STARKVILLE — Willie Gay has changed his mind since making an important decision in the summer.
The Starkville High School football linebacker committed to Ole Miss on June 17 via Twitter, but he considered decommitting prior to the season to investigate other options.
After making an official visit to Michigan over the weekend, Gay decommitted from Ole Miss on Monday via Twitter.
“When I did all my research, you can’t remember the last time a linebacker went to the NFL from Ole Miss and has been successful,” Gay said. “Patrick Willis did it but that was like 30 years ago. I know Michigan is good at sending players to the league. Mississippi State is, Florida State, all those teams are very good at sending players to the NFL.”
Willis played for Ole Miss from 2003-06. The San Francisco 49ers used the 11th pick in the 2007 NFL draft to select Willis. He was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection (2007-13) and the 2007 Associated Press NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. In his eight-year career with the 49ers, Willis had 950 tackles, 20 1/2 sacks, eight interceptions, and two defensive touchdowns.
Gay is ranked as the third best player in the state of Mississippi, the eighth best outside linebacker, and the 123rd overall player in the nation by 247Sports Composite. Gay has 78 tackles (nine for loss), one sack, one interception, one fumble recovery, and a blocked field goal.
Gay’s mother, Bridgette, said she was shocked when Willie told her he wanted to decommit from Ole Miss.
“I also understood,” Bridgette said. “It’s the fact he wants to make sure we are making the right decision. You only get to make this decision once so you want to give everybody a fair chance and make sure the playing field is level for everybody.”
Willie said Michigan is his favorite school.
Willie said his mother told him to schedule the visit to Michigan. She accompanied him as he left at 6 a.m. Saturday and returned home Sunday. Willie said he and his mother loved it so much that they wanted to stay another day.
“I’ve never been anywhere that far in my life,” Willie said. “When I first went up there, everybody knew me, coaches connected with me as soon as I stepped on campus, players were cool and I could see myself playing outside linebacker there. Everything was clicking every step of the way up there.”
Bridgette said she liked the visit to Michigan because they talked about things other than football. She said she and her family want to make sure Willie gets a good education and becomes an all-around better man. She liked the environment and said the people seemed genuine.
Willie will travel to Tallahassee, Florida, to watch Florida State take on Clemson. He has an official visit scheduled next week at Florida, but he said he isn’t sure if he will go. He is scheduled to visit Ole Miss on Nov. 26 for the Battle for the Golden Egg against MSU. He won’t officially visit MSU, but he will go to the school early next year.
Bridgette said the decision is up to Willie, but she will take all the official visits with him.
“I trust him to look at it more than the right now,” Bridgette said. “Look at the entire big picture and make your decision based on that. Whatever decision he makes, I will support him. I will give my feedback after we go put everything on the table. At the end of the day, it’s his decision and at the end of the day I’m happy.”
Willie said he is more focused on the final two games as the defending Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A State champion Yellow Jackets are fighting to make the playoffs. Gay and Starkville (6-3, 3-2 Class 6A, Region 2) will play host to Warren Central (8-1, 4-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Yellow Jacket Stadium. Warren Central is coming off a victory against then-No. 1 Clinton last week.
Gay said he will sign a National Letter of Intent on Wednesday, Feb. 1.
“I really just want to get playing time early, and I really just want to get developed so one day I can play in the NFL,” Willie said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.