STARKVILLE — A.J. Brown and Kobe Jones are now rivals.
In the last three years together as members of the Starkville High School football team, Brown and Jones helped the Yellow Jackets finish 13-1 and advance to the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A North State title game in 2014 and win a MHSAA Class 6A State championship in 2015. They also were members of The Clarion-Ledger’s Dandy Dozen this past season.
On Wednesday, the days of Brown and Jones accomplishing things together ended. They now will be on opposite ends of one of the Southeastern Conference’s most intense rivalries after Brown signed a National Letter of Intent with Ole Miss and Jones signed a NLI with Mississippi State.
“They’ll be rivals one day of the year,” Starkville coach Ricky Woods said. “They’re going to be friends forever. That’s the way they’re going to look at that. Just one day in the year you want to beat them. Besides that, you’re best friends in the world.”
Brown, a four-star wide receiver prospect, took official visits to Ole Miss, Alabama, and California-Berkeley. He said he made his decision a long time ago but kept it secret until he put on the Ole Miss hat in front of friends and families at Starkville High.
“I wanted to go to Ole Miss for a long time,” Brown said. “It was just in my heart. I just had to go with my heart and go with my gut. I knew it was going to be a big one since I live in Starkville.”
Brown said he plans on playing football and baseball for the Rebels.
The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Brown led the Yellow Jackets with 83 catches for 1,371 yards and 13 touchdowns en route to being named Class 6A Offensive Player of the Year.
Brown said he would have signed with MSU, but he said he wasn’t impressed with MSU.
“I felt like they didn’t do a good job of recruiting me,” Brown said. “I didn’t feel wanted to be honest. I felt like other schools wanted me more. I live in Starkville and I would expect Mississippi State would be hard like every day, I would get tired of seeing them. But it wasn’t like that.”
MSU coach Dan Mullen said he and his staff recruit the local kids the same way they do kids in other parts of the state or in other states. He said that was no different with Brown.
“We recruited him as hard as we recruited anybody else,” Mullen said. “We wish him the best. Our program’s not for everybody.”
Brown said his official visit at Ole Miss this past weekend pushed him over the top. He said the relationship he developed with the coaching staff really set Ole Miss apart from other schools. He also said Ole Miss recruited him the hardest.
Jones, a four-star prospect at defensive end, said Miami was his second choice, but the relationship he developed with MSU defensive line coach David Turner won over “South Beach, pretty girls, and palm trees.”
“He’s the best at what he does,” Jones said. “He makes me feel comfortable. We’ve built a very strong relationship these past two years.”
Jones, who put on an MSU visor, said he finalized a difficult process Tuesday night. He said the statistics, especially those of former MSU standout Fletcher Cox — now a standout with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles — and other Bulldogs were too much to ignore.
Jones, who cites former standout linebacker Ray Lewis of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens as one of his idols, said he was very selfish in the process and wanted to go where it was best for him to get to the next level.
Mullen said Jones choosing MSU was big for the city of Starkville and Starkville High. He also believes Jones will fit well into the Bulldogs’ system.
“He is what our program is all about — the effort, the character, and doing things the right way all the time,” Mullen said. “He’s always going to be one of if not the hardest-working guy you’re going to see every single day in every single drill.”
Jones, who played on the offensive and defensive line, had 33 tackles (nine for loss) this past season. He said he isn’t worried about redshirting or getting early playing time. He said that would work itself out when he gets on campus. He also said he would feel like a king playing in Starkville.
“It feels good,” Jones said. “I’m on a mission. I’m all about Mississippi, and I want Mississippi to shine, too.”
Brown and Jones will play each other at least three times, if not four, in the Battle for the Golden Egg. Both players said they are excited about facing each other.
Said Brown, “All I want to say is, I better not see him running down the field trying to make a play.”
Said Jones, “If he’s on the opposite team, he better prepare to lose.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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