Mississippi State Loses Two Members of 2025 Recruiting Class

Three-star safety Steve Miller and juco prospect Kevonte Henry flipped their commitments to other schools after previously being committed to the Bulldogs

Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Jeff Lebby on the sidelines against the Georgia Bulldogs at Sanford Stadium. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Mississippi State football isn’t winning games on the field and those losses may be impacting the Bulldogs’ upcoming recruiting class.

Last week, four-star offensive lineman Mario Nash Jr. reopened his recruitment after being committed to Mississippi State since this summer.

The latest news came last night with three-star safety Steve Miller switching his commitment from Mississippi State to USC. Miller took an official visit to USC last weekend to see the Trojans nearly beat No. 3 Penn State and announced his new commitment to the Trojans on Monday. Additionally, Kevonte Henry flipped his commitment from Mississippi State to Alabama.

It’s a similar path and outcome as Nash two week ago. Nash took an official visit to Florida State and afterwards reopened his recruiting.

Earlier Monday, Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby was asked about the message he’s trying to send to recruits and here’s what he said:

“Understanding that there there's a plan in place and we are laying the foundation for something that, to me, is going to be incredibly special. I've never been more convicted about where we're going and the people that are inside this building understand that. They feel that we want different results, we need different results. That is the focus this week is finding a way to just find a way to go and win a football game. But for young people the connection, the vision and where we're going, not necessarily where we are today, those are things that they've bought into and will continue to.”

Well, they may not be buying into it as much thought considering this is the second time the Bulldogs have lost a recruit a few hours after Jeff Lebby’s weekly press conference. (Side note: That leads to a fun game of what did he know when he was speaking at the press conference, but we’ll play that game another time.)

Mississippi State still has a solid recruiting class (see below). The class includes three of the top four juco prospects and six four-star recruits. So, the Bulldogs should be improved. But they’ll need more than a message of hope to avoid losing more recruits.

Mississippi State’s 2025 Recruiting Class

4-Stars

Zavion Hardy, Edge, East Mississippi Community College

Tony Mitchell, S, East Mississippi Community College

Tyler Lockhart, LB, Winona (Winona, Miss.)

Ferzell Shepard, WR, Scotlandville Magnet (Baton Rogue, La.)

KaMario Taylor, Ath, Noxubee County (Macon, Miss.)

Tyshun Willis, Edge, Velma Jackson (Camden, Miss.)

3-Stars

Davian Jackson, WR, Westgate (New Iberia, La.)

AJ Rice, LB, Madison Academy (Madison, Ala.)

Geron Johnson, RB, Barlett (Bartlett, Tenn.)

Derrion Horsley, CB, East Coweta (Sharpsburg, Ga.)

Sekou Smith Jr., S, Miami Central (Miami, Fla.)

Austin Howard, LB, Bartlett (Batlett, Tenn.)

LaKendrick James, LB, Copiah-Lincoln CC (Wesson, Miss.)

Kolin Wilson, RB, Gulf Shores (Gulf Shores, Ala.)

Christopher Johnson, DL, Robert E. Lee (Montgomery, Ala.)

Josiah Clemons, IOL, Madison Central (Madison, Miss.)

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