STARKVILLE — While Joe Moorhead placed the foundation for the 2020 recruiting cycle, Mike Leach and his staff laid the final bricks Wednesday.
With National Signing Day ceremonies taking place across the country, Leach and his newly announced assistants added four players to Mississippi State’s 26-player class.
“I was really impressed,” Leach said of visiting with the new signees and those who pledged to MSU during the early signing period in December. “First of all I think they’re quality athletes and quality players. The other thing it reinforced was how important football is in the state of Mississippi, and it reinforced what Mississippi State means to this state and the opportunity it provides for those student-athletes.”
Most notably, the Bulldogs officially added graduate transfer quarterback KJ Costello. A Stanford product, Costello concluded his time in Palo Alto completing 495 of 791 passes for 6,151 yards and 49 touchdowns compared to just 18 interceptions in 28 career games.
Leach, who previously coached three of Costello’s high school teammates at Washington State, said his relationship with the players and coaches at Santa Margarita High School was an early sticking point in MSU’s recruitment of the former Cardinal signal caller.
“He was pretty familiar with what we did,” Leach said of Costello. “We played him two times, and so he liked the way we threw it and always knew about three people on our team when it happened.”
“KJ is kind of a stranger to Mississippi, but he really wasn’t a stranger to most of our offensive staff,” he added.
Also included in MSU’s National Signing Day haul was three-star Starkville High wide receiver Rufus Harvey. Harvey, who concluded his senior season with the Yellow Jackets with 1,066 yards and 16 touchdown receptions, was previously committed to Arkansas State before flipping Wednesday. The 5-foot-10, 167-pound receiver is slightly undersized but plays well above his frame, as he outjumped numerous defenders throughout his final season at Starkville.
“He’s really good with the ball in his hands — I think that’d be the quickest way to describe him,” Leach said. “Pretty complete player in terms of being productive with special teams and on offense. In some places it’d be kind of inexplicable how (he was available), but very productive with the ball in his hands.”
A versatile playmaker inside and outside, Harvey will likely line up as more of a slot receiver once at MSU, according to inside receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr., who spoke with the media shortly after Leach did.
MSU’s other signees Wednesday included three-star Florida linebacker Jamari Stewart and Mississippi Delta Community College cornerback Kyle Cass. Stewart signed with the Bulldogs over a long offer sheet that reportedly included Michigan, Auburn, Miami, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Virginia Tech and others, per 247Sports.com.
Cass — an Eight Mile, Alabama, native — comes to Starkville following two seasons at Delta, where he totaled 65 tackles, four tackles for a loss and one interception. His other offers included Arkansas State, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, Liberty and Middle Tennessee State.
“Really impressed with the class signed by the previous staff and our recruiting department and (Senior Associate Athletic Director for Football) Dave Emerick and (Director of Player Personnel) Brittany (Thackery) for bridging the gap between our staff and the transition and that,” Leach said. “We’re really impressed with the class signed and excited to have everybody on board.”
Leach noted MSU has a few extra scholarships to play with and could add more prospects to the class — most likely offensive linemen or inside linebackers.
The full list of Wednesday’s signees:
WR Rufus Harvey — Starkville/ Starkville High School
DB Kyle Cass — Eight Mile, Alabama/Mississippi Delta Community College
QB KJ Costello — Santa Margarita, California/Stanford
LB Jamari Stewart — Fort Pierce, Florida/Centennial
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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