Amid the dark clouds of an NCAA investigation and an 8-27 record over the past three years, head coach Sylvester Croom and his assistant coaches announced the signing of 21 recruits Wednesday.
“The big thing is getting the guys who wanted to come here,” Croom said. “We had some people right at the end who decided to go else where for various reasons.”
Croom said there were certain positions that he and his assistants targeted.
“We had some specific needs we wanted to address in this recruiting class,” Croom said. “At linebacker we wanted to upgrade and also in the secondary and we feel very good at what we were able to accomplish there.”
The Bulldogs picked up three linebackers and four defensive backs.
Leading the linebacker crew for State is 6-foot-2-inch, 215-pound Gabe O’Neal. The Columbus native earned a spot on The Clarion-Ledger’s Dandy Dozen prior to his senior season. Superprep magazine ranked him No. 11 in the state.
O’Neal recorded over 100 tackles his senior year and rushed for over 900 yards from the tailback position. He runs the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds and maintained a 3.0 GPA at Columbus High School.
Linebacker Rory Johnson of Vicksburg signed in the waning hours Wednesday. Johnson recorded 181 tackles, 17 sacks, and eight fumble recoveries.
Titus Brown and Anthony Littlejohn are the other linebackers that the Dawgs picked up. Both Littlejohn and Brown were ranked in the top 60 linebackers in the southeast by the PrepStar magazine and combined they totaled over 200 tackles and 14 quarterback sacks in their senior season.
Croom said that other universities used the pending NCAA investigation to deter recruits from Starkville.
“We had to deal with it consistently,” Croom said about the NCAA investigation. “We talked about it with each and every prospect. Schools that we were recruiting against used it to their advantage this year.”
But Croom was not discouraged.
“We feel very positive that we will still have a program after the allegations come in, contrary to popular opinion that has been spread by other institutions, we will still play football here and we will still have success here in the future,” he said.
One recruit that was not swayed is Montgomery, Ala. native quarterback Mike Henig, who threw 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions during his senior season.
Henig finished the 2003 Bowden Quarterback Camp with the top ranking.
The rest of the recruiting class includes defensive backs Fred Akines, Mario Bobo, De’Mon Glanton and Atlanta native Corey Spells.
Spells, a late commitment, runs a 4.47 40-yard dash and recorded 98 tackles and five interceptions in his senior season.
“Corey Spells is a fine representative of the other young men on this group,” Croom said. “He is the most mentally tough person I have ever been around in my life.”
State grabbed three offensive linemen including 6-foot-3-inch, 305-pound Jeffery Farr, 6-foot-4-inch, 310-pound Dio Herrera and Mississippi native Roland Terry.
The Dawgs also picked up three wide receivers, two running backs, a tight end, a defensive tackle and a place kicker.
Even though, MSU’s recruiting class is not ranked at the top of the nation, Croom is happy.
“We are very excited about the character of these people,” Croom said. “They come from solid backgrounds and most importantly they come from good families and we look forward to working with them.”