STARKVILLE — Joe Moorhead flipped through his iPhone in silence.

Posted in the recruiting lounge in the underbelly of Davis Wade Stadium, Moorhead leaned up quietly against a bartop in the center of the room. To his immediate right, the fluorescent lights above glimmered off the Golden Egg Trophy — spoils of Mississippi State’s 21-20 win over Ole Miss Nov. 28.

Behind Moorhead, the space was flooded with coaches, staffers, athletic department personnel and more — all of whom milled about the room with breaths of anxiety and excitement.

At 8:11 a.m. the second-year head coach’s phone rang. It was a FaceTime request from three-star cornerback Javorrius Selmon. Blowing up the call onto the big screen at the front of the room, the crowd behind Moorhead erupted in excitement as Selmon informed them his national letter of intent had been signed. The first domino of the morning had fallen.

“Can’t wait, coach!” Selmon said as he hung up the call.

Wednesday, Mississippi State Selmon was one of 22 players MSU officially welcomed to its 2020 recruiting class as part of the early signing period — a 72-hour window that stretches from Wednesday to Friday in which players can sign their national letters of intent before February’s National Signing Day.

“We couldn’t be more excited and it’s a great day for celebration not only for our program and the 22 young men we’re bringing in, but most importantly for the young men – the student-athletes who are fulfilling a lifelong dream of playing at the collegiate level, specifically in the SEC and their families,” Moorhead said. “It’s a culmination of sometimes two- and three-years’ worth of work and a lifetime worth of hard work for the kids so that is absolutely fantastic, and we couldn’t be more excited.”

As commitments flowed into MSU’s recruiting war room throughout the day, Moorhead FaceTimed with each player and expressed his excitement toward the young men who had selected his program for their future football endeavors.

Special guests ranging from MSU athletic director John Cohen and baseball coach Chris Lemonis also introduced each commit from a podium at the front of the room that played the familiar chimes of the NFL Draft before each “selection” was made official and a chorus of cowbells ensued.

Of the 22 commitments MSU boasted heading into the day, 21 of those players made their pledges official — with junior college receiver Jonquarise Patterson as the lone commitment who did not sign Wednesday.

“I cannot recall a year when you had 21 commitments going into signing day and you get all 21 of those kids signed and there’s not a defection,” Moorhead said. “We got one good surprise and no bad surprises.

The “one good surprise” Moorhead alluded to was the signing of three-star cornerback Decamerion Richardson. A speedy defensive back out of Bossier City, Louisiana, Richardson had officially visited Tennessee last weekend but spurned the Volunteers for a future in Starkville.

While the class still stands to change a touch, Moorhead said there are just a handful of spots remaining, if that.

At present, the Bulldogs rank 25th in 247sports.com’s national class rankings — good for 10th in the SEC. Should the results hold, this would mark Moorhead’s third-straight top-30 class, something that former coach Dan Mullen never achieved in his nine year tenure in Starkville.

“You may do a lot of things better than us but one thing you’re not going to do better than me in recruiting is outwork us,” Moorhead said. “It can happen, but it won’t happen.”

MSU’s early signing period commitment list

– 4-star RB Jo’quavious Marks (Atlanta, GA)

– 4-star CB Emmanuel Forbes (Grenada, MS)

– 4-star WR Lideatrick Griffin (Philadelphia, MS)

– 4-star DE Jordan Davis (Copiah-Lincoln Community College/Wesson, MS)

– 4-star WR Malik Heath (Copiah-Lincoln Community College/Wesson, MS)

– 3-star RB Dillon Johnson (Greenville, MS)

– 3-star S Janari Dean (Batesville, MS)

– 3-star LB Rodney Groce (Pleasant Grove, AL)

– 3-star LB Tyrus Wheat (Copiah-Lincoln Community College/Wesson, MS)

– 3-star CB Javorrius Selmon (Jackson, MS)

– 3-star WR Jaden Walley (Biloxi, MS)

– 3-star DE Jevon Banks (Olive Branch, MS)

– 3-star QB Will Rogers (Brandon, MS)

– 3-star WR Caleb Ducking (Holmes Community College/Goodman, MS)

– 3-star DT Armondous Cooley (Wayne County, MS)

– 3-star S Cameron Threatt (Olive Branch, MS)

– 3-star DE Tre Lawson (Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College/Perkinston, MS)

– 3-star OT Grant Jackson (Brookhaven, MS)

– 3-star OT Calvin McMillian (Houston, MS)

– 3-star DE Benjamin Key (East Los Angeles College/ Cranbourne, Australia)

– 3-star ATH Decamerion Richardson (Bossier City, LA)

– 3-star K Brandon Ruiz (Arizona State/Gilbert, Arizona)

All star ratings reflect the 247sports.com recruiting database.

Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.