Montrell Conner, the 6-foot-2, 215 pound four-star running back from Ouachita Parish High School in Monroe, La., has 25 scholarship offers and now favors one school above the rest.
Mississippi State now leads solidly over Oklahoma, Tennessee, USC and TCU, all of whom have offered.
"Mississippi State is my favorite team right now," Conner said. "I love how they run their offense. It's a running team and I think I'd fit in well. I think that coach Sylvester Croom is gonna turn them all the way around. He took them from a team with a losing record to a bowl game last year. I wouldn't be surprised if in a few years they are playing for the national championship.
Conner attended the Mississippi State Junior Day and says the Bulldogs are recruiting him the hardest. "All the coaches take turns sending handwritten letters."
While the Bulldogs are his top choice, it's the only team from his top five that he's actually visited. He plans to attend camps at USC (June), Florida and Georgia this summer.
"I'm looking forward to visiting USC," he said. "I have a lot of family in Los Angeles, so it would be great because I wouldn't be alone there.
"Also it seems like every running back they have goes to the league, so they must be doing something right," he said. "I've been to California a few times but I never got to visit USC. Last time I was there I was in the eighth grade and back then I never would have imagined I'd have all these offers and opportunities to play college football."
Conner says he watched a lot of LSU games as a youngster, but denies he as ever a big fan of the Tigers.
"I want a school that doesn’t just tell me what I want to hear," he said. "I want coaches that are honest and that I feel like I could talked to. I'd like a coach that is like a second father to me."
Conner says he plans to take his time before deciding. "I don't want to rush into anything," he said. "I don’t want to make a mistake. I'll probably wait until signing day."
Waiting is a bit of advice that Conner got from his friend and Tennessee wide receiver Ahmad Paige. "He was gonna go to USC, but decided at the last minute that it was too far away," Conner said. "He just realized that he didn't want to leave and not be able to come home whenever he wanted.
"If he had committed early he would have chosen USC and he probably would have regretted it," he said. "I know a few guys at Tennessee and I think it would be nice to be around people I know. That way I'd have someone who can help me out and show me around. They all tell me that I'd really like Tennessee and how great the coaches are. They've all been there for a long time."
Conner also has a friend at TCU, which is why the Horned Frogs are in his top five as well. "I'm pretty close with (wide receiver) Jimmy Young. He just tells me how much he likes it and that it's a really nice place."
Although he doesn't know anyone at Oklahoma, he says very interested in the Sooners as well. "They have a really good running back tradition," Conner said. "They are always winning and it's just one of those teams I've always liked."
Conner, Scout.com's No. 22 running back, also has offers from Oklahoma State, Kentucky, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Miami, Ole Miss, Georgia, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Florida, among others.
He finished his junior season with 1,300 yards rushing for 22 touchdowns.
"I have a lot of power," he said. "I can run north and south and I'm just a big power runner. A lot of people say they like my strength (benches 335 pounds, squats 475) and how hard I am to take down. I can't be stopped."
Conner would like to keep his pad level lower and is also working on his side-to-side movement and footwork. He says he has a 36 inch vertical jump and insists he runs a 4.4 forty.
"I do a speed program and we do tread mills, cone drills, run the forty, the ten, jump the vertical - basically everything that you'd do at a combine," he said.
Conner reports a 3.0 core GPA and is taking the ACT in June.