STARKVILLE — Mississippi State has four junior college transfers that will be competing for playing time this month.
Offensive lineman Martinas Rankin, wide receiver Donald Gray, defensive lineman Johnathan Calvin, and linebacker Traver Jung are trying to make the transition from junior college football to Division I football before the season opens at Southern Mississippi on Sept. 5.
Fall camp is only two days old, but Rankin compared the transition like “going from a pond to an ocean.”
“You’re going from where you’re playing against maybe one or two good players every day to now every player at practice and in a game is always great players,” Rankin said.
Rankin transferred to MSU from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Gray committed to MSU in 2013 but ended up at Copiah-Lincoln Community College for two seasons. Calvin was a teammate of Gray’s at Copiah and Jung came to MSU by way of Holmes Community College.
Gray agrees with Rankin on the amount of really good players at this level, especially in the Southeastern Conference.
“A lot of athletes that are in SEC, used to be the main guy at their high school,” Gray said. “That’s a lot of talent. You have to really put in extra work and work on the small things to really just stick out.”
Rankin was rated as the top junior college offensive linemen in the nation for the class of 2015, but said some of the biggest obstacles he has seen on the field are adjusting to the tempo, understanding the plays and terminology and the getting the right technique.
But Rankin, along with Gray and Calvin, enrolled early at MSU and participated in spring drills.
“It was definitely good because it was kind of a growing period for me,” Rankin said. “I’m a couple steps ahead from where I was in the spring.”
Both Rankin and Gray said the first realization of the difference between junior college football and Division I football came in the weight room.
Rankin said he was grasping for air during workouts, while Gray left the weight room exhausted.
“These workouts will have you kind of wanting to go home for a couple of days,” Gray said. “They will put you on bed rest.”
Gray was named a 2014 National Junior College Athletic Association All-American after having recorded 55 catches for 989 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. He was injured during his freshman season, and will have three years of eligibility with the Bulldogs.
All four players will have a chance to see playing time this fall. Gray worked with the third string early in spring practices, but took reps with the first team and second team as the spring wore on.
Co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Billy Gonzales started seeing Gray put in extra work in the spring.
“He’s got great ball skills, but here’s what he has, he has great work ethic,” Gonzales said during spring camp. “He’ll be one of the last guys normally out here catching balls. He’ll be out here catching balls by himself off the jugs or he’ll have a quarterback out here throwing around with him. He has a great desire to be a great player.”
Gray is working at outside receiver early in fall camp. Even though there is a good bit of depth at the wideout position, Gray feels confident in his chances to see a lot of playing time this fall.
“I feel pretty confident and pretty comfortable with everything,” Gray said. “It’s pretty much the same thing. I already went through spring.”
Even though most would like to play for a Division I program as a freshman, Rankin is happy with his decision to go play junior college football.
It laid the basis for his football knowledge.
“I started learning the game more,” Rankin said. “It kind of started teaching me things that I need to focus on.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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