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Question: Has any MS high school football player within the last decade left the state of MS to play Div. 1A college football and actually accomplished much on the field of play? I am having a hard time recalling any players who left the state and became "stars". Lately, this seems to be the kiss of death.

One comes to mind... Jason Campbell. Took him 3 years to learn the offence, but I'd say he was a star his Senior year - JMO

and then you have Blake Barnes....

How long will it be till Comegy is calling JJ? I bet not long.

'Bama's got another MS Mr. Football in Terry Grant and he seems to be doing fine. As a freshman for the tide he lead the team in rushing and owns school records for rushing yards, attempts, and touchdowns for freshman running backs. He was also an academic excellence award winner. Along with a couple other good players from the state of MS in receiver Mike McCoy and defensive back Justin Woodall. McCoy had a good year last year as a Sophmore starting 9 of 13 games and was third on the team in receiving and should play a bigger part in the offense this year probably starting opposite of Julio Jones. As long as none of these guys start slinging the rock like Jimmie did they should all have very successful careers, Jimmie just didn't have it upstairs.

dope and dogs...check out his web page about his pit bull business


http://www.jimmyjohnspitbulls.com/index2.html

A little over a decade since they graduated but Dwayne Rudd and Deshea Towndsend did okay. Quentin Groves of Auburn is from Greenville and he was All-SEC. Will Overstreet from Prep was All-SEC at UT. Although he has not played yet, supposedly, Steven Ridley at LSU, from Trinity Christian in Natchez, is supposed to be the next big thing at LSU. Chaz Ramsey started as a true freshman at Auburn this past year for most of the season (he even through in a potentially career altering chop block on Glenn Dorsey). The Gillespie kid from Hattiesburg has a pretty good career at Florida as a running back. I am sure I am missing some kids.

Freddie Millons turned out pretty good as well, from Starkvegas.

arnold from south ms.. started for lsu as a lineman. i think

bigwater wrote:arnold from south ms.. started for lsu as a lineman. i think

Correct.

There are close to as many that have gone away and done well as have stayed and done well. Of the really successful players that have played at State and Ole Miss over the last decade, many are from out of state...Eli from Louisiana, P-Willy from TN, Oher from TN, JJ Johnson at MSU from not MS, Jon Avery from NC, and the list goes on.

One glaring problem in Mississippi is that top players don't qualify and when they are qualifiers with options, they elect to go to more established programs like Bama, LSU and Auburn where they will get more exposure. I realize that is a harsh way of putting it and that there are exceptions, but by in large, it is true.

Heck, Terry Grant from Bama and Richard Dickson from LSU are probably the most successful Mississippi recruits over the last two years from Mississippi on a national level and you see what states they are in.

State and Ole Miss cancel each other out and are their own worst enemies in many ways. Talent gets spread thin, top talent leaves the state, other talent doesn't qualify, teams having poor seasons, top recruits don't want to go play for poor school and the cycle continues.

Note: Sorry to have hijacked a thread about Jimmy Johns immitating Pablo Escobar.

Deltamud77 wrote:One glaring problem in Mississippi is that top players don't qualify and when they are qualifiers with options, they elect to go to more established programs like Bama, LSU and Auburn where they will get more exposure. I realize that is a harsh way of putting it and that there are exceptions, but by in large, it is true.

Not trying to nitpick or be a smart aleck, but I disagree that a *more established* program gets players more exposure. While there are plenty of good reasons to choose historically better performing football schools over those in MS, the NFL is full of players from schools much more obscure than UM and MSU. One could as easily argue that talented players get less exposure due to the competition from talented teammates at the LSUs, USCs, etc.

deltamudd.. start another post.. i'd like to comment more.. but this is the jimmy show.. and if you mess with jimmy you pay the price.

Billy Cannon was born in Philadelphia and went to LSU. I think Johnny Unitas was from Dekalb.

http://www.secsportsfan.com/billy-cannon-biography.html

stang67 wrote:

Deltamud77 wrote:One glaring problem in Mississippi is that top players don't qualify and when they are qualifiers with options, they elect to go to more established programs like Bama, LSU and Auburn where they will get more exposure. I realize that is a harsh way of putting it and that there are exceptions, but by in large, it is true.

Not trying to nitpick or be a smart aleck, but I disagree that a *more established* program gets players more exposure. While there are plenty of good reasons to choose historically better performing football schools over those in MS, the NFL is full of players from schools much more obscure than UM and MSU. One could as easily argue that talented players get less exposure due to the competition from talented teammates at the LSUs, USCs, etc.

No doubt there is some truth to that. I heard someone on local sports talk say that Jackson State has had more NFL players than any other Mississippi school. I kind of doubt the validity of that, but it may be true.

Stang, I agree to an extent. However, I have a two year old son. If he ends up being a highly recruited football player, I will want him to go to a staff that is the best staff possible who can coach him and get the best out of his abilities. Typically, bigger, more successful schools have better coaching staffs top to bottom because they have more money available. For instance, I read that State's athletic budget for 2007-08 is ~$38 million. That is for all sports. University of Florida had a budget of ~$40 million in 1988...20 years ago. Florida spends more on football than State does on their entire athletic program, guys and girls. Point is, most players want to play for the best if they can and from an athletics standpoint, NFL execs recognize this, especially in the day of Rivals and Scout and measureables and hype.