proudest memory, an area of struggle), the game day material (the fight song and the Rock N Roll chant, from links Ole Miss provides), then technical skills. Every skill must be on a hard floor or grass, never a spring floor, air track or tumble track, and late videos are not viewed. Because the link has to be public or unlisted, some families clean up what a search of the athlete's name and hometown turns up before it goes out, and a data broker removal service takes a home address off the people search sites that sit next to a recruit's highlight video in results.
What skills Ole Miss cheer looks for
Ole Miss publishes one skills list for everyone and notes that not every selected athlete has every skill. Standing tumbling, on a non spring surface, runs from a standing tuck with no step through a standing back handspring tuck, standing two back handsprings to tuck, layout or full, up to a standing full. Running tumbling starts at a round off full and a round off handspring full, both preferably from a two step entry, and goes up to elite passes such as whip to full, Arabian to full and full through to full.
The game day section is required for every video: a standing tuck, plus the stunt sequence for the team. All girl candidates show a full up extension press lib pop off and a J up extension pop off. Coed candidates show a toss extension to the top hands lib pop off and a toss extension to the top pop off. Coed partner stunts move from hands and toss libs and stretches through full ups, full arounds and double ups to flipping skills such as rewinds and one arm rewinds. All girl group stunts include full ups, full arounds, pull through variations and hand in hand. Both teams list a double down from a body position.
The gap for most applicants is the standing full and the running full on a hard floor, which is harder than the same skill on a spring floor at an all star gym. Months of private tumbling lessons on a hard surface before the spring recruit weekend are the usual fix.
Ole Miss cheer scholarships and what Ole Miss costs
The program page says all members of the cheer squad will receive a scholarship. It does not give a figure, and neither did the 2021-22 tryout packet, which said amount to be determined. Figures you may see on third party sites are not sourced to Ole Miss. Members also get official Nike apparel, travel to away games, postseason games and nationals, priority class registration, and access to the athletics academic support center, sports psychologist and nutritionist.
The cost of attendance is the number to weigh the scholarship against. For 2026-27, olemiss.edu lists tuition of $10,278 a year for Mississippi residents and $31,068 for nonresidents, and a total cost with campus housing of $32,148 in state and $52,938 out of state. The $20,790 out of state gap is larger than any cheer award we have seen an SEC school publish, so ask the staff what a first year award pays before comparing offers. Members must carry 12 or more hours a semester and stay in good academic standing.
Ole Miss compared with other SEC cheer programs
Most families aiming at Ole Miss also look at the rest of the SEC. The processes differ more than the titles do, and two programs publish what they pay.
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| School | How the team is picked | National titles | Scholarship |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ole Miss | No tryouts: required clinic, video by November 30, recruit weekends | 4 (2018, 2022, 2023, 2025) | Every member gets a scholarship, amount not published |
| Alabama | Highlight reel registration November 14 to January 2 in the 2026-27 cycle ($34), must be admitted | 8, including All Girl in 2026 | Scholarship exists, amount not published |
| Kentucky | Invitation only, handed out at two to three clinics a year | 24 Large Coed, last in 2019 | Everyone gets some scholarship by GPA, skill, years and need |
| Mississippi State | Video from August 1, clinics June to March, required in person tryout | Two NCA titles in 2025 | Every member in good standing, plus ten 25 percent out of state waivers |
| LSU | Clinics plus tryouts for LSU students or admitted seniors | 1 Large Coed (1989) | $1,000 in year two, $1,500 in year three, $2,000 in year four |
Auburn is the outlier: it only takes athletes already enrolled at Auburn, does not compete, and pays a $900 stipend each semester rather than a scholarship. Kentucky works much like Ole Miss, with invitations handed out at clinics, and our Kentucky cheer guide covers its skill minimums. Alabama, which won the 2026 All Girl title, now recruits from a highlight reel window that opens in mid November; our Alabama cheer tryouts guide has the dates and costs. For the national picture, see the best cheer colleges by national titles, and the list of colleges with cheerleading scholarships for the programs that publish a dollar amount.
Getting seen before the recruit weekend
Every step at Ole Miss rewards an athlete the staff has already seen. The clinic is a scored evaluation, the video is watched against that score, and recruit weekends are by invitation. The same is true at Kentucky and Mississippi State, which is why families who get the invite usually had their athlete in front of coaches well before the deadline.
That is what a college cheer recruiting profile is for. On Cheerleaders it holds the skills videos, position, level, graduation year and titles, and only coaches with a verified college email can see it. A parent runs the profile for an athlete under 18 and every contact request goes to the parent. The profile is free. Recruiting Pro adds featured placement, up to 10 videos and the list of coaches who viewed the profile, for $39 a month or $228 a year with no contract. The same clips you cut for the Ole Miss video then work for every other school on the list.
Ole Miss cheer questions parents ask
How do you try out for Ole Miss cheer?
You do not try out in the usual sense. Ole Miss replaced tryouts with a recruitment process: an interest form, a required in person clinic (September 13 or October 18, 2026 for this cycle), a recruitment video due November 30, 2026, admission to the university, then invite only recruit weekends. The 2027-28 teams are final in late spring 2027.
How much does it cost to try out for Ole Miss cheer?
The recruitment video costs $105 per team, $100 plus a $5 fee, and a top girl who submits for both the all girl and coed teams registers and pays twice. Fall and summer recruitment clinics were listed at $142 each. Add travel to Oxford for the clinic, since attendance is required.
Does Ole Miss give cheer scholarships?
Yes. Ole Miss says every member of the cheer squad receives a scholarship, but it does not publish the amount. Members also get official Nike apparel, travel to away games and nationals, priority class registration and academic support. Against a 2026-27 cost of attendance of $32,148 in state and $52,938 out of state, ask the staff what a first year award pays.
How many national championships does Ole Miss cheer have?
Ole Miss has four UCA national championships: D1A All Girl Game Day in 2018 and 2022, D1A Spirit Program Game Day in 2023 with the Rebelettes, and D1A Traditional All Girl in 2025 with 91.4. Some coverage calls 2025 the first ever title, which is true only for the traditional all girl division.
Does Ole Miss have an all girl cheer team?
Yes. Ole Miss carries an all girl team of up to 36 athletes and a coed team of up to 30. Both cheer football home and away, men's and women's basketball and volleyball, and both can compete at UCA College Nationals in Orlando. Males do coed partner stunts only and may not group stunt.
