STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State University football team dealt quickly with the loss of a wide receiver who rescinded a verbal commitment by adding two more.
MSU’s Class of 2013 class of recruits grew Sunday after East Mississippi Community College wide receiver Corey Smith pledged his services to the Bulldogs following a visiting to the Starkville campus.
Before leaving campus, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Smith met with MSU coach Dan Mullen to give his verbal commitment. His pledge was the second MSU received Sunday. Jeremy Chappelle, a 6-2 wide receiver from Tyler (Texas) Junior College, also gave a verbal commitment to MSU, according to Scout.com. The commitments push MSU’s recruiting class to 21.
“All of the coaches were so excited and they all started yelling. It was all about the opportunity I have there, and knowing they have a great quarterback (Tyler Russell) coming back just made it even better,” Smith told 247Sports.com
The four-star product, according to 247Sports.com, had scholarship offers from Ohio State University, the University of Tennessee, the University of Nebraska, the University of Mississippi, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Iowa. He signed with Tennessee out of high school but decided to enroll at EMCC to improve his stock as a prospect.
This season, Smith had 51 catches for 733 yards and nine touchdowns to lead EMCC as a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American. MSU will lose four senior wide receivers after this season.
“Mississippi State said they would use me at inside and outside receiver,” Smith said. “Talking to coach (Tim) Brewster and coach (Les) Koenning, I like how they use their receivers, and they did a great job of getting the ball to guys like (Chad Bumphis) last year. With a lot of those guys leaving I want to come in and help us not miss a beat.”
Chappelle is rated the ninth-best receiver in the junior college ranks, according to 247Sports.com. He caught 60 passes for 801 yards and nine touchdowns this season.
Chappelle had offers from the University of Hawaii, Louisiana Tech University, and West Virginia University.
Neither Smith nor Chappelle is expected to arrive early, and are expected to sign National Letters of Intent on Feb. 2.
MSU lost Copiah-Lincoln C.C. wide receiver Devante Scott on Saturday after he changed his commitment to the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Scott suffered a season-ending knee injury in late September in his first year at Co-Lin.
MSU sells out ticket allotment for bowl game
The MSU Athletic Ticket Office announced Tuesday it sold out its ticket allotment for Club and VIP seats at the 2013 TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.
The school had been assigned to sell the minimum of approximately 5,000 tickets via the private Bulldog Club offices and announced last week it matched that number. MSU officials began to send out pre-orders for the Gator Bowl as one of three possible bowl sites weeks before the Bulldogs accepted the invitation Dec. 2 to play in the game.
Lower and upper level regular reserved seats are still available for the game against Northwestern University on New Year’s Day
Mullen shoots down false reports of contact from Colorado
After reports surfaced about an interview Dan Mullen reportedly had with University of Colorado officials and that school’s vacant head coaching position, the Bulldogs’ fourth-year head coach dismissed the reports.
In a text message to The Dispatch, Mullen said “he had never heard from (Colorado)”, and said any reports he was considering leaving MSU were completely false.
“People tell me they see my name,” Mullen said Friday. “You guys now know, guess what, this time next year my name is probably going to flash up again. It is nice I don’t have to answer it on daily basis.”
Colorado fired former CU player Jon Embree after he went 4-21 in two seasons. This season, the Buffaloes went 1-11. The lone victory came Sept. 22 against Washington State University.
The Daily Camera in Boulder reported Mullen was high on Colorado’s wish list for replacements for Embree. A false report surfaced on Twitter suggesting KGNU, a local radio station, reported Mullen was to interview for the job at Colorado. Neither Colorado nor KGNU have confirmed the report, and early Sunday it was determined the rumor was started on Twitter by a Ole Miss Touchdown Club member.
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