Mississippi State Football Recruiting

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State picks up commitment from Memphis OL Makylan Pounders

by Pete Nakos

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State lands transfer tight end from SEC program

Bryce Lazenby | 9 minutes ago

State has landed another recruit via the transfer portal in what has been a busy weekend for the Bulldogs.

Former Vanderbilt tight end Justin Ball took to social media to announce that he will be transferring

Rolled the dice, time to cash out🎲 #HailState

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Another Ball, TE commits to State...



Buffalo transfer TE Cam Ball commits to Mississippi State

By Grant Grubbs

Ball spent two seasons with the Bulls, recording 11 appearances. In the 2023 campaign, Ball tallied eight receptions for 82 yards. After playing one game in his true freshman season, Ball chose to use his redshirt.

Howell played high school football at Gonzaga...

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Memphis DB transfer Tre Wright commits to Mississippi State

By Barkley Truax

Wright played high school football at Perry (GA) High.

State's currently shifting the tides from the unfortunate events that led to former head coach Zach Arnett's promotion from defensive coordinator this past season. Without Mike Leach, the Bulldogs kept the head coaching search internal, which led to a 1-7 record in the SEC this season. Arnett was promptly sacked.

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Cyrus follows recruiter, flips to State

Kevin Smith

The star safety initially committed to Memphis on June 20. However, on Monday, Reyes de-committed from the Tigers and proceeded to commit to Mississippi State on the same day.

The move comes after the Bulldogs hired Matt Barnes, a former defensive coordinator at Memphis as a co-defensive coordinator. Barnes was the Tigers' defensive coordinator for the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Reyes was a Class of 2024 3-star recruit out of Taylor High School in Katy, Texas. Other schools Reyes considered before committing to Mississippi State were Arkansas
State

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Former UTEP WR Kelly Akharaiyi commits to Mississippi State

By Nick Kosko

Former UTEP wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi committed to Mississippi State. He entered the transfer portal November 30th and now made his decision.

He had a breakout year in 2023, catching 48 passes for 1,033 yards, seven touchdowns and 21.5 yards per catch.

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Misssissippi State signing day updates
Mississippi State is set to sign the first players of the Coach Jeff Lebby era today.

By Steve Robertson

State enters today with 19 signable athletes committed to the program. 18 of those commitments are expected to sign the paperwork that binds them to Mississippi State, which officially ends their college recruitment. The lone Bulldog verbal who is not expected to sign today is wide receiver Matt Mayfield.

Three-star cornerback Elijah Cannon is set to announce his final decision at 8 A.M. CT. Cannon is currently committed to Florida Atlantic, but the coach who recruited him there, Corey Bell, is now at Mississippi State. There are two crystal ball picks logged for Cannon and both are in favor of Mississippi State.

Northeast Mississippi Community College linebacker Keaton Thomas shared on Tuesday that he will simply sign and release his final decision on his social media accounts. Thomas committed to Baylor the weekend of December 8th, but took an official visit to Starkville last weekend. Thomas claimed on Tuesday that he is still debating.

State currently holds the verbal commitments of ten NCAA transfer portal prospects. Those players do not sign national letters of intent, so they are not official signees, but are being announced by the University today. Transfer players remain recruitable athletes until they enroll for spring class.

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New Mexico State transfer punter Zach Haynes commits to Mississippi State

New Mexico State punter Zach Haynes has committed to Mississippi State out of the transfer portal. He will again join forces with Cliff Odom, who left NMSU to take the special teams coordinator position in Starkville

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Louisville transfer WR Kevin Coleman visiting Mississippi State Bulldogs

by:
Wade Peery
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Braylon Burnside. a 4-star prospect and attention hound out of Starkville has opted to stay home and play for Mississippi State, he announced on Wednesday at the Under Armour All-America game

MSU has confirmed he has already signed with the program

Burnside decommitted from Mississippi State on Nov. 6 yet ultimately chose new coach Jeff Lebby over Lane Kiffin

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Louisville transfer WR Kevin Coleman commits to Mississippi State

by:
Grant Grubbs
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In one season with the Cardinals, Coleman played in 14 games and helped Louisville to reach the ACC Championship Game in a massive turnaround season for the Cardinals under first-year head coach Jeff Brohm. Coleman had 26 receptions for 362 yards and two touchdowns. He also acted as a returner.

This was Coleman's second stint in the transfer portal. He was previously recruited to Jackson State to play for Deion Sanders before he transferred to Louisville. He spent one season there and was the SWAC Freshman of the Year in 2022.

God's Plan⏳#4sʜᴀᴀᴅ #HailState🐶

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East Mississippi CC '24 (the Juco formerly known as "Last Chance U.") CB Bryian (sic) Lanier gave a verbal to Jeff Lebby and Mississippi State.

Lanier is one of three hard commits to go with 21 signed letters of intent including Braylon Burnside in a '24 class now ranked 29th.

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South Carolina LB transfer Stone Blanton commits to Mississippi State

by: Matt Connolly
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Former South Carolina linebacker Stone Blanton is staying in the SEC. Blanton has committed to Mississippi State, he announced on Friday.

"Coming home!" Blanton posted on Twitter.

Stone Blanton just completed his sophomore year of college. He will have three years left to play two at Mississippi State.

As a sophomore this past season, Blanton recorded 52 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, a forced fumble and an interception.

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Texas Tech transfer OL Jacoby Jackson commits to Mississippi State

by: Grant Grubbs •

Former Texas Tech offensive lineman Jacoby Jackson has committed to State

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2025 5-star WR Caleb Cunningham to visit State this weekend

by:
Collin Ginnan
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Ackerman (Miss.) Choctaw County 2025 five-star wide receiver Caleb Cunningham is set to visit Mississippi State this weekend:



Cunningham is the nation's No. 10 overall prospect and No. 2 wide receiver in the 2025 cycle —

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State lands first 2025 commitment since hiring Jeff Lebby
Andrew Olson | 2 hours ago

Jeremiah McCloud, a 6-4, 285-pound prospect from Florida, announced his verbal pledge to the Bulldogs on Sunday

From Havana, Florida, McCloud plays for Gadsden County. He's listed as an ATH by Rivals and an Edge prospect by 247Sports and On3. McCloud is currently an unrated prospect

McCloud is the third pledge in MSU's 2025 recruiting class. He's the first 2025 prospect to commit since Jeff Lebby was hired. Three-star LB AJ Rice and 3-star ATH KaMario Taylor are still in the class after verbally committing during the 2023 football season.

Mississippi State lands McCloud's commitment over offers from Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisville, Maryland, Miami and others.

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2025 top-ranked IOL Micah DeBose visiting Mississippi State

by:
Hunter Shelton
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The top-ranked interior offensive lineman in the 2025 cycle will be in Starkville this weekend.

Mobile (Ala.) Vigor four-star IOL Micah DeBose decommitted from Georgia on Dec. 22. Since then, Auburn has appeared to be the frontrunner for the 6-foot-4, 290-pounder, but Jeff Lebby and a new-look Mississippi State are hoping to be the next SEC school to make a move on the trench monster.

Auburn at the top for DeBose, other programs pushing
"Auburn is my top school," Debose told On3's Chad Simmons

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Josaiah Knight signs with Mississippi State

While there were not a lot of fireworks expected for Mississippi State today, the Bulldogs get a surprising late pull away from Bret Bielema, Illinois

By Steve Robertson

Bielema will not have the chance to coach Knight this fall. JoJo Knight was released from his NLI and re-opened the recruiting process. Mississippi State had room in the class to add him to their recruiting haul for the 2024 class.

Over 20 schools extended offers to Knight over the course of his recruitment including tenders from Arkansas...

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State's trending for a pair of 4-stars

by:
Collin Ginnan
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State insider Paul Jones logged a pair of expert predictions — both with 80% confidence levels — for the Bulldogs to land De Kalb (Miss.) Kemper County four-star offensive tackle Mario Nash and Lexington (Miss.) Holmes County Central four-star cornerback Cortez Thomas.

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State set to host transfer Miami (OH) running back Rashad Amos

by: Pete Nakos
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State is set to host Miami (Ohio) running back Rashad Amos next Thursday, a source told On3.

The former South Carolina transfer played in 13 games with the Gamecocks but had a breakout year in 2023 with the RedHawks. The 6-foot-2, 234-pound running back rushed for 1,075 yards and 13 touchdowns. He ranked third in the Mid-American Conference in rushing yards and second in rushing touchdowns.

Amos is the top-available running back currently in the portal.

"Woody" Marks transferred during the winter portal window, landing at USC. Marks tallied 3,108 scrimmage yards and 27 touchdowns in four seasons at Mississippi State

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Troy EDGE Zach Edwards enters NCAA Transfer Portal

by: Steve Samra
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Troy Trojans EDGE Zach Edwards has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal, On3 has learned.

Prior to his time with the Trojans, Edwards spent the beginning of his collegiate career with the Louisville Cardinals, where he played in the ACC. Now, he'll be looking for his third home in as many seasons.

Zach Edwards played high school football at Starkville (MS), where he was a three-star prospect

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@mzenitz
The expectation is that former Miami (Ohio) running back Rashad Amos is going to transfer to Mississippi State, sources tell @247sports.

Amos, the top-ranked uncommitted offensive player in the transfer portal, ran for 1,075 yards and 13 TDs at Miami last season. Amos, whom @chris_hummer and @MacCorleone74 had previously put in Crystal Ball picks for in favor of Mississippi State, started his college career at South Carolina.

https://247sports.com/college/mississippi-state/board/59413/contents/rashad-amos-230390098

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Velman Jackson '25 EDGE Tyshun Willis gave a verbal to Jeff Lebby and State.

The 4-star DE heads Lebby's class of 4 hard commits now ranked 58th.