Mississippi State signed an SEC-high nine junior college recruits this week, by far the most of any school in the SEC.
While some may cringe at the high number of junior college players taken in one fell swoop — the Bulldogs had signed a combined 10 JC recruits in the past three years — this isn’t the first time Mississippi State has done it.
Former Mississippi State coach Jackie Sherrill helped build the Bulldogs into the SEC West Division champ in 1998 off junior college players. But that same pattern wrecked the program in 2001, when the Bulldogs signed 13 junior college players out of a 23-man signing class.