February 1998 Unofficial MSU Football Skuttle-Butt

Home Mailing Address: 4361 Cal-Steens Road; Caledonia, MS. 39740.

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David Wilson, Mississippi State's Director of On-Campus Recruiting, wants to talk MSU football with you at your club functions or meetings. Call him at (601) 325-2534.

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Mississippi State University Sports Hotline: (601) 325-3861

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Contact Darrell McAllister at (601) 328-8299 for the best Miss State screen saver on the market. All you need is $29.95 (plus P&H) and Windows 95. Here are a couple of pictures from the screen saver. Picture Number 1 and Picture Number 2.

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Dawgs' Bite Subscription Form
MISSISSIPPI HOOPS subscription form. Basketball recruiting.
SuperPrep Magazine subscription form. National coverage since 1985.
Southeastern Recruiting Alliance subscription form. Southeast coverage area.

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To Get The Latest News From The MSU Athletic Department Football Site click here

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Click here to read about most of the football players Mississippi State is recruiting.

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The Mississippi State Athletic Department server is down therefore no email can be sent. I'm not sure when it will be operational.

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Skuttle-Butt Archives

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Other Skuttle-Butts MSU Basketball - MSU Baseball - Mississippi High School - Mississippi Junior College

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Mississippi Newspapers Online The Sun Herald Online (Sports Section) -------- The Tupelo Daily Journal Online

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02/27/98 - I know you guys are going to love this news: Dicenzo Miller, Carl Hutchins, Shawn Byrdsong and Conner Stephens have all made a qualifying ACT score.

02/27/98 - Spring football practice starts March 18th and goes through April 9th. There will be an open scrimmage on March 21st, the same day as the Ole Miss/ Miss State baseball game. It ought to be a fun day for Miss State fans. In case you are wondering why the football team is not going to have a spring game the Saturday of Super Bulldog Weekend, it is because Finals are a week after SBW and the coaches feel it would hurt the players academically if they were still practicing so close to Finals. Plus, starting spring practice early gives any players who might be injured during spring practice more time to heal.

02/27/98 - According to The Clarion-Ledger, Miss State picked up another Mississippi All-State and Ala/Miss All-Star game selection with the addition of Northeast Jones linebacker Jerry Bolton (5-11, 220). Jerry will walk on, spurning offers from D-IAA Troy State and Nicholls State among other. According to Jerry, "I've always wanted to play Division I ball all along. I just felt like I had to take my chances and see if I could play there." He led the 12-1 Class 4A runner-up Tigers in tackles with 134. If I remember correctly, the last time we signed a linebacker with similar numbers and size, he went by the name of Billy Jackson of Plant City, Florida, and we know how good Billy wound up being (All-American, All-SEC).

02/23/98 - Just thought I would clear up an incorrect assumption reported on one of the other SEC message boards during the past recruiting season. It was reported that the main reason MSU signee Conner Stephens (Ackerman HS) signed with MSU was because he would get to pocket most of a $500 housing allowance because his brother is a student at MSU. The story goes, since his brother is a student at MSU, he could live off campus with him, share the rent, and pocket most of the housing allowance. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I talked to someone this past weekend who knows the facts and was told that all MSU freshmen athletes, who receive a full scholarship, which include a housing allowance, have to live in a campus dormitory their first year. Their housing allowance, which is $150 per month, not $500 as was reported, is paid directly to the MSU Housing Department, not to the athlete. Once a full scholarshipped athlete reaches the classification of a sophomore or higher, he or she can then receive the housing allowance ($150) and use it to live off campus if they so desire. Just thought I would give you guys the facts, according to someone who actually knows them.

02/22/98 - Here are bits of news on a couple of our signees:

02/21/98 - According to a very reliable source, defensive tackle Dorsett Davis (former MSU signee who had to go the Juco route) is now 6-6, 325 pounds and has a 29-inch vertical leap; yep, you read it right, 29-inch vertical. He played basketball for Miss Delta the first semester, but is not playing the second due to a night class. And, yes, there is an excellent chance he will resign with the Bulldogs.

02/21/98 - If you subscribed to Max Emfinger's National Bluechips Newsletter, you would have known that MSU signee Brandon Butler is rated as the 12th best passing QB in the nation (2nd best of the SEC signees). You would also have known that Edward Prather is rated the 12th best RB in the nation (3rd best of the SEC signees) and Dicenzo Miller the 23rd best (5th best of the SEC signees). Plus, you would have known that Conner Stephens is the 6th best Rush Defensive End in the nation (4th best of the SEC signees).

02/20/98 - One of my sources had the chance to see MSU signee Edward Prather play basketball the other night. Edward had a strong game, finishing with 20 points. According to my source, his jumping ability is outstanding. In fact, on an attempted ally-oop, Edward had his hand about 18 inches above the rim. If you want to see Prather yourself, Falkner HS plays at Pine Grove Friday night (not sure of the time, maybe 7 p.m.). If you decide to go, you had better get there early.

02/19/98 - According to J.C. Grid-Wire, Miss State had one of the top five junior college classes in the country. The top 2 players in our JC class are JUCO All-Americans Defensive Tackle Alvin McKinley and Cornerback Robert Bean.

02/16/98 - Here are what several national recruiting services say about MSU's recruiting:

Super Prep - Not Rated in Top 25
College Football Experts - 19th
The National Recruiting Advisor - Not Rated in Top 25
G & W Recruiting Report - 16th

02/14/98 - Miss State two Alabama signees (Darius Tubbs and Kenny Sears) have both been invited to play in the Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Classic.

02/09/98 - Rusty Hampton had his yearly recruiting analysis in Sunday's edition of The Clarion-Ledger:

One way to gauge the quality of Mississippi State's 1998 recruiting class is to examine how hard the Bulldog coaches had to work after players had committed to State.

"There were a lot of pleasant surprises, a lot who went through bombardment at the end," said State coach Jackie Sherrill. "There were some heavy, heavy overtures from other schools. They withstood a lot of pressure to hang in there with their commitment and sign (with State)."

National recruiting analyst Max Emfinger rates State's class as the 11th best in the country. No other services rank it in the top 30.

The class might not rate as high nationally as Sherrill predicted --- he expected a top 15 rating after talking to analysts --- but it's Sherrill's best in seven years at State and has the potential to be one of the best in school history.

At least three junior college transfers --- defensive tackle Alvin McKinley, offensive tackle Wes Shivers and cornerback Robert Bean --- are good bets to earn starting positions. The other four juco transfers should contribute.

Sherrill won't say how many of the high school players will be redshirted, but the guess here is at least a half dozen or maybe more will play as freshmen.

Sherrill said JC transfer Kelvin Love and Brandon Butler will both get a look at quarterback in the fall, although he acknowledged how difficult it is for a first-year player, especially a freshman, to make an impact at that position.

Butler is one of the players who committed to State, then appeared to hedge a little after visiting LSU. Some New Orleans observers aren't sure Butler can play quarterback early in the SEC, but State's coaches have been high on him since last summer when he attended State's camp.

Dicenzo Miller and Edward Prather were both standout two-way players in high school, but both will play tailback at State --- at least at first. You can never have too many good running backs, and little-used Chris Rainey is the only experienced tailback behind 1,000-yard rusher J.J. Johnson.

Defensively, look for McKinley and Bean to make the most immediate impact in the fall.

Overview: State signed its best class in the Jackie Sherrill era and maybe it best ever, landing three off The Clarion-Ledger's Ten Most Wanted list and several junior college transfers who should make an immediate impact.

Coach's comment: "There's some players in this group who came out right off the bat and said this is where I'm going. They shut an awful lot of people off. You have to have great feelings for those players. It shows strength and maturity. I really had an awful lot of giggles watching people trying to recruit Conner Stephens."

The jewel: Everybody in the South was interested in Stephens. And snatching Kenny Sears, Alabama's Defensive Player of the Year, makes three standout defensive end types heading to Starkville.

The jucos: Sherrill struck it rich here, with JC Grid-Wire First-Team All-American McKinley from Holmes CC and Bean of Georgia Military. Of the seven juco signees, look for all to contribute.

Impact players: McKinley might be the best juco DT in the country. DT Stephens and TBs Prather and Miller were three of the best prospects in the state, and Butler is a true double-threat QB who will get a look in the fall as a freshman.

The sleepers: LBs Ivan Billie and Nathan Jackson could be the kind of athletes who flourish in defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn's scheme.

The one who got away: There was a place for Pascagoula All-State cornerback Reggie Myles to step in. But he opted for Alabama, despite his brother Jimmy playing at State.

02/09/98 - Click here to read a CBS Sportsline MSU football recruiting analysis by Rusty Hampton. It includes a few comments that aren't in the one above.

02/09/98 - Seven of Miss State's eleven Mississippi signees will play in the Alabama/Mississippi All-Star game:

02/07/98 - Leftover recruiting tidbits:

02/07/98 - One of the better players in the state of Mississippi, Columbus HS's Carlos Crusoe, signed with East MS CC. Carlos (6-5, 235) played TE/DE in high school but will play defense in college. According to Crusoe, as quoted in The Commercial Dispatch, "I want to perform well enough so that I can play for a Division I school, possibly Mississippi State.". According to EMCC's defensive coordinator, former MSU assistant coach S. E. Sullins, Crusoe "is a great athlete...who...will have the opportunity to try and play where he wants to play."

02/07/98 - I received this email yesterday. Thought some of you would find it interesting:

I have a class with Earnest Garner, and the other day we were discussing how to recruit a player from New York to come to small town Starkville to play at MSU. This subject reminded me of a few messages I had seen posted on MSU and Ole Miss recruiting boards about how there should be activities occurring on campus when you have big-time recruits coming in in order to impress them. And until Earnest told about his recruiting trip, I believed that having recruits witness a big crowd at a bball game, or something along that line, was instrumental in getting the best recruits.

But Earnest, whom I'm sure you know comes from a nice sized city in Florida, told our class that he took his visit to MSU during an ice storm. He said it took them 6 hours to get from Clarksdale to Starkville. He added that during his tour of the campus, the car he was riding in got stuck and they had to call someone with a truck to come and pick them up. Well, with all of this free time on his hands, he had more time to talk with the fball players and coaches and got to know them well. He said that as he got to know everyone, that he felt like he fit-in. I guess this proves that you don't have to put on a big show to impress recruits that come from bigger cities.

Earnest went on to add that a lot of recruits that come from bigger cities like the fact that they can come to a smaller town and concentrate on the things that are important- school and fball. He said jokingly,"You can't get in trouble around here, it's 85% trees and only 15% city!"

02/06/98 - Congrats go out to former Bulldog Bill Sartain who, yesterday, was named the new Head Football Coach at Meridian HS. Bill, who was an assistant coach at Brookhaven HS prior to getting his new job, will do an outstanding job at Meridian, which is one of the top jobs in the state of Mississippi.

02/06/98 - Some of you are not going to agree with my next post, but I feel it needs to be said. Starkville HS Head Fooball Coach Chuck Friend does not tell his players who to sign with. According to a source who would know, Chuck remains neutral about who his players signs with. My source wanted me to mention this on my page, because he feels Chuck is getting a raw deal from the fans who say Chuck is telling his players to go out of state.

02/05/98 - While at State yesterday, I had a chance to talk to Coach Jackie Sherrill and David Wilson. Here are a few things they said:

I have never had extended face to face conversations with Jackie Sherrill and David Wilson prior to yesterday and I really didn't know them that well, but now I can say without hesitation, they are two outstanding people. Jackie is soft-spoken but looks you right in the eye. He has a presense about him; when the man walks into a room, you notice him. Very few people have that quality, but he does. I really enjoyed talking to him and came away very impressed. He was nothing like I expected based on the things I have read in the media. He is a, sincerely, nice guy.

David Wilson is one of the most likable people you will ever meet. He is the kind of guy that you would say has never met a stranger. While I was in his office, several coaches (Dunn, Fremin) came by just to say hello to him before heading out. He received a phone call from former Bulldog Robert Hicks and you would have thought they were the best of friends. He has a friendliness about him that just rubs off. You can't help but like him because he really seems to enjoy talking to you.

All in all, I feel very confident in both of these men and really believe they, along with all the other coaches, have helped turn the corner for MSU football.

02/04/98 - Here are tidbits of info I heard while at the television press conference this afternoon:

02/04/98 - I'm headed over to MSU to attend the 1:00 p.m. press conference. I'll post what I hear as soon as I get back home.

02/04/98 - Click here to see the latest signees.

02/04/98 - I think all of you will enjoy this:

The success of this year's recruiting efforts is the result of several different factors and it is not something that has just happened in the last few months.

Our recruiting plan was actually put into place last February. The first objective was to recruit in order to fit our needs. Our needs were determined through the process of extensive evaluation of our players. The evaluation of the present players that we have signed began last March as well with the gathering of film and from talking with high school coaches throughout our recruiting areas. In May of last year our coaching staff did an excellent job of identifying up-coming prospects from an ability as well as an academic standpoint. Academic evaluation is not just the examining of a prospect's senior grades. It takes a very knowledgeable person that can decide if a prospect has the ability to be successful in the classroom as well as on the required tests. Fortunately for us, Coach Sherrill has the experience and skills to properly evaluate a young person's academic history from the first grade on. He is able to research prospect's CAT and other national tests which can give a very good indication as to the ability of the prospect to be successful.

The plan also included the insertion of quality junior college players into our team. We feel it is a fact that the social and academic atmosphere at Mississippi State University is very conducive to the success of junior college players. The relationship that we have developed with the junior colleges throughout Mississippi has become a great asset to our recruiting efforts.

Our coaching staff has developed the work ethic that it takes in order to be very systematic in our contacting of prospects by phone and through correspondence. They have also been very unselfish in the way that they have helped one another in the recruiting of all of our prospects. Many times, they had to put their feelings aside in order to recruit the best possible athletes for our team.

Administration and especially our new president, Dr. Mack Portera, were very visible and accessible to personally meet each recruit and their parents throughout this entire recruiting season. Dr. Portera's enthusiasm towards athletics has been very encouraging and made a strong statement to the recruits and their parents.

Another very encouraging group was the faculty, who gave up their weekends and conducted all of our academic activities, which included meetings with our prospective athletes in their private offices. Ray Berryhill, our academic advisor, was very cooperative and supportive throughout this effort and he showed a very caring attitude regarding the academic standing of our recruits and players.

One of the most important factors in this year's success has been the effort of our players as guides and hosts for our visiting prospects. They are truly interested in helping with the recruiting effort because they know the importance of signing quality players who will help win championships.

Our outstanding support of fans and Mississippi State alumni created a positive attitude, which in turn, created a positive attitude in the media that also played a big factor in selling Mississippi State University.

The final step is that of selling Mississippi State University and the football program. Our recent success on the field, the national TV exposure of this past season and the continued improvements of our facilities all make the selling of MSU very easy. Academically, we have risen to a spot that is second to none in the SEC and nationally as well (70% graduation rate the past 7 years). The social life on campus is very attractive to a wide variety of people no matter what their race or economic standing.

The stability of our coaching staff and the dedication of Coach Sherrill to remain as the Head Coach at Mississippi State for the rest of his career has made prospects and their families feel at home and very comfortable with Mississippi State University. Coach Sherrill's success as a college football coach speaks for itself and has a tremendous affect on the prospects that we have visit our campus.

The success of our program is directly related to the factors that I have discussed here and we are dedicated to making each and every year better and better.

We are also very proud of the fact that 60% of our Signees are from Mississippi.

02/04/98 - Here's more official signee names that have been released by the MSU Athletic Department:

02/04/98 - WR James White, of DeLaSalle HS in New Orleans, has officially signed a National Letter of Intent.

02/04/98 - Edward Prather has officially signed with Miss State according to my Falkner sources. He received a lot of pressure to decommit, but honored his commitment to our Bulldogs.

Honors:

02/04/98 - Some folks have said the fire is back in the eyes of Coach Jackie Sherrill. Now, I don't know about that, but I do know at least one veteran recruiting guru has stated today's recruiting class is Coach Sherrill's best ever. What does this mean in terms of winning and losing? Let's see what he has done with classes of, supposedly, less talent:

Now, before you say it's only one class Gene, remember, last year's class was no slouch. It was just small in numbers and underrated. I'm just very, very interested in seeing what Coach Sherrill and his outstanding coaching staff will do with the last two classes, aren't you? Oh, BTW, I'm also very curious to see what Defensive Coordinator Joe Lee Dunn does with these new defensive players. I have a good feeling next year is going to be a very fun year for Miss State football fans. Now, when do those season ticket applications come out?

02/04/98 - I assume the Miss State Athletic Department will be updating throughout the day. As I see a new commitment posted, I will provide you with all that I know about him.

02/03/98 - Miss State, according to The Clarion-Ledger, gets commitment from big-time player Conner Stephens. What a recruiting class!!

02/03/98 - On a Memphis talk show yesterday morning, Recruiting analyst Bill King said Miss State is the football recruiting surprise of the SEC. He also stated Edward Prather is the best two-way player he knew of this year and would be a star on either side of the ball.

02/03/98 - I just received Max Emfinger's 1997 National Recruiting Magazine. All I can say is WOW; Max has really done an outstanding job. He lists over 1,000 total high school and junior college players with rankings for each and a paragraph on each of the Top 600. If you are interested in subscribing to Max's publication, you can contact him at 1-504-429-8005 or go to his website and contact him from it.

02/03/98 - Miss State continues to look good with Conner Stephens. MSU continues to make headway with Michael Burks.

02/03/98 - Here is some info on a couple of our commitments that most of you know very little about:

02/02/98 - As expected, Reggie Myles has committed to Alabama.

02/02/98 - Miss State has gotten a new commitment: Darius Tubbs, a 6-2, 180, 4.6-speed wide receiver from Jess Lanier HS in Bessemer, AL. Darius is an excellent receiver who has great hands and has no fear to go across the middle. He has developed very good skills due to the fact that he played against very strong competition and played for a very demanding coach, Frank Garzarek.

02/02/98 - Oops, I was wrong about the Dead Period; coaches can call the prospects as often as they want. Sorry for the mistake.

02/02/98 - Recruiting is now in a Dead Period: no coaches can call or visit a recruit. The only contact exception is if the recruit visits the college on his own as an unofficial visitor.

02/02/98 - A source of mine who had the chance to see quite a few of the best running backs in Mississippi this year (Justin Griffith, Francisco Kelly, Albert Jones, Toward Sanford, Dicenzo Miller, among others), rated Griffith as the best power back by far and Miller as the best speed back by a closer margin. One thing my source takes into consideration when rating these players is their work ethic and attitude. He told me the best Mississippi high school athlete he has ever seen is former Warren Central HS running back Brian Darden, but he felt Brian would not make it in the SEC because of his attitude and work effort. Just goes to show you, talent is not all you need to make it big in college.

02/01/98 - Reggie Myles has decided to cast his lot with Alabama, according to a very reliable source of mine.

02/01/98 - There have been several high quality high school and junior college players that have committed to Miss State but have not received official offers, according to various sources. What is happening is some of these kids have waited until Miss State filled their requirements, thus MSU had no scholarship to award them.

02/01/98 - Here is the latest on players I know that are still considering MSU:

02/01/98 - Here's another example of why Miss State is doing such an outstanding job in football recruiting:

Mississippi State's student athletes (all men and women sports) combined to achieve a 2.78 grade-point average during the fall of 1997, the second highest semester GPA ever. The fall's GPA was a slight increase over the 2.76 average MSU's student athletes earned in the spring of 1997.

A total of 53 scholarship athletes (men and women) made either the Dean's Scholar or President's Scholar lists in the fall, the highest such number ever achieved. Forty-four percent (110 of 252) of Mississippi State's scholarship athletes earned a fall GPA of 3.00 or higher.

02/01/98 - Edward "Pig" Prather was at the MSU/Arkansas basketball game yesterday. The word I heard is he is not waivering even with the considerable pressure he is receiving from the Ole Miss coaches. BTW, Bradley Prather was with him. Conner Stephens was not at the game.

02/01/98 - There is no truth to the rumor that Dicenzo Miller is considering decommitting from MSU and committing to Ole Miss. Although I have heard Ole Miss is putting a LOT of pressure on Miller, he is extremely happy to be a future Bulldog.

02/01/98 - Click here to read what Super Scout Max Emfinger thinks about MSU commitment Brandon Butler.