Mississippi State Football Recruiting Tracker
Let's face it, Jeff Lebby is in a tough spot. The new Mississippi State football coach was hired in late November, with less than a month before the early signing period opens in recruiting.
Since then he's had to hire a coaching and support staff, the established starting quarterback left via the transfer portal, and there's been a bunch of decommitments.
All that's normal for a new head coach, but that doesn't it any any easier — especially when the current landscape of college football is synonymous with roster turnover, and fewer players are spending their entire collegiate careers on one team.
Lebby hasn't talked too much about what he's looking for with this initial recruiting class, but he did mention what he's looking for at the quarterback position during a recent appearance on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.
"The biggest thing you want is an experience in production," Lebby said. "I was looking this morning and there's a couple of guys out there that have that. I want to be able to do what we've done from a 50-50 standpoint—being incredibly balanced, able to throw it all over the field and run the football. The QB being involved enough to keep people honest, keeping plays alive and being able to extend them is important to me. Those qualities are ones that I'm looking for."
Over the weekend, Mississippi State landed three commitments including Michael Van Buren, a consensus 3-star prospect out of St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Md., plus two wide receivers. At one point, Van Buren was down to Maryland, Oregon and Penn State as finalists, but missed some time as a senior due to injury.
Meanwhile, here's how the Bulldogs' recruiting Class of 2024 is measuring up.
Team rankings (through Dec. 10):
- 247Sports: No. 34
- EPSN No. 31
- On3: No. 26
- Rivals: No. 27
Mississippi State Commitments
The players who have said yes to the Bulldogs for the recruiting Class of 2024, in alphabetical order:
Braylon "Stonka" Burnside
Elijah Cannon
Fred Clark
Mario Craver
Johnnie Daniels
Xavier Gayten
J.J. Harrell
Terrance Hibbler
Branden Jennings
Ricky Johnson
Jimothy Lewis
TJ Lockhart
Sanfrisco Magee
Matt Mayfield
Kai McClendon
Cyrus Reyes
Marcus Ross
Ashun Shepphard
Karsten Upchurch
Michael Van Buren
JaCorey Whitted
Tyler Woodard
Luke Work
Wide receiver J.J. Harrell
Decommitments
Name, Position, Hometown, Decommitment Date Tyler Carter, Edge, Vicksburg, Miss., Dec. 10
PJ Wooland, Ath., Hattiesburg, Miss., Oct. 15
Josh Flowers, QB, Mobile, Ala., Dec. 5
Jay Lindsey, TE, Butler, Ala., Aug. 26
Kison Shepard, OT, Germantown, Tenn., Dec. 3
Caleb Dozier, TE, Headland, Ala., Dec. 1
Class of 2025
- AJ Rice, LB, Madison, Ala. (Madison Academy)
- KaMario Taylor, Athlete, Macon, Ga. (Noxubee County)
Signing Class of 2023
- Jaylen Aborom, S, Hattiesburg, Miss.
- Zay Alexander, OT, Tupelo, Miss.
- Nick Barr-Mira, K, Palos Verdes, Calif.
- Leon Bell, OT, Alvin, Texas
- Jacoby Bellazar, WR, Baton Rouge, La.
- Justin Brown, WR, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
- Caleb Bryant, DT, Vicksburg, Miss.
- Keelan Crimmins, P, Melbourne, Australia
- Jonathan Davis, DL, Monticello, MS
- Seth Davis, RB, Katy, Texas
- Malik Ellis, OT, Laurel, Miss.
- Luke Evans, CB, Coral Springs, Fla.
- Joseph Head Jr., DE, Lexington, Moss.
- Tabias Hinton, LB, Hattiesburg, Miss.
- Jayden Hobson, OT, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
- Will Jamesm DB, Grand Bay, Ala.
- Kelley Jones, CB, Clarksdale, Miss.
- Ray’Darious Jones, CB, Horn Lake, Miss.
- Ty Jones, LB, Bay Springs, Miss.
- Gabe Moore, DT, Louisville, Miss.
- Jeffery Pittman, RB, Taylorsville, Miss.
- Nakai Poole, WR, Norcross, Ga.
- Amari Smith, IOL, Brookhaven, Miss.
- Isaac Smith, S, Fulton, Miss.
- Eric Taylor, DT, Trussville, Ala.
- Zakari Tillman, LB, Florence, Miss
- Creed Whittemore, WR, Gainesville, Fla.
The Mississippi State football recruiting tracker will be regularly updated as the Class of 2024 forms en route to National Signing Day.
