STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football coach Dan Mullen sent a subtle message Wednesday: The Bulldogs plan to continue to recruit the Golden Triangle and the state of Mississippi.
After watching former Starkville High standout A.J. Brown go to Ole Miss and West Point standout Scott Lashley go to Alabama a year ago, the 11-member MSU signing class had two standout members with local ties: Starkville High linebacker Willie Gay and Columbus High running back Kylin Hill.
“It’s important that local guys want to be Bulldogs,” Mullen said. “If you have a chance to keep them at home, you certainly want to do that. In Willie and Kylin, we got two impact players.”
Gay was the state’s defensive player of the year and the nation’s third-ranked outside linebacker, according to Scout. Hill was considered the state’s top true running back, second overall only to Clinton quarterback Cam Akers. Both players had four stars.
Gay’s signing included the most suspense of the day. A verbal commitment to Ole Miss during the summer, Gay decommitted a month ago. His announcement received a standing ovation in the Starkville Field House and also drew a confetti shower in the MSU coaches’ offices, according to Twitter.
Gay chose MSU over Ole Miss, Michigan, and LSU.
On the other hand, Hill backed a commitment made during the summer. Mullen called Hill “the best running back in the state, and possibly the best running back in the nation.” Gay is expected to make an impact for new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.
“Willie is a special player,” Mullen said. “We expect Willie to come in and play right away. He has size, speed, and athleticism. He’s a productive player on film. One of the things we have to do is really work to accelerate him. I expect him to be in the rotation week one of next season.”
The other biggest surprise Wednesday came when Callaway defensive lineman Aaron Odom chose the Bulldogs. Odom verbally committed to MSU during the summer, but he recently committed to Louisville when the Cardinals hired former MSU defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon.
“He’s a guy that wanted to stay in state,” Mullen said. “Through the whole recruitment process, our communication was good. We felt good about where we stood all along.”
The Bulldogs signed 24 players, including 13 who enrolled early and already are in class for the winter semester. That group included 10 junior-college signees and three early graduate high school seniors.
The headliner of that high school group is quarterback Keytaon Thompson, a native of New Orleans. Mullen joked Thompson traded the cap and pen on signing day for a chance to already be in school ready for 6 a.m. drills Wednesday.
“That is an area where Mississippi has come a long way,” Mullen said. “My first year here, we were recruiting at a high school here in the state and we mentioned the possibility of a player graduating early and enrolling in January. The principal threw me out of that school.”
The influx of junior college talent included former Michigan and East Mississippi Community College safety Brian Cole, the nation’s No. 1 safety prospect. EMCC lineman Tyre Phillips and Chauncey Rivers also signed early.
ESPN ranked MSU’s class No. 24 in the nation. With so many early signees, the list Wednesday was shorter than usual.
Lineman Duke Collins, lineman Josh Cooper, punter Tucker Day, linbebacker Tyler Dunning, lineman Noah Elliss, defensive back Landon Guidry, lineman Montravious Richardson, and lineman Cordavien Suggs joined Gay, Hill, and Odom.
Mullen said he hasn’t had a class this small at MSU. However, he had help recruiting similar size classes at Florida.
“It just played out that way,” Mullen said. “I think a lot of people will question was it a plan to have this? We don’t ever have a set number of junior college players or high school players. It just kind of played out that way. The first thing is, let’s look at home.
“Let’s look at great players in the state of Mississippi and there were a bunch of guys there. There were also some in the junior college ranks we had placed there that can come in and make an immediate impact. We had four high school guys enroll early, three from Mississippi.”
Mullen also noted three first-year assistants were part of the process and they had to learn the recruiting game on the fly.
“It’s a top-25 class, and we take pride in that,” Mullen said. “It should equal to a top-25 football team. We won’t know that for a couple of years.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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