Mississippi State Football Recruiting: Spring Game Preview Including Visitors, Updates on Top Targets and More

Dan Mullen and this staff have gotten off to a very impressive start to the class of 2017, already having commitments from 7 players from Louisiana and Mississippi. This weekend, SEVERAL of the top 2017 targets are expected to be on campus, as well as the majority of the signees from the #StateSquad16. Before we get to the list of visitors for the weekend, let's take a look at some recent news regarding three of the top remaining targets for the class of 2017:

Xavier Newman

Newman has blown up since his impressive showing at The Opening in Dallas several weeks ago, picking up offers from Texas Tech, Texas, and Texas A&M among several others in recent weeks.When catching up after his most recent visit to College Station, he said that the visit went "great" and that he was headed to Austin this weekend for the Texas spring game. Mississippi State was one of Newman's first Power 5 offers. Newman could very possibly commit to Texas this weekend while on campus.

Brad Stewart

Stewart, a 4-star CB from McDonogh 35 in Louisiana made news this week when he announced a top group including Florida, Ole Miss,, Oklahoma, and Mississippi State. Coach Sirmon has been on an endless grind since taking the job in Starkville, and being able to possibly add someone with the talent Stewart has would be something special. Stewart will not be on campus this weekend, though. He will be at LSU for their spring game.

Addison Gumbs

Gumbs was on campus for an unofficial visit several days ago, and from what Paul Jones with Bulldawgs247 has reported, it appears the visit went extremely well. Gumbs is a west-coast kid from Cali, but is expected to keep Mississippi State among his favorites when the time comes.

"I could see myself playing for someone like Coach Mullen. That is why I have interest in Mississippi State. They reached out to me over a month ago and liked my film and offered me. It was a great experience there and I think Coach Mullen is a great coach and person."

Spring Game Visitors (Per 247Sports)

2016 MSU Signees
DL Kobe Jones of Starkville HS
OL Greg Eiland of Philadelphia HS
LB Erroll Thompson of Florence (Ala.) HS
OL Dareuan Parker of Desoto Central HS
DB Cameron Dantzler of St. Thomas Aquinas (La.) HS
WR Jamal Couch of Central (Ala.) HS
DE Marquiss Spencer of Greenwood HS
TE Jordan Thomas of East Central CC
ATH Nero Nelson of Hollandale Simmons HS

2017 Prospects
OL Zach Kadum of Rome (Ga.) HS
LB Willie Gay of Starkville HS
RB Kylin Hill of Columbus HS
WR Austin Williams of Ocean Springs HS
WR Kymbotric Mason of Noxubee County HS
MSU commit and CB Emanuel Dabney of Callaway HS
OL Saadhiq Charles of MRA
WR Dominique Booth of Indianapolis (Indiana transfer)
DE Aaron Odom of Callaway HS
WR Monterio Hunt of Walnut HS (MSU commit)
DB Alec Long of Liberty Tech (Tenn.) HS
DB Joshua Brown of Langston Hughes (Ga.) HS
DL LaBryan Ray of James Clemens (Ala.) HS
DB Johnathan Abram of Jones County JC
WR Stephen Guidry of Hinds CC (South Carolina commit)
DE Marques Ford of Jones County JC
DL Deion Pope of Copiah-Lincoln CC
DE Tyree Owens of Copiah-Lincoln CC
MSU commit and OL Tommy Champion of Copiah-Lincoln CC
DB Caleb Rozar of Dickinson County (Tenn.) HS
WR Sean Nelson of Langston Hughes (Ga.) HS
QB Keytaon Thompson of Landry-Walker HS (LA) (Commit)
QB Jack Walker of Madison Central HS

2018 Prospects
ATH Quinshawn Lucious of West Lowndes HS
ATH Marcus Murphy of West Point HS
MSU commit and DE Emmit Gooden of Holmes County CC

2019 Prospects
OL Louis Paul Smith of D'Iberville HS

Quick Note on Keytaon Thompson

Thompson is a highly-coveted QB recruit from Louisiana, so naturally people are shocked to see that he is not headed to LSU to play at the next level. Recent reports have come out stating that Thompson is still open to possibly playing for LSU and that if they were to turn up the pressure and make him a priority he would flip to LSU rather easily. When I reached out to Thompson myself to see where is head was at, he made it clear that he is "Solid" in his commitment to the Bulldogs, that he had no idea where those reports came from, and that he was looking forward to heading to Starkville for the spring game this weekend.

Monday, we will have a special recap from the recruiting side of the spring game, with reactions from recruits, possible commitments, and any other news that breaks between now and Sunday. #HailState and enjoy Super Bulldog Weekend 2016.