STARKVILLE — Mississippi State”s football recruiting class has taken some hits in recent weeks, and national signing day could provide more surprises.
MSU has had six de-commitments this recruiting season, including All-Americans C.J. Johnson and Nick Brassell.
Johnson said he will sign today with Ole Miss after being committed to MSU for over a year, while Brassell is expected to follow the deep pipeline from South Panola (Batesville) to Oxford.
Four-star cornerback Jermaine Whitehead (Amanda Elzy, Greenwood) de-committed from the Bulldogs and will choose today between MSU, Auburn and Ole Miss.
The Bulldogs” latest de-commitment came from Alpharetta, Ga. defensive end Barron Dixon, who will sign today with Vanderbilt.
De-commitments are common, especially once the college football season ends and the annual scramble begins.
For MSU, though, the recruits who”ve changed their minds were the stars of the class.
Johnson (Philadelphia) is a consensus four-star player and has a five-star rating from Rivals.com. Brassell and Whitehead both have four-star ratings by Rivals.com and Scout.com.
MSU also lost the recruiting race for Madison Central wide receiver Tobias Singleton.
MSU head coach Dan Mullen, however, isn”t fazed.
“We”ll work as hard as we can,” Mullen told reporters during the MSU-Florida basketball game Saturday. “You see everything about our program. We”re going to do things the right way and win through hard work. There are no shortcuts to the top and that”s how we”re going to do things. I worry about our program. I don”t worry about other things.”
As of Tuesday night, the Bulldogs had 19 verbal commitments and four athletes from the 2011 class already enrolled.
Running back Shaquille Perry (Walnut) will sign with MSU but play at Northeast Community College to improve his grades.
The Bulldogs are expected to sign three running backs who”ll be on campus in the fall. That group is led by Hargrave Military Academy back Derrick Milton. Devonte Scott (Ferriday, La.) also plays defensive back and could end up at safety.
As of Tuesday, five defensive backs were firmly committed to MSU and expected to sign National Letters of Intent today. The deep secondary group is led by Stone County”s Darion Arington and West Point”s Justin Cox.
MSU”s current crop of defensive backs features two senior starters — Charles Mitchell and Wade Bonner– heading into next season. Starting corners Johnthan Banks and Corey Broomfield are juniors, while freshman All-American Nickoe Whitley will be a sophomore.
MSU could add another defensive back in Bastrop, La. cornerback Jevante Watson, who visited Starkville on Friday.
The Bulldogs hope to bolster their defensive line by signing three-star tackle Kevin McReynolds (St. John”s College High School/Washington D.C.) and Hinds Community College defensive end Leon Mackey
McReynolds listed Kansas State, Syracuse and UCLA as other options.
Mackey, a former Virginia Tech commit, is set to choose between MSU, South Carolina and Tennessee.
MSU hopes to land a top-shelf recruit on signing day like it did a year ago with former Olive Branch lineman Damien Robinson.
In fact, MSU secured Robinson, former Olive Branch teammate Eric Lawson, Puckett linebacker Christian Holmes and Louisiana offensive lineman Dillon Day on signing day last year.
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