Mississippi State football: 3 key in-state recruiting battles for Jeff Lebby's 2025 class

STARKVILLE — The recruitment and signing of 2024 high school prospects are complete for first-year Mississippi State football coach Jeff Lebby. However, the conclusion of national signing day on Feb. 7 only signaled the start of the next recruiting cycle.

The 2025 class, barring any surprising head coaching change, will be the first one at Mississippi State where Lebby oversees a majority of the recruitment, with the exception of 247Sports Composite four-star quarterback KaMario Taylor, who committed to MSU in October, when Zach Arnett was still coach.

The good news for Lebby is that he doesn’t need to go far to find some of the nation’s top prospects. Mississippi has 12 recruits in the upcoming class rated as a four star or better.

As the recruitment of those prospects begins to heat up, here are three key battles to track throughout the cycle for Mississippi State.

5-star WR Caleb Cunningham

Cunningham, a 6-foot-3, 180-pound receiver out of Ackerman, is the lone five-star prospect out of Mississippi in the 2025 class, and the Bulldogs are pursuing him hard.

Whether it be on the football field or basketball court, Lebby and MSU receivers coach Chad Bumphis have made it known they want Cunningham to be the school’s highest-rated prospect since 2000, when 247Sports started tracking all-time rankings.

MSU cracked the top 12 list for Cunningham, which he released on Jan. 29: Ole Miss, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, South Carolina, Auburn, Florida State, Oklahoma and Florida.

4-star LB Tyler Lockhart

Mississippi State signed three-star offensive tackle TJ Lockhart in its 2024 class. Now the Bulldogs are after his brother.

Tyler Lockhart, a 6-3, 200-pound linebacker, is the state’s eighth-best prospect, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Like his brother, Tyler is a prospect out of Winona High School in Winona, Mississippi.

He has received offers from Auburn and LSU, in addition to Southern Miss, Georgia Tech, Louisiana Tech, Toledo and South Florida.

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4-star DL Kevin Oatis

Mississippi State will look to add Oatis, a defensive lineman out of Hattiesburg, but the offer sheet already shows it won’t be easy. He has garnered offers from Michigan, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, Georgia and Texas, among others.

Oatis (6-2, 285) is the sixth-best prospect in the state, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He’s the nation’s No. 19 defensive lineman.

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @skrajisnik3.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi State football: Top 2025 in-state recruits for Jeff Lebby