Mississippi State has seen a long list of players enter the transfer portal over the last two weeks, and now, some of those players are announcing their destinations. That includes the most notable loss for the Bulldogs, who is choosing to return home for his final year of eligibility.

No transfer portal loss has been more significant for Mississippi State than wide receiver Kevin Coleman. He was State’s best player in 2024 and the lone consistent threat on the offensive side of the ball. He led the SEC with 74 catches, posting 932 yards and six touchdowns.

Losing him was a huge blow to the Bulldog roster, and as one of the top WRs in the portal, he’d have the ability to land at any number of programs. Ultimately, he’s chosen to return to his home state.

Kevin Coleman will finish his career as a Missouri Tiger. The St. Louis native steps in as the new leader of the Mizzou wide receiver room with Luther Burden III off the NFL, as well as the Tigers’ other starting wideouts. Mizzou will be the fourth program Coleman has played for. He began his career at Deion Sander’s Jackson State before moving up to the FBS at Louisville and then joining Mississippi State for the 2024 season.

Kevin Coleman’s transfer to Missouri comes as no surprise. As soon as he entered the transfer portal, the expectation was that he would choose the Tigers. The word around his decision to transfer was that he wanted to get back close to home to finish his college career. Mizzou gives him that opportunity.

Which there is another factor, and it’s not NIL. Going 2-10 is tough on players, especially the veterans whose college careers are ending soon. Mizzou is the far more attractive program right now. He can return home, be the featured WR, and likely have a fun final season of college football.

That’s the tough reality of where Mississippi State is at right now. The Bulldogs have enough NIL funding to keep their best players (within reason) and land good talent out of the portal. But NIL isn’t everything. Players want to win, and selling MSU as a place where that can happen is difficult at the moment.

That’s the challenge for Jeff Lebby going forward. He has to sell prospects on his vision in Starkville without having anything tangible on-field to show them. Until he gets results, State is going to have a hard time holding onto and attracting high level talent like Kevin Coleman.

LSU has received a transfer commitment from former Mississippi State freshman quarterback Michael Van Buren.

Van Buren, who has three years of college football eligibility remaining, announced his decision through the On3 website and a social media post on Sunday — four days after LSU starter Garrett Nussmeier announced he would be returning to the Tigers for his senior season.

Van Buren played in nine games and started seven as freshman for Mississippi State this season, passing for 1,886 yards and 11 touchdowns against seven interceptions. He also rushed for five touchdowns.

Van Buren became a starter after Bulldogs senier QB Blake Shapen injured his shoulder during MSU’s fourth game of the season. Shapen has announced that he will return to Mississippi State for another season.

After another exciting season of football here in the Magnolia State, it is time to see who was the best high school football player in Mississippi this season. These phenomenal players led their teams to great seasons, and many will look to continue their career at the collegiate ranks. With that being said, we have nominated 16 players to be voted on for the player of the year. We ask you, the fans, to vote on who you think is the high school football player of the year in Mississippi.

Here are the nominees. Voting ends Dec. 31 at 11: 59 p.m.

The highly rated four-star prospect proved to not only be one of the top quarterbacks in the state, but was the best player to come through Noxubee County since former five-star defensive tackle, Jeffery Simmons, played for Noxubee from 2012-2015. Taylor had the numbers to back up his rating as a recruit too. He led the Tigers to the Class 3A state championship game where they fell to Choctaw County 34-27, but that does not take away from the season Taylor had. He completed 56 percent of his passes for 2,903 yards with 40 touchdowns. He also rushed the ball 124 times for 1,205 yards and 16 touchdowns.

If you are signed to play for an SEC school for football while playing in Class 1A, you better have some monster stats. Thankfully for Willis, that is exactly what he had. He had over 1,000 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns this season. He also had almost 500 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, but Willis was being recruited as a edge rusher which is where he did most of his damage this season. The composite four-star prospect that is committed to Mississippi State recorded 70 total tackles, 46 tackles for loss and 18 sacks.

Hill was the workhorse for the Golden Wave as he helped win them their first state title since 1992. Hill rushed for 2,289 yards and recorded 35 rushing touchdowns. The Mississippi State commit averaged over nine yards a carry this season which is absurd for a running back at any level.

Davis seemed to quietly put together one of the better seasons in Mississippi this season. The senior completed 64 percent of his passes for 3,518 yards and 41 touchdowns with only four interceptions. Also, you will notice a theme throughout that many of these quarterbacks are pure dual-threat quarterbacks, or they have some elusiveness to extend the play. Davis rushed for 305 yards and five touchdowns while averaging just over six yards a carry.

Nowell had arguably the best season at the receiver position in the state of Mississippi this year. He hauled in 74 receptions for 1,436 yards while averaging 19 yards per reception. He averaged 110 yards per game, but the most astonishing thing about his season is that he caught 27 passes for a touchdown.

Flowers had an outstanding season helping lead Charleston to the state championship where they eventually fell to Heidelberg. Prior to the state championship games, the junior rushed for 1,618 yards and 30 touchdowns. He averaged just over six yards per rush, and Flowers averaged over 110 rushing yards per game.

Wilcox had a fantastic season as one of the leaders for the Rebels. As the signal caller for their electric passing attack, Wilcox completed 58 percent of his passes for 3,623 yards with 41 passing touchdowns. He also showed some elusiveness rushing for 320 yards and nine touchdowns on 87 attempts.

The Mustangs number one target was the senior athlete who caught 61 passes for 1,171 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. Forbes averaged 19 yards per reception, and he averaged just over 106 yards per game. His big play ability helped the Mustangs win nine games this season.

Not only was Toler one of the top players in the MAIS, but he proved to be one of the top players in the entire state this season with his rushing numbers. The senior eclipsed the 2,000 yard mark by the skin of his teeth by gaining 2,001 rushing yards this season. He rushed for 35 touchdowns, and he averaged over 7 yards per carry this season.

According to On3 Sports, Womack is a four-star safety who is soon to become a five-star here in the coming months. He holds offers from Ohio State, Alabama, Texas A&M along with countless other schools, but he has also proven to be a reliable wide receiver. In the state championship winning season, Womack caught 54 passes for 1,045 yards and 13 touchdowns. He averaged 19 yards per reception while averaging 80 yards per game from the receiver position. Womack does play both sides of the ball, and what he is able to defensively is why he is a highly rated recruit. He recorded 39 total tackles with eight interceptions. He took back four of his interceptions for touchdowns, and he also one punt return and one kickoff return go back for six.

Ausmer proved to be a pivotal piece for the Greyhounds’ defense throughout the season. His pass rushing ability helped them make a deep run into the playoffs before they lost to Brandon. On the season, he recorded 65 solo tackles and 83 total tackles. Ausmer found it easy to get into the backfield by recording 41 tackles for loss and getting to the quarterback for 23 sacks.

Miller elevated his game by proving he was one of the best shutdown corners in Mississippi. He recorded nine interceptions, and he took one back for a touchdown. Miller also showed he is not afraid to step up in support of the run game. He recorded 62 total tackles with 57 of those tackles being solo tackles. He also forced one fumble.

Harper also proved himself as one of the top shutdown defensive backs in 2024 in Mississippi. He picked off the quarterback eight times, and he took two of them back for a touchdown. Harper also proved to be physical as he recorded 21 solo tackles and 40 total tackles.

Like Willis, Pace also showed exceptional pass rushing ability this season. He managed to get to the quarterback 16 times, and he had 11 quarterback hurries on top of that. His tackling stats were also otherworldly. Pace recorded 75 solo tackles, 125 total tackles and 34 tackles for a loss this season.

Gilmore wrecked havoc from the safety position all season. He recorded 55 total tackles and 52 of those were solo tackles. He also recorded 23 tackles for a loss. Gilmore recovered two fumbles, and he managed to get 14 sacks to cap a spectacular season.

Wilson proved to be a dynamic playmaker no matter where he played on the defensive line. He recorded 111 total tackles, 47 solo tackles and 15 sacks on the year. When he did not record a sack, he did manage to disrupt the opposing quarterback by forcing 38 hurries on the season. Lastly, he recovered one fumble, forced two fumbles and blocked one kick.