June 1998 Unofficial MSU Football Skuttle-Butt

06/30/98 - The Pensacola, Fla. MSU Alumni Association meeting had 65 attendees. Not bad for a Monday night and two states away from Mississippi. David Wilson spoke about the good points of last season (Alabama and Auburn) and the bad point (Arkansas). He also mentioned that MSU had 16 of their high school signees in all-star games.

06/30/98 - The word is MSU is looking good with Maben HS senior TE/LB Donald Lee. This kid may be the surprise of the state this coming season. He very quietly led the state in receptions last year at his TE position. I have seen him play a couple of times. He has good speed, very good hands, nice size with room to grow.

06/30/98 - Did you know MSU football player Larry Campbell has a "little" brother who may be the top junior QB in the state this coming season, possibly the best Mississipppi HS QB period? Jason Campbell is 6-4, 200-lbs, has 4.7 speed in the forty and a vertical leap in the 34" to 36" range, plus is an A and B student. According to my source, who has seen Jason play quite a bit, he throws the fades and corner routes about as well as you can.

06/29/98 - Here is a list of several more MSU high school football signees that have cleared the NCAA National Clearinghouse (I have already mentioned Parther and Sirmones):

Pertinent info on several of the other high school signees:

Info on Juco signees:

Robert Bean is the only one in doubt. One juco signee of note, Alvin McKinley has very impressive grades is what I was told. The only reason I mentioned McKinley is because I had heard from a couple of Ole Miss sources that his grades were not very good and he would not be academically eligible.

06/26/98 - Have you heard of Brandon Bourgeois, a football player from Parkview Baptist HS in Baton Rouge? MSU has. Brandon, who plays WR/DE, has received letters from MSU, Kentucky, Georgia, LSU and several other SEC teams. As I receive more info from my source I will post it.

06/26/98 - The rumor is Ackerman's Chad Fondren is being looked at by USM with great interest. Supposedly, USM wants him to pick up twenty or more pounds and work on his speed. He is a very good kid with good grades. I was also told he is a Miss State fan.

06/25/98 - For the seventh straight year, MSU graduated at least 70% of its football players. MSU, along with Florida, Tennessee and Vanderbilt were the only SEC universities to graduate at least 70% of its football players in the 1997 academic year. For additional details, click here.

06/25/98 - Don't forget to check out the latest MSU events that are happening in the coming days. Click here to see what is going on. There is one in Pensacola you Florida Bulldogs will be very interested in going to, but you have to contact them no later than Friday. MSU's own David Wilson will be the guest speaker.

06/25/98 - Click here to read a story about MSU football signee Nathan Jackson's knee injury.

06/25/98 - MSU walk-on (?) football player Brad Weathers (OL, Amite County) was seen at a local gym in McComb, Miss. working out. Brad, who, according to my source, looks to be about 6-6, and weighs 325 pounds, was benching 385 pounds.

06/25/98 - Remember, if you live in the Jackson, Mississippi area and are in need of insurance Mark Doiron is the insurance agent you need to contact. You can contact him through his website by clicking here.

06/24/98 - MSU signee Nathan Jackson will require surgery to his knee, but the doctors expect him to have a full recovery.

06/24/98 - Miss State's signees are really on the ball this summer. Most (60%) of them have already been approved by the NCAA National Clearinghouse or will be approved in the next few days. For those of you worried about Pig Prather, he has been approved. C.J. Sirmones has also been cleared. I'm sure our coaches are very happy about Sirmones. It is great to see so many of them taking care of business so early. I look for quite a few of them to be in the second summer session of school.

06/23/98 - Just wanted to pass this info on to each one of you who emailed your condolences to MSU signee Darius Brown for the loss of his mother, David Wilson will pass all of your emails and letters to Darius.

06/23/98 - The latest word on Nathan Jackson, the MSU signee who was hurt in the MS\AL All-Star Football Game, is his knee is still swollen and a final decision will be made soon as to whether he will require surgery. There is probably a good chance he will. My source wasn't sure how serious the surgery would be. According to my source, the coaches main concern right now is the well-being of Nathan, who is an outstanding young person.

06/23/98 - Received this info last night. If anyone can confirm it, please do. I was told MSU is looking at a QB and a DB/WR from Holy Cross in New Orleans, La. My source also said they are both good baseball players.

Kevin Preau - QB, 6-2, 190, 4.7, very good student, has ACT score.
Neil Ponstein - DB/WR, 6-3, 190, 4.6, very good student, has ACT score.

Like I said, I have not confirmed this with any of my other Louisiana sources, so if you can, email me.

By the way, has anyone heard of an Andre Joyce from McDonough 35 High School in New Orleans?

06/23/98 - Natchez High School senior-to-be Greg Carter was selected to The Clarion-Ledger's 1998 All-State Track and Field Team. He was also selected the Athlete-of-the-Year. Greg (5-11, 160), whose best time in the 40 is 4.25, is being recruited as a wide receiver by quite a few colleges. At this point, Miss State, Florida, Florida State and LSU head his list. Source: The Clarion-Ledger.

06/22/98 - The Vandy game now has a 5:00 pm kick-off to accommodate a national broadcast by ESPN2.

06/22/98 - Watch out for this young man this coming season. West Point High School has a kicker by the name of Nick Dimino (Senior, 5-11, 180) who could be something special this coming season. Nick, I was told, kicked nine field goals last season which led the state of Mississippi (co-leader in the state). Included in those nine, was a 47-yarder. He attempted two from 52 yards, missing both attempts, although one had the distance but was just wide because of a strong north wind. I was also told by someone close to the family that he has kicked 65 yard field goals while working out on his own. Nick has camped at MSU and will camp at Auburn later in the summer. He has received letters from the likes of MSU, Auburn, Southern Miss, East Tenn State, Tennessee, Navy, Baylor, Northwestern, Arkansas, Alabama and Stanford. He is a National Honor Society student.

06/21/98 - The Mississippi all-star football team, which had 11 future Miss State Bulldogs among the 35 total team members, defeated the Alabama all-star football team, 9-0. Magee HS fullback and future MSU Bulldog Justin Griffith looked outstanding on the offensive side of the ball, gaining 100 yards on 16 carries. At times it took up to five Alabama players to bring him down. He proved last night why he led the state of Mississippi in rushing this past season. This kid is an absolutely tremendous power runner who also has very good balance. Another futrue Bulldog who looked exceptional was Clarkdale's Mario Haggan. For a big man (270-lbs), Mario, playing the middle linebacker position, showed outstanding speed, one time running Alabama QB Tyler Watts down from behind. Look for this young man to have a chance to play a lot as a freshman. Weir HS RB Dicenzo Miller showed very good open field tackling ability on defense and the special teams. On the Alabama side WR Darius Tubbs show good hands catching the ball.

06/20/98 - According to my TV Guide, the MS/AL Football All-Star Game starts at 8:00 p.m. Not sure if that is the case for all states. If you check it and it isn't on at 8, then check it again at 11:00 p.m.

06/19/98 - Just thought you guys would like to know why MSU signee Conner Stephens is not playing in this Saturday's AL/MS All-Star football game even though he was originally on the roster. Conner decided to attend the first session of summer school at MSU and decided to withdraw from the game because of that. For reasons beyond Conner's control (classes he wanted were not available), he could not attend summer school. He then discovered it was also too late for him to play in the game since another player had been picked to take his place. Now you know the rest of the story.

06/18/98 - According to the latest news, MS Delta CC defensive lineman Dorsett Davis (a player MSU is recruiting) is now 6-7, 320-lbs and carrying it very well is what I was told. He will play football this year at MS Delta and be classified as a red-shirt freshman. Once he signs with a D-I school next February, he will have three years of playing eligibility left.

06/17/98 - Several of you have wondered who we have as a backup punter in case anything should happen to Jeff Walker. A name to watch for is Todd Stanton. Todd, a walk-on from last year, has been working very hard this summer to work himself into shape to be the next punter at MSU when Jeff graduates. He has been punting, running and working with weights according to the schedule MSU strength coach Mike Grant put him on. He has had workouts where he has averaged over 45 yards per punt. He has even kicked one punt 85 yards (slight wind aided and a roll) and another one that went 70 yards. I'm not trying to put pressure on this young man, but it is nice to know MSU has someone who is willing to work this hard to try and become the next punter at MSU.

06/17/98 - Here's some additonal info on possible MSU wide receiver recruit Kenyon Hambrick. Kenyon, as some of you may know, is a former Huntsville, AL. teammate of present MSU red-shirt QB Wayne Madkin. Kenyon signed with UAB out of high school but failed to meet freshman eligibilty requirements and attended Hinds CC instead. As a side note, he was an outstanding basketball player as well and played basketball with Marvin Stone (the # 1 senior-to-be prep player in the nation according to several recruiting publications) when Stone was a freshman. Stone transferred to Grissom HS after his freshman year. Don't read anything into this. It's just a tidbit of information I thought was interesting.

06/17/98 - As reported by Dawgs Bite, MSU football signee Robert Bean is iffy for this coming season. I talked to someone today and he told me Bean is right on the edge as to whether he will be eligible prior to December. It is possible he will qualify. MSU signee C. J. Sirmones should qualify according to my source. It depends on the NCAA National Clearinghouse now. As Dawgs Bite reported, and my source confirmed, the two signees that don't appear to have a chance to qualify are Marco Minor and Julius Griffith.

06/16/98 - Here are a few more players to add to the MSU 1998-1999 recruiting list:

06/16/98 - Please contact Mark Doiron, the membership director of the Greater Jackson (MS) Bulldog Boosters, if you are interested in joining their MSU Booster Group. They are 500 strong and growing by leaps and bounds. Mark can be contacted at 601-856-2777. Annual fees are $25 (Individual) and $35 (family). This is a very active and supportive group which would love to have each and every one of you as a new member.

Another MSU sports-related group that I recommend you look into joining is the Starkville Quarterback Club. This club, located in Starkville, helps provide scholarships to MSU. They have weekly meeting with guest speakers and MSU coaches talking about their respective sports. You can contact them by visiting their website.

06/16/98 - Don't forget to visit the best pizza restaurant, CiCi's Pizza, if you live in Jackson, MS. or the surrounding area. Cici's Pizza, which is partly owned by MSU alumni and fan Ray Downey, has the famous $2.99 all-you-can-eat buffet. Visit their website on the internet by clicking here.

06/14/98 - Although it is not complete, here is an early list of players MSU is probably going to recruit. If you know of any others, please pass them along to me so that I can add them to my list.

06/13/98 - According to a source of mine, the Thompson twins (Derrick and Eric Thompson) have attended the MSU camp for at least the past three years. Eric and Derrick, both model students, may be slightly leaning to MSU at this time. Look for both of these kids to be selected to several Pre-Season All-American high school teams. I also expect them to be selected to The Clarion-Ledger's Dandy Dozen.

06/13/98 - BTW, don't forget to visit my sponsors: Tuxes, Too, Mark Doiron, Allstate Insurance, and Monroe-Tufline.

06/12/98 - A high school senior to watch this coming season is Winona High School offensive lineman Kyle Billingsley.

Kyle, who is 6-5, 290 with a 5.5 forty time, is receiving attention from teams like Miss State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Michigan, Southern Miss and Arkansas State, just to name a few. Kyle is a hard worker who will be bench pressing, in all probability, 300 pounds and squatting close to 500 pounds by the end of the summer. I also look for his forty time to come down as he gains strength in his legs. Because of strong family ties to MSU, he is most interested in them, but he is open. So far, Southern Miss and Arkansas State have shown the most interest. As more schools hear about this young man, I expect the attention he receives will pick up dramatically.

This summer, Kyle will be camping at MSU, Ole Miss, Southern Miss, Arkansas State and the Southeastern Wing-T Camp in Georgia (put on by University of Delaware).

06/12/98 - MSU signees Ivan Billie and Nathan Jackson will be attending the second summer session of summer school.

06/12/98 - Late breaking newsflash: Lincoln Smith (6-10, 285), one of the top three senior offensive linemen prospects in Mississippi as well as one of the best in the southeast, very recently told a very reliable source of mine that he is giving up football to concentrate on basketball (he plays center) and to an extent track. Miss State, along with a host of other schools, is recruiting Lincoln in football and basketball.

06/12/98 - For those of you who want to watch the high school all-star football games, here are the games, times and channels via satellite dish programming according to OnSat (a weekly guide for large dish owners. sorry, I don't know the locations of the channels for the 18" dish):

As you can see, the AL-MS game is tape-delayed.

BTW, if you owned an 18" dish from Dish Lease, Inc. you would be able to watch both of these games. If you want to buy an 18" dish, why don't you contact Scott Putnam by visiting his website and buy the best dish on the market today.

06/12/98 - The official sizes of the Thompson twins: Derrick, 6-4.5, 258; Eric, 6-6, 283. They are from a little town in Mississippi called Itta Bena. It is the home of Mississippi Valley State University. Both will be highly recruited (MSU included) and the rumor is both twins will qualify.

06/09/98 - Two players that Miss State will be recruiting this recruiting season are Blount (AL) HS standouts WR DeAndre Greenand DL DeMarco McNeil, both national recruits.

06/09/98 - Don't let people fool you about our head football coach. Even among the young kids at the MSU football camp, he gets attention. While watching the kids when Coach Jackie Sherrill was around, I could see their heads turn to follow him. He is one of those rare people who walks into a room and the crowd turns toward him.

I was lucky enough to talk to him a couple of times while observing the camp. The things I continue to notice about Coach Sherrill is, although he is a legend among football coaches and one of the most recognizable coaches in America, he is very soft-spoken, unassuming and a very friendly man. One-on-one, he comes across as a very nice man. I can say this without the least bit of hesitation, each time I talk to him, the more proud and honored I am to know he is the coach of my football team.

Well, since I am talking about coaches, two other MSU coaches I had a chance to get to know a little better were John Hendrick and Melvin Smith. Both of these guys are really super nice guys who have a winning way around people. I can definitely see why these two guys can recruit so well.

Another coach I was impressed with was Glenn Davis. While I didn't get to talk to him very much, what impressed me about him was the way he and his son were together almost all the time while he was at the camp. You can tell this is a man who has his priorities in order. I even remember when he was at basketball games, his son was usually there with him.

David Wilson, what can I say about Coach Wilson? This is one of the friendliest people I have ever been around. He has a very unique knack for getting a smile out of anybody. I watched him during the camp and he was everywhere. I bet he got every kid at the camp to smile at least once. If you want my opinion, he was the final piece of the puzzle that MSU needed to turn the corner. We saw the corner start turning last football season and then saw a major turn this past recruiting season when we had, potentially, one of the best recruiting effort in Miss State history. I truly believe Coach Wilson had a major part in that. He saw the talent we have on our coaching staff and coordinated it into a tough to recruit against machine. I promise each and every one of you, if we keep this staff together, MSU will be a force in the SEC for years to come.

It is very, very important the next time you see MSU AD Larry Templeton, that you tell him to make sure he keeps every one of these coaches very, very happy. He has it in his power to help our football program continue turning that very important corner. If he greases the wheels where they need to be greased the most, then he shares equally for turning our program around. If he doesn't, then he shares a very large part in the failure of this potentially great football program.

Each one of us will also have a large part in the success or failure of this football program. Our part is the easiest of all: Buy season tickets and contribute to the Bulldog Club. If you haven't done both, then you have added to the possibility of failure. If you have done both, then you have added to the potential for success. If you live too far away to come to the games, you can still do your part by contributing to the Bulldog Club. Success or failure, which do you want to contribute to?

06/08/98 - MSU's football camp closed out with a bang with an an exciting championship game with Hattiesburg defeating Prichard Blount (AL) HS. By the way, Blount has a couple of national recruits (Tom Lemming's National 200 players) in WR DeAndre Green (6-2, 185) and DL DeMarco McNeil (6-2, 285). Based on what I saw, they are definitely big-time prospects. McNeil, for a big man, can really run. Green has great hands, speed and leaping ability. Hattiesburg has several great prospects also. One whose last name is DeBerg, I think, looked exceptional at CB. Any of you Hattiesburg sources got any info on him? I didn't catch any of the other names, although Hattiesburg does have a white guy who plays TE and is about 6-2 or 6-3. He looks like a player also. Not sure if he is a junior or senior. Got any info on him?

Got a chance to see Clinton HS's Dontae Walker (Tom Lemming's National 200 player) in action. This guy is a big-time player. Although his team did not make the championship game, he was a one-man wrecking crew in his final game. He played CB and WR and was the go-to man. Great hands, speed, and solid looking.

Another team that was very interesting to watch was Taylorsville with at least three major talents (two from schools other than Taylorsville): Leflore County HS TE Derrick Thompson (Senior, 6-4.5, 258), Amory HS RB Steve Griffin (Senior, 5-9, 175), and Taylorsville HS QB Jason Campbell (Junior, 6-1, 190). Derrick, who has a twin brother, Erick (6-5, 283), has very good hands and speed and will be highly recruited. Steve has great moves and hands and should also be highly recruited this coming season. Jason is a potential big-time talent with a great arm and touch on his passes. If this young man continues to work hard and develop, I look for him to have the chance to be one of the best QBs in the nation in a couple of years.

All in all, I was very impressed with MSU's football camp. The kids were at it from early Saturday morning until 11 p.m. Saturday night. Then back at it Sunday morning until around noon. The linemen received instructions from college and high school coaches Saturday while the other players played seven-on-seven pass/catch games (touch, not tackle) while being coached by high school coaches. This gave the kids a chance to play against players they might not play against during the football season. The coaches got to coach players they read about. Plus, they got the chance to see how their team performs against teams from other states and other classifications. If I were a football player and I wanted to go to a camp, you can bet your bottom dollar this is the kind of camp I would want to go to. And to think, it only cost each camper $45. You can't beat that. I was told the July camp will be very similar to this one and the MSU coaches expect at least the same number of campers (500+) to be at it. When word gets out about how exciting this last one was, I would expect more than 500 to attend. If you know of a high school football player who would like to attend the next MSU football camp and play against some of the top players in the south and nation, for that matter, have him contact Phil Silva (601-325-2534) or Jane Ballard by email at ballard@athletics.msstate.edu.

06/08/98 - Please don't forget to visit my sponsors listed at the top of this page. They help me provide this service to each of you. Plus, they are all Bulldog fans. What better reason do you need to spend your money with them?

06/07/98 - Miss State's football camp, which is opened to the public, started yesterday. Yours truly attended yesterday's session. There were over 500 campers. You read it right, over 500. Here is a sample of well known senior football players who were campers:

That's just a small sample of the caliber of senior football players that were at the camp.

The campers, after having their 40 times taken, played 7-on-7 football games from 2 p.m. until 11 p.m. with a meal break at 6 p.m. The linemen were taken over to the soccer field and given technique instruction by the MSU line coaches and several high school coaches. Coach Sherrill and several high school coaches instructed the kickers.

Getting back to the 40-times: One lineman ran a 4.75-forty and another lineman ran a 4.8-forty. I kid you not. Look for them to be extremely highly recruited when the other schools find out about them. I ain't telling who they are or their size because I want State to sign these two. Let the other schools do their own research.

The camp continues today beginning at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at approximately 11:30. It is open to the public.

06/04/98 - A HUGE Bulldog thanks to the companies that helped out our MSU football players by providing summer jobs. However, MSU is still looking for 5 additional summer jobs for football players. If you have something available, please contact David Wilson at DWilson@Academics.Athletics.MsState.Edu. These are all very good kids who need a job while waiting to go to second semester summer school. All you have to do is provide them an opportunity to work for about a month and a half until the second session starts. True Bulldog fans help other members of the Bulldog family when they are called upon. Please do you part, and help these kids.

06/04/98 - It's wedding season and you know what that means: Tuxedos. If you are looking for the perfect tuxedo, then Tuxes, Too is the perfect place to shop. Bulldog fan Doug Douglass is waiting to hear from you.

06/03/98 - Miss State football signee Justin Griffith was selected to the Magee HS Hall of Fame by the Magee faculty. He was presented with this honor during Magee's commencement ceremony

06/01/98 - The latest word on MSU signee Dicenzo Miller is he has been told he will be given the chance to return kickoffs and punts this coming season. My source also told me Dicenzo has no problem playing on defense or offense.

I have talked to several folks from Weir, Mississippi, recently and they all say the same thing about Dicenzo: he is a great kid who is well-liked in the Weir community. BTW, did you know that Dicenzo has a younger brother in the 9th grade at Weir HS? He is supposed to be faster than Dicenzo and has a great arm to boot (he plays QB).