Mississippi State received verbal commitments from three more players for the 2012 recruiting class during last weekend's annual Big Dawg Camp.
The Bulldogs picked up running back Xavier Grindle, whose commitment headlined the series of announcements, athlete Adairius Barnes and tight end Gus Walley.
After all of the talk of landing four to seven commits, this weekend was kind of a let down. One of the more interesting developments came when Rivals' Keith Niebuhr sent out a Tweet Friday night that Dominique Banks, Barnes' cousin, was going to give his verbal the next morning. Two days later, nothing. Maybe Dan Mullen wanted to evaluate the Texas defensive end a little more.
On the other hand, it is being suggested that Mississippi State made some serious strides in the recruitment of Long Beach defensive tackle Nick James. Also, top-rated defensive linemen Quay Evans and Channing Ward were in attendance.
Here's a brief look at this weekend's pickups:
Adairius Barnes Athlete 6-0, 180
Port Gibson (High), Miss.
Rivals - NR Scout - **
With Barnes' verbal, the Bulldogs get speed, speed and speed. He also had offers to East Carolina, Louisiana Tech and Memphis.
Gus Walley Tight End 6-4, 224
Leakesville (Greene County High), Miss.
Rivals - NR Scout - **
Walley, who caught 50 passes for 863 yards and 12 touchdowns for Greene County last season, couldn't wait to give Dan Mullen the good news.
"I went to a camp last month and I weighed 210 (pounds)," Walley said. "Coach Mullen said if I gained up to 220 they'd offer me. I went back up (Friday) and weighed 224. I played pretty good, and coach Mullen said 'we're going to go into a meeting. Call me in the morning. My cell phone kept acting up, but I was finally able to call him (Saturday) morning and he said 'I want to offer you a scholarship to Mississippi State.' I said 'You've got me. It's been my lifetime dream to play at Mississippi State.' "
Xavier Grindle Running Back 5-11, 195
Columbia (East Marion High), Miss.
Rivals - *** Scout - ***
Grindle has run for more than 1,000 yards for three straight seasons while tallying 18 touchdowns last year. Grindle was recently named to The Clarion Ledger's Dandy Dozen.