Over the past 15-20 years, the Mississippi State has done a very good job of recruiting in the State of Georgia for football players. Former linebackers coach Jim Tompkins opened up the pipeline to Georgia when he was hired by Coach Rocky Felker back in 1989. That pipeline remains open these days, as Mississippi State picked up a commitment from Brunswick, GA, athlete Darius Slay this past weekend. This was a big recruiting weekend for MSU, and Darius Slay is the fourth player that committed to MSU during the weekend. I talked about the other three in a previous post.
Based on what I've ready about Darius Slay, he appears to be a guy that has flown under the radar. I don't really pay much attention to the recruiting ratings the so called experts have. They are wrong on recruits just as often as they are right. With that said, sites like scout.com and rivals.com are a tool for the fans to use to learn some things about a player. In rivals.com's initial rankings of the top high school players in the State of Georgia, Darius Slay was rated 26th on the list. Georgia is a state that is stocked with talent, and being rated that high would be equivalent to being rated in the top 10 in Mississippi. Scout.com has him rated as a 2 star, and Scout's Inc. give him a grade of 77, which would put him in the top 10-12 in Mississippi based on their rankings.
There is a good article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about Darius Slay.
A 4.37 forty yard dash time along with a 39 inch vertical is very impressive. Darius has played running back and wide receiver in the spread offense as well as safety defense. He also returns kicks and punts for his high school team. At Mississippi State, it appears that he is being looked at to play in the secondary, perhaps at safety. I believe the new coaching staff at MSU probably likes his size (6'0", 190 lbs), athleticism, ball skills, and range at the safety position.
Darius has chosen Mississippi State over offers from South Carolina, Kentucky, and Troy. According to the article I posted above, he apparently had a conditional offer from Clemson as well.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
MSU Football picks up three commitments!
Coach Mullen picked up verbal commitments today from three players that should help his spread offense take flight at Mississippi State. Tupelo athlete Chad Bumphis, Louisville athlete Dennis Thames, and Greenville running back LaDarius Perkins verbally pledged to play for the Mississippi State Bulldogs today.
Chad Bumphis is a very versatile athlete that has great speed, catches the ball extremely well, and is also a dangerous runner with the ball in his hands. He's the perfect fit to fill the h receiver role that Percy Harvin has played so well in this offense. I believe Chad will do a little bit of everything as a receiver, runner, and even passer at times. I believe Chad will play as a true freshman.
Dennis Thames is another versatile athlete that is very gifted with the ball in his hands. He's one of the few athletes that I believe would be equally as good as a running back, wide receiver, and as a safety. What position he plays has not been determined yet, but my guess is, we will see him on offense.
LaDarius Perkins comes from a small school, but he is every bit as good of an athlete as the two mentioned above. If you haven't seen the youtube highlight video on him, you need to check it out. He's a smaller running back, but he's got great straight line speed and lateral agility. He will remind some folks of a smaller Jerious Norwood. He was previously committed to Auburn, but he reopened his recruitment when they made the coaching change.
Coach Mullen added some serious athleticism and playmaking ability with the three commitments today. It will be fun to watch these players grow along with Meridian quarterback Tyler Russell at Mississippi State over the next four years.
Chad Bumphis is a very versatile athlete that has great speed, catches the ball extremely well, and is also a dangerous runner with the ball in his hands. He's the perfect fit to fill the h receiver role that Percy Harvin has played so well in this offense. I believe Chad will do a little bit of everything as a receiver, runner, and even passer at times. I believe Chad will play as a true freshman.
Dennis Thames is another versatile athlete that is very gifted with the ball in his hands. He's one of the few athletes that I believe would be equally as good as a running back, wide receiver, and as a safety. What position he plays has not been determined yet, but my guess is, we will see him on offense.
LaDarius Perkins comes from a small school, but he is every bit as good of an athlete as the two mentioned above. If you haven't seen the youtube highlight video on him, you need to check it out. He's a smaller running back, but he's got great straight line speed and lateral agility. He will remind some folks of a smaller Jerious Norwood. He was previously committed to Auburn, but he reopened his recruitment when they made the coaching change.
Coach Mullen added some serious athleticism and playmaking ability with the three commitments today. It will be fun to watch these players grow along with Meridian quarterback Tyler Russell at Mississippi State over the next four years.
Mississippi State versus Vanderbilt
The Mississippi State basketball team took care of business tonight at Humphrey Coliseum and beat the visiting Vanderbilt Commodores 73-66. Dee Bost continued his impressive start in conference play by scoring 16 points on 4 of 8 shooting tonight while also adding 6 assists against a very good Vanderbilt basketball team. This young player looks like he is going to be the real deal. It has been a while since MSU has had a true point guard running the show. Not only did Dee have 6 assists on the night and guide the MSU offense well, he also turned the ball over only once.
Ravern Johnson also continued his solid start in conference play by scoring 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting overall while hitting 4 of 6 three point shots. Ravern is very long and athletic, and he has great range on his jump shot. He also appears to be improving with his shot off the dribble. He's only a sophomore, and this guy has a chance to be a great, great player before his career at Mississippi State is over.
This win gets the Bulldogs to 13-5 on the season and 3-0 in conference play with a tough game at LSU coming up this week. Coach Stansbury has a very young team this season, and I think a lot of the early season struggles were due to him mixing and matching his line ups in an attempt to find out who he can trust. Based on the early results in conference play, I think he has found that mix.
The win tonight came despite the fact that Barry Stewart's shot was not falling. However, Barry continues to give this team great leadership. Barry hit a sweet pull up jumper late in the game that may have been the shot that sealed the victory. He has started the conference season well despite his struggles tonight, and I expect he will continue to play well.
I really believe this team is going to be a dangerous team as the season progresses. The youth on this team is maturing, and by SEC tournament time, this is going to be one tough team to handle.
Ravern Johnson also continued his solid start in conference play by scoring 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting overall while hitting 4 of 6 three point shots. Ravern is very long and athletic, and he has great range on his jump shot. He also appears to be improving with his shot off the dribble. He's only a sophomore, and this guy has a chance to be a great, great player before his career at Mississippi State is over.
This win gets the Bulldogs to 13-5 on the season and 3-0 in conference play with a tough game at LSU coming up this week. Coach Stansbury has a very young team this season, and I think a lot of the early season struggles were due to him mixing and matching his line ups in an attempt to find out who he can trust. Based on the early results in conference play, I think he has found that mix.
The win tonight came despite the fact that Barry Stewart's shot was not falling. However, Barry continues to give this team great leadership. Barry hit a sweet pull up jumper late in the game that may have been the shot that sealed the victory. He has started the conference season well despite his struggles tonight, and I expect he will continue to play well.
I really believe this team is going to be a dangerous team as the season progresses. The youth on this team is maturing, and by SEC tournament time, this is going to be one tough team to handle.
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