Mississippi State will get visit from 4-star Brookhaven linebacker Leo Lewis this weekend

Every year the state of Mississippi produces at least one or two college football recruits that spark a heavy recruiting battle between Ole Miss and Mississippi State.  C.J. Johnson; Chris Jones; the list could go on for days.  The winners of these highly fought battles each year may change, as do the names, but the war rages on just the same and will for quite some time.

2015's class is no different, as another class full of talent gets set to sign their names to paper just under one month from now.  One of the most highly sought after signatures this year is that of Brookhaven linebacker Leo Lewis: a current Ole Miss commit whose recruitment is expected to go down to the wire.

While Lewis is committed to Ole Miss currently, there have been rumblings that he could end up in Starkville when signing day comes around.  The race for his signature is as wide open as any nationally right now, but the first step for MSU would be to get Lewis on campus for an official visit in the few final weeks.

And that is happening now, it appears.

Lewis, who was reportedly set to visit Texas A&M originally this weekend, will now visit Starkville and Mississippi State instead, according to this weekend's initial visitor's list from 247sports.  Of course, these visits are never a sure thing until the prospect physically gets to the campus, but it looks as of now like Lewis will be in town for the Bulldogs' big in-state recruiting weekend.

It should be noted that Lewis has developed a friendship with MSU WR commit Farrod Green, and Green will be one of those also in town this weekend.  Friendships developed during the recruiting process don't always play a factor in a big decision, but sometimes they do, so that will be an angle to watch here with Lewis.

Even though he is expected on campus this weekend, Lewis is also expected in Oxford next weekend for the Rebels' turn to impress in-state recruits.  Like wanting the football late in the game, you typically want to get a visit from the recruit as late in the process as you can so that your campus and facilities are the freshest on his mind when he ultimately makes his decision.  That will be one advantage that Hugh Freeze and company have on State, but don't think Dan Mullen won't still make a push to land the nation's #1 inside linebacker recruit.

While there certainly seems to be a lot of positive vibes on Lewis' potential flip to MSU, I wouldn't count anything as definite until the pen hits the paper in early February.  Minds change which can ultimately change decisions, so I would count Lewis as wide open right now.  But getting him on campus this weekend is a first and important step in possibly gaining his services, so Bulldog fans should be excited about that.

We will have a thread here this weekend on who all is expected to visit and any updates that come along as the weekend progresses.