| 1996 | Oct | Nov | Dec | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Jan | Feb | March | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 1998 | Jan | Feb | March | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| 1999 | Jan | Feb |
03/31/99 - The rumor is Madison Central HS offensive lineman Doug Buckles is receiving quite a bit of info from Florida State. It is also rumored that Doug has heard from as far away as UCLA, USC and North Carolina. Obviously this young man must be something special. Sure hope he decides to stay in-state and play for MSU. He would continue the long line of great offensive linemen who have played for MSU under Coach Sherrill.
03/29/99 - Other scrimmage and football info:
03/29/99 - Look for the 10-County Northeast Mississippi Bulldog Club meeting to be May 6th, 6:30 p.m. in the Tupelo (MS) Coliseum. Tentative MSU athletic department guests are Joe Lee Dunn, Rick Stansbury, Sparky Woods, David Wilson, Craig Stump and others. I will post additional info as I receive it. If you live in the Tupelo area show the coaches you appreciate the jobs they did this past year by attending.
03/28/99 - I attended Saturday's football scrimmage and came away impressed with the quarterbacks as well as the athletic ability of our linemen (offense and defense).
Quarterbacks:
Wayne Madkin - Wayne had a good day scrambling and passing the ball. His elusiveness is the best of all the quarterbacks. His confidence level appears to be much better than last year.
Matt Wyatt - Matt passed the ball well yesterday. In fact, he connected with Armstead for a 70-yard TD pass.
Brandon Butler - Brandon looked good passing the ball at times and has the best straight ahead speed of the quarterbacks.
One thing I would like to mention is how new offensive coordinator Sparky Woods seems to be a real hands-on coach as evidenced by his talking to the quarterbacks throughout the scrimmage.
Kicking Game:
Scott Westerfield kicked all of the kickoffs and normally kicked to the 5 and 10 yard lines.
Offensive Line:
First line (Fair, Mooney, Fairchild, Womack, and Shivers) looked solid. The second line, which consisted of three freshmen (Sijansky, Wallace, Hutchins) and two juniors (Thomas & McRae) looked athletic but inconsistent, which you would expect from a mostly freshmen offensive line. BTW, Wallace looks much leaner since the last time I saw him. Most of the linemen run very well for their size. Looked for walk-on center Joey Hydrick to get snaps on the second line during the remaining practices. He is working hard and showing great competitiveness in practice.
Running Backs:
Justin Griffith looked good running, although he ran mostly from the fullback position. He also showed good hands catching the ball. Fullback Taylor Bunch also showed good toughness running the ball. Chris Rainey, as usual, looked good running the ball. Dicenzo Miller looked good returning kicks but didn't run much at the halfback position due, I suppose, to the injury he is recovering from.
Defensive Line:
Alvin McKinley looked good at the noseguard position. New Bulldog Dorsett Davis looked strong rushing. Needs to develop his technique but definitely shows great potential. Redshirt freshman Mario Haggan showed good quickness on the line. Conner Stephens did not practice due to a death in the family.
Secondary:
Pig Prather showed great aggressiveness and toughness. An offensive player told me Prather reminds him of Ashley Cooper, who did not practice due to surgery.
BTW, several signees and their families were at the scrimmage: Terrell Grindle, Keshan Fudge and Corey Miley.
03/27/99 - Here is recruiting info provided by Rob Haralson of Bulldog Bytes (one of two Mississippi State online recruiting publications that are top of the line and come with my highest recommendation). If you are interested in subscribing, his site can be found by clicking here.
One thing you need to remember, it is very early in the recruiting process and coaches haven't been able to contact the players except by letters so the school preferences will most likely change as the players start receiving telephone calls from the coaches.
Rob has many, many more player interviews but fair is fair (he is a pay site) so if you are interested in reading about them, contact his site from the above link and subscribe today. Rob does a great job covering MSU recruiting. It comes highly recommend by me.
03/27/99 - A huge thank you goes to John Bonelli of Mississippi Gridiron Authority (MGA) for allowing me to post this info on my page. If you aren't already a subscriber to MGA, click here to go to their site. I highly recommend them if you are interested in MSU recruiting (they also provide great coverage of Ole Miss and USM recruiting).
Update -- March 19,1999 - Interview with Aaron Lumpkin
Aaron Lumpkin, Dayton, OH., Madison HS:
Mississippi State landed a quality tight end prospect from Dayton, Ohio in the likes of Aaron Lumpkin. Lumpkin (6'4" 255 4.6) caught 19 passes for 401 yards and two touchdowns. He is noted as a fine blocker as well. Aaron likes running routes and blocking. He noted, " I really like blocking, man-to-man, you know, a man-thing."
Aaron chose Mississippi State over Auburn because of the opportunity to play and the fact Auburn had a coaching change and he did not want to get into that situation. Aaron stated, "When you come into a program that had a coaching change, the new coach wants to play the players he recruits. It can cause problems between teammates and they may not see eye-to-eye, and that can be bad."
"Coming down South is a culture shock, it's so different from Dayton, Ohio. The people were so nice at Mississippi State," was one of the reasons Aaron listed as selecting MSU. Aaron mentioned another reason for his choice, "Graduation is real important to me, and they graduate their players." Aaron will study business while at Mississippi State.
Aaron was also recruited by Ohio State, several MAC schools, and Minnesota. Ohio State recruited Aaron until the last day, Aaron noted somewhat bitterly, " Ohio State recruited me until the last day and then suddenly backed off. They wanted to go in a different direction and I did as well. " He was strongly considering OSU until they pulled back.
Aaron also told MGA that his friend and teammate from Madison High in Dayton, Stephon Daniels will be walking-on at State. Daniels was the leading sacker for his league. Daniels (6' 2" 240 4.7) will play outside linebacker at Mississippi State. He recorded 110 tackles and numerous sacks this season. Stephon was recruited by Minnesota, Pitt, and several MAC schools. Aaron told MGA that the reason Daniels was not recruited more was the fact he had to play out of position as a down-lineman on the defense because of an ineligible player on their team.
03/26/99 - The rumor is MSU's coaches are very, very high on Madison Central offensive lineman supreme Doug Buckles. Let's all hope Doug and his family show up for Super Bulldog Weekend to see all the great things happening at MSU. If any Bulldog fans know Doug and his family make sure you tell them SBW is the weekend of April 9th-11th and all Bulldogs fans would love to see them there.
In fact if any of you know a high school athlete you think might be interested in MSU invite them to SBW. This will be a great time to show them the great things going on at MSU.
03/26/99 - Here are two more other names of players MSU is showing interest in:
Fulton (MS) HS:
Adams County Christian School (Natchez, MS):
03/26/99 - Taylor Moore update from a very close friend of the family:
They have moved him to a private room and he seems to be moving around a little more. He is still in a coma, they say it is almost like a "dream like state". He is responding some times when asked to move his foot or thumb. The doctors are encouraged by the CAT scans and everything else is just day to day. Thanks for all the prayers from the "Bulldog family" and please keep it up
Another Bulldog family (from Brandon, MS) needs your prayers:
Johnny and Kay Chapman's only child, Phillip, who is a second year med student at UM, was involved in a single car accident the weekend before last. He was coming back home with some friends after attending the NCAA's in New Orleans. Phillip received a broken neck and has paralysis from the neck down. He is presently in Methodist Rehab in Jackson, MS. Phillip, who has attended MSU sporting events since he was a child, and his family needs your prayers.
03/24/99 - MSU football signee Donald Tucker (OL, Tupelo HS) had a shot put of 57-2 at the USM Relays last week.
03/24/99 - Are these young men future MSU recruits?
Clarksdale (MS) HS:
Newton (MS) HS:
Provine HS (Jackson, MS):
Brookhaven (MS) HS:
If you know about other players in Mississippi that you think I should list, contact me by email at swindoll@genespage.com.
03/24/99 - Advertisement: Looking for a top quality computer at a great price? Look no further than Howard Computers. Visit their website at http://www.howardcomputers.com
03/23/99 - Here's a little MSU offensive linemen practice update. Sorry, my source only gave me info on a few of the linemen. I'll try and get info on the other offensive linemen the next time I see my source.
Things are looking good on the offensive lineman front. Look for these guys to open up solid holes for our running backs next season.
P.S. That really was me posting on the Rebel Vent last night. I do believe some of them didn't believe it was me. Just wanted to clear that up. If George Lotterhos is good enough to come to our baseball games then there surely isn't anything wrong with Bulldogs going to the Rebel Vent as long as we are as cordial and nice as George. He and Chris are two really super nice people and we are proud to have them as a Diamond Dogs fan and player.
03/22/99 - From The Clarion-Ledger:
03/22/99 - Make sure you are making plans on being at the MSU football spring game on Super Bulldog Weekend. Wouldn't it be great if we had 15,000 to 20,000 fans attending the game? It sure would be a great way to show our appreciation to the outstanding job our football coaches did this past football and recruiting seasons. Make sure you bring at least one person with you. Let's really make SBW a special event this year. State Is It!
03/21/99 - The word is MSU signee Dorsett Davis has really impressed the coaching staff because of how well he played in practice last week.
03/21/99 - As almost everybody knows by now, Aaron Lumpkin, a 6-4, 245-lb TE from Madison, OH., has committed to MSU, according to Border Wars. According to SuperPrep's All-American Issue, he is the 83rd best player (3rd best TE) in the Midwest area (covers Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin). SP stated that Aaron was recruited by Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan State. The story is he had not passed his ACT by signing day and did not sign with anyone because of that. After he made a qualifying score, he visited MSU and Auburn and decided on MSU.
03/21/99 - Taylor Moore Update: Taylor is doing better but is still in a coma. According to Mike Colbert, the emails you sent really brought tremendous joy to Taylor's family. Knowing that so many folks who don't even know Taylor were praying for him made quite an impression on them.
03/18/99 - More Iron Dawg info:
If you want to read more about the Iron Dawgs, Dawgs' Bite should have all you want to read this week or next.
03/17/99 - Why are our coaches so excited about big men Kenric Fairchild and Dorsett Davis? How often do you find 300 pounders who run sub-5.0 40 yard dashes? Kenric, who is a 6-4, 318 offensive lineman, runs a 4.9 forty and Dorsett, who is 6-6, 300 defensive lineman, runs a 4.8. This info came from The Commercial Dispatch (Columbus, MS.) which quoted Coach Sherrill.
03/17/99 - Did you know MSU starting QB Wayne Madkin is now an Iron Dawg? The word is Wayne has worked extremely hard to improve himself and is determined to hold onto his starting QB role this spring. Sounds like MSU will be very solid at the QB spot come this fall.
03/17/99 - Advertisement: Don't forget to check out the Mississippi Sports & Hall of Fame Museum the next time you are in Jackson, Mississippi. Click here to go to their website.
03/16/99 - I had a great time at the Noxubee County MSU Alumni Association annual meeting last night. James Simpson, Gene Moore and the rest of the Noxubee County Bulldogs put on a great event to say the least. There were over 70 Bulldog fans at the meeting. As guest speakers, they had new MSU offensive coordinator Sparky Woods, new TE Coach/Recruiting Coordinator David Wilson and MSU Alumni Association official Lorrie Smith also spoke. (I apologize if I misspelled Lorrie's name) If you ever get the chance to hear any of these three MSU folks speak, you will be very impressed with each and everyone of them.
Thing of note mentioned:
03/15/99 - The rumor is MSU had 43 players earn the right to be called Iron Dawgs. This is 1 more than last year. 13 made the Elite Dawgs. Elite Dawgs are the ones who passed all 7 categories. Nice to see the underclassmen take over where the seniors left off.
I don't have a list of who made it but I do know of several newcomers who did (more may have, not really sure): QB Brandon Butler, DBs Robert Bean and Shawn Byrdsong, and LB Jerry Bolton.
03/15/99 - Did you know signee Baris Grant, who is 6-1, 240-lbs, can bench 375 pounds and squat 500?
03/15/99 - Did you also know running back Justin Griffith runs a 4.55, benches 375 pounds and squats 500? Not bad for a freshman.
03/15/99 - The rumor is Carl Hutchins is MSU's most impressive young offensive lineman. I was told he is a very athletic big man.
03/12/99 - Don't forget about the Macon, MS. MSU Alumni Association meeting next Monday night (March 15th). Here are all the details:
03/10/99 - Judge rules for the student/athletes over the NCAA. Click here to read more about the judge's ruling.
03/10/99 - The strong rumor is MSU Tight End signee Donald Lee scored a 20 on his ACT and is on course to make the necessary GPA in his core classes.
03/10/99 - Advertisement: If you live in the Pascagoula area and are looking for a stock broker to help you invest your money wisely, then Jon Reynolds is who you want to contact. Jon can be reached at 228-762-5544 (Local), 800-476-5577 (Statewide) or dog66@ametro.net (email). Click here to go to the A.G. Edwards & Sons website to see all the things Jon can offer you. Give Jon a call. Tell him you read about him on Gene's Page.
03/08/99 - For those of you in the Macon, Mississippi and surrounding area, you can visit with new MSU Offensive Coordinator Sparky Woods and newly appointed Tight Ends Coach / Recruiting Coordinator David Wilson, Monday, March 15th.
03/06/99 - Former Bulldog Scott Gumina has signed a one-year contract with the New Orleans Saints. He is scheduled to participate in all 3 training camps and will, hopefully, make the team.
03/06/99 - A fellow Bulldog fan has contacted me asking if I know of anyone who has a videotape of the MSU / Arkansas football game. Anybody got a videotape they could record and mail it to this Bulldog fan? He will pay you for the tape. Contact me at swindoll@genespage.com if you are willing to help a fellow Bulldog out.
03/06/99 - There is a fellow Bulldog fan new to the Orlando, Florida area who would like to meet other Bulldog fans in Orlando or the surrounding area. If you are interested, contact me at swindoll@genespage.com and I will give you his name and email address.
03/05/99 - The Greater Jackson Bulldog Boosters Club will host their 1st Annual Spring Scholarship Golf Scramble at Whisper Lake C. C. in Madison on March 19th at noon. The cost for golf, drinks, and prizes is only $55.00! A real bargain. All proceeds will go to the MSU Bulldog Club to establish an endowment. Better hurry because they can only take 100 golfers. For more info. call Bobbi at 601-856-2777.
03/05/99 - It has been brought to my attention that Southwest MS CC has a freshman lineman who could be one of the most highly recruited players in the Mississippi Juco ranks next season. Derrick Brantley (6-4, 300), from South Carolina, was All-State and played in the North Carolina / South Carolina Shrine Bowl his senior year. He is considered very quick for his size. Supposedly, at SWCC last season, he started on the offensive line. The word is he has been contacted by Clemson, South Carolina, LSU, MSU and, possibly other SEC schools. If any of your know anything about Derrick or saw him play, let me know. I would like to post it on my page. Sounds like he could be a great prospect.
03/04/99 - Pearl High School's Justin Jenkins, another MSU football signee, has made a qualifying ACT score.
03/04/99 - If you are interested in downloading the 1999 season and individual game ticket orders, you can do so by clicking here.
03/03/99 - I would like to introduce the next tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator at MSU: David Wilson. For the complete details, click here.
03/01/99 - Guess what? More great news. First, prime time basketball signee Jonathan Bender scored a qualifying ACT test score. Now, a couple of football signees, Terrell Grindle and Donald Lee, are rumored to have done the same.