It Has Been a Long Journey for a Mississippi State Offensive Tackle

After a couple of years at Memphis, the once MSU commit will play in maroon and white.

Memphis Tigers Makylan Pounders battles on the line with Hank Pearson during the Friday Night / Joe Rondone / USA TODAY NETWORK

Makylan Pounders will face many expectations this fall. He spent his first three seasons at Memphis and showcased his skills last year.

The Byhalia, Mississippi native, started in every game he appeared in last year and helped lead the Tigers to having the seventh-ranked scoring offense as they averaged 39.7 points a game. The 6-5 305-pound tackle is one of four offensive linemen Bulldog head coach Jeff Lebby signed out of the portal as he worked to retool the offensive line.

Pounders spoke on the bond the offensive line room has, especially the transfer guys.

"We talk as a big O-line group," Pounders said." Those transfers are a little more tight-knit because we're coming into a new situation."

However, his story is quite different from that of his teammates. Pounders committed to Mike Leach and Mississippi State during his high school career. Ten days before signing day, he backed off his commitment to the Bulldogs, and three days later, he announced his commitment to Ole Miss.

On the eve of the early signing day in 2020, Pounders backed off his pledge to the Rebels, as Lane Kiffin no longer had a spot for the consensus 3-star recruit. As it often is with Mississippi recruiting, Pounders was treated poorly at the expense of getting one over on the rival school.

On signing day, he signed with Memphis, and his chances of ever playing SEC football seemed to have vanished. However, Pounders did not let this adversity keep him down because he is back at the level he wants to be at and at the school he was committed to for a long time.

Pounders explained what stood out to him from the MSU staff and their fans.

"The realness from fans," Pounders said. "After everything fell out, a lot of them always stayed in contact with me throughout my career to make sure I was okay."

Pounders says he is working at left tackle so far this spring, and the junior will need to be involved if this offense wants to hit their ceiling. When he entered the transfer portal, the Mississippi native garnered a lot of attention, receiving offers from South Carolina, Auburn, and Texas Tech, but he had his eyes set on coming home.

"It's honestly been surreal.  It was a full circle moment for me coming back," Pounders said. "When I hit the transfer portal, I knew where I was coming just because of the family vibe."