Jeremiah Jackson- new baseball commit for 2018

[Todd4State]

This looks like a big time commit to me. He's a middle infielder from Mobile that is 6'1" 185 and was just a freshman last year. He has been starting since 7th grade for his HS team and this past year as a freshman he hit well over .400 with 18 stolen bases.

I could see him possibly growing out of the SS position at some point- but for now I think he is a SS in college.

[Smitty]

cool

Let's hold off on stats as a measuring stick. He plays for the equivalent of East Webster. This seems like one we should try to get to transfer to a Spansh Fort and get the coaching there so we don't go Renfroe Raw for 2 years at State.

[Dawg61]

Awesome!! Too bad it's 2015 tho

[Todd4State]

cool

Let's hold off on stats as a measuring stick. He plays for the equivalent of East Webster. This seems like one we should try to get to transfer to a Spansh Fort and get the coaching there so we don't go Renfroe Raw for 2 years at State.

You don't see very many kids starting at East Webster as a seventh grader and hitting over .400 as a freshman with his size. I'm not using just his stats as a measuring stick- I'm also looking at his height, weight and comparing it to other players as well.

LSU and Vanderbilt were also interested in Jackson as well.

When I actually watch him play in person, I'll know even more.

[Todd4State]

Awesome!! Too bad it's 2015 tho

Douche

[RBritt]

Billy Hamilton and Jacoby Jones started at 2a schools as 7th graders.... I'd say those two turned out to be pretty GD good.

[Smitty]

Billy Hamilton and Jacoby Jones started at 2a schools as 7th graders.... I'd say those two turned out to be pretty GD good.

Oh here's some anectodal evidence.

Sounds like he could be great. I just want the kid to come here and compete as a freshman, not have a 3 year adjustment period because all he sees is 75-80 and gets walked 3 times a game. Go to Spanish Fort kid.

[Jacksondevildog]

7th graders playing varsity is common at smaller schools. I don't recall anyone below 9th grade playing varsity ball at a 6A level recently. Reid Humphreys played varsity in the 9th grade during the playoffs. He ended up being Mississippi Gatorade player of the year. You don't waltz out to Madison Central and watch a 7th grader play. That just doesn't happen. Obviously our staff saw something that stood out to them. Otherwise, they wouldn't have offered. I've seen Austin Kelly play. He committed as an 8th grader and played "varsity" at Washington School in Greenville. The kid has ridiculous power and he would play varsity at NWR or Madison Central right now. He's that good. He's also built like a 20 year old. MLB scouts call him a "cage rattler".

[Billy Ray Valentine]

Hell we've got a catcher committed for the 2019 class.

[RBritt]

There is a kid at Enterprise (Lincoln County) that is supposed to be a stud too. https://vimeo.com/114931310 he's 6'2" 220 going into the 9th grade. Hit one out 350+ at Smith Wills with a wooden bat earlier this summer. Will or Todd any thoughts on him?

[Jacksondevildog]

His name is Hunter Richardson. I saw a video of him hitting in Arlington Park. I have talked to some guys that have played with and against him. Massive power. Really doesn't have a position. But when you hit like he does, you don't have to be able to catch a ball and can play or be in the lineup. I'm sure we are looking at him.

http://www.power-showcase.com/finals/texas-rangers-2/texas-prequalifier-line-up-2014/mississippi-hunter-richardson

https://vimeo.com/114931310

[Billy Ray Valentine]

The kid I'm talking about is Austin Kelly from Greenville Washington. Just finished the 8th grade

[Jacksondevildog]

Yeah. He's a stud. I talked about him in my post earlier in the thread. With his power offensively, assuming he makes it to campus, they will probably move him to 3B or 1B to minimize wear and tear on his knees/legs. Just my two cents.
The kid I'm talking about is Austin Kelly from Greenville Washington. Just finished the 8th grade

[Billy Ray Valentine]

Yeah. He's a stud. I talked about him in my post earlier in the thread. With his power offensively, assuming he makes it to campus, they will probably move him to 3B or 1B to minimize wear and tear on his knees/legs. Just my two cents.

Ha! Sorry man. Skimmed over your post and missed that part

[Todd4State]

Billy Hamilton and Jacoby Jones started at 2a schools as 7th graders.... I'd say those two turned out to be pretty GD good.

So did Jeffrey Rea, Brian Dozier, Roy Oswalt among others- heck, two of Cohen's best players were from small Mississippi schools- Lindgren and Renfroe.

And two of our better players this year were from small schools as well- Houston and Luke Reynolds.

[Todd4State]

There is a kid at Enterprise (Lincoln County) that is supposed to be a stud too. https://vimeo.com/114931310 he's 6'2" 220 going into the 9th grade. Hit one out 350+ at Smith Wills with a wooden bat earlier this summer. Will or Todd any thoughts on him?

He looks like a first baseman with legit tape measure power. I think he has some room to grow too.

[Todd4State]

Yeah. He's a stud. I talked about him in my post earlier in the thread. With his power offensively, assuming he makes it to campus, they will probably move him to 3B or 1B to minimize wear and tear on his knees/legs. Just my two cents.

I feel the same way about him. He's probably the best prospect to come out of the delta in years as far as baseball is concerned.

[WTGDawg]

He goes to my alma mater, he was our starting SS my senior year when we won the state title. Kid is the real deal, insane work ethic, humble, and has all the tools. Coaching at the school has taken a hit since our past coach moved on to one of the big schools in town, but the current ones in place all played the game and are extremely knowledgeable. I'm confident JJ will be ready when the time comes to play in the SEC.

[shoeless joe]

cool

Let's hold off on stats as a measuring stick. He plays for the equivalent of East Webster. This seems like one we should try to get to transfer to a Spansh Fort and get the coaching there so we don't go Renfroe Raw for 2 years at State.

Can't believe I'm about to say this...

I agree 100% Smitty. Obviously he's got some tools that have impressed the staff enough for them to offer but depending on his competition those stats don't tell me a thing.

[Todd4State]

Can't believe I'm about to say this...

I agree 100% Smitty. Obviously he's got some tools that have impressed the staff enough for them to offer but depending on his competition those stats don't tell me a thing.

That's the good thing about Perfect Game. They put everyone that is a prospect together and see how the best perform against the best. That's why every college coach goes there and you don't see them as much roaming around high school fields like you used to.

We offered Jackson after our HS Showcase this past weekend and how he performed there- not so much about how he performed against his HS competition.

The biggest thing you want to see a kid like this do at this stage is dominate in high school- and he is doing that.

[Smitty]

So did Jeffrey Rea, Brian Dozier, Roy Oswalt among others- heck, two of Cohen's best players were from small Mississippi schools- Lindgren and Renfroe.

And two of our better players this year were from small schools as well- Houston and Luke Reynolds.

And they all have had a huge adjustment period, which is my point.

Nothing wrong with small school kids and the local ones we get are good but I think Mississippi State Baseball shouldn't be beholden to the diamonds in the rough. We should still be trying to get the best in the country and not just saying "okay this commit that's barely in HS is our future". Not that we're saying that verbatim, straw man, but we need to take these types of commits and still go get the proven best in the land.

[Jacksondevildog]

Well, college baseball recruiting across the nation has changed and major D1 schools are committing guys in 8th and 9th grade. That is very common. Mississippi State isn't the only school doing this. They aren't watching a kid hit the ball off of a tee at a rec park and saying, "We gotta have this guy." Most all of these young commitments are guys that are playing for high major travel teams and playing in national showcases against top competition. There are tons of D1 coaches and MLB scouts at these events.

[engie]

And they all have had a huge adjustment period, which is my point.
If being Freshman All-Americans is what you consider a "huge adjustment period" like two of the players Todd listed, sign me up...

[Jacksondevildog]

No kidding. Didn't Rea hit low .300's his freshman year and start at 2B? I could be wrong.
If being Freshman All-Americans is what you consider a "huge adjustment period" like two of the players Todd listed, sign me up...

[Todd4State]

And they all have had a huge adjustment period, which is my point.

Nothing wrong with small school kids and the local ones we get are good but I think Mississippi State Baseball shouldn't be beholden to the diamonds in the rough. We should still be trying to get the best in the country and not just saying "okay this commit that's barely in HS is our future". Not that we're saying that verbatim, straw man, but we need to take these types of commits and still go get the proven best in the land.

Polk tried that and it damn near killed our program- while leading to the rise of Ole Miss and USM in baseball being built mainly by the "diamonds in the rough" that you are saying we shouldn't be forced with.

Now that we have gone back to recruiting players from Mississippi- we've gotten back on an at least level plane in state while also going further in Omaha than anything. And the main reason we regressed this was going after quick fix JUCO's and neglecting pitching needs three years ago. Again- going away from what has proven to work best for us.

Mississippi has really good baseball talent per capita- and if we get those players and are patient we will have a really good team. And a lot of those are the players that understand MSU's baseball tradition and want to play for us and win NC's. That makes a huge difference. A guy from Colorado isn't going to understand or care about that as much.

We do try to get the best that we can- and we've gotten commitments from guys like Alex Spaes, Elih Marrero, Pickett, etc. but that's where the Vanderbilt endowment situation and the MLB draft kick in.

We have a good program, but we can't make a living off of guys like Alex Spaes. We HAVE to recruit Mississippi and we HAVE to be a developmental baseball program like our football team is.

[Todd4State]

No kidding. Didn't Rea hit low .300's his freshman year and start at 2B? I could be wrong.

Yes he did.

[Todd4State]

If being Freshman All-Americans is what you consider a "huge adjustment period" like two of the players Todd listed, sign me up...

Reynolds hit .300 this year too- maybe a small adjustment period, but I'll take it. And I doubt Oswalt would have had an adjustment period with us as well.

[Jacksondevildog]

Spaes is ridiculous. That is what is separating MSU from Vandy right now is they are getting guys like that on campus. I don't have a good feeling about him. I do know that we have some serious pitching coming in the next two years. Vandy missed on Touki Toussant last year, but they have been getting their fare share. Also remember, Toussant officially visited MSU and we were in the game. I saw a tweet that our 2017 commitment, Hans Crouse, hit 95 today in a game. Gene has video of Chad Bryant pitching for East Coast Baseball last weekend at MSU. He will be a junior next year. What I think is exciting and different is that Spaes is as good as you will see in the nation and Bryant is damn good and they are both african american. What I mean by that is I don't remember us ever having an african american pitcher play for us. I like the fact that we are recruiting different ethnicities.

Speas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZi1HCFqkQQ

[Smitty]

If being Freshman All-Americans is what you consider a "huge adjustment period" like two of the players Todd listed, sign me up...

Cohen's players genius

[Todd4State]

Spaes is ridiculous. That is what is separating MSU from Vandy right now is they are getting guys like that on campus. I don't have a good feeling about him. I do know that we have some serious pitching coming in the next two years. Vandy missed on Touki Toussant last year, but they have been getting their fare share. Also remember, Toussant officially visited MSU and we were in the game. I saw a tweet that our 2017 commitment, Hans Crouse, hit 95 today in a game. Gene has video of Chad Bryant pitching for East Coast Baseball last weekend at MSU. He will be a junior next year. What I think is exciting and different is that Spaes is as good as you will see in the nation and Bryant is damn good and they are both african american. What I mean by that is I don't remember us ever having an african american pitcher play for us. I like the fact that we are recruiting different ethnicities.

Speas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZi1HCFqkQQ

Crouse de-committed but we are still recruiting him. He is legit and that's a big loss for us.

Jeremiah Jackson is also an African American as well. I like it too- and I think some of it is because you are starting to see an increase in African Americans in baseball for whatever reason. And Jackson has an RBI program- which is kind of rare for a city its size.

[Backspin]

Polk tried that and it damn near killed our program- while leading to the rise of Ole Miss and USM in baseball being built mainly by the "diamonds in the rough" that you are saying we shouldn't be forced with.

Now that we have gone back to recruiting players from Mississippi- we've gotten back on an at least level plane in state while also going further in Omaha than anything. And the main reason we regressed this was going after quick fix JUCO's and neglecting pitching needs three years ago. Again- going away from what has proven to work best for us.

Mississippi has really good baseball talent per capita- and if we get those players and are patient we will have a really good team. And a lot of those are the players that understand MSU's baseball tradition and want to play for us and win NC's. That makes a huge difference. A guy from Colorado isn't going to understand or care about that as much.

We do try to get the best that we can- and we've gotten commitments from guys like Alex Spaes, Elih Marrero, Pickett, etc. but that's where the Vanderbilt endowment situation and the MLB draft kick in.

We have a good program, but we can't make a living off of guys like Alex Spaes. We HAVE to recruit Mississippi and we HAVE to be a developmental baseball program like our football team is.

Spot on Todd...good post. You can get all the players you need to compete for a natty from MS, LA, TN, Bama and GA (Atlanta) without flying 1500 miles to sign a player while flying over literally hundreds of really good players who'd love to play in the SEC. Success is 50% talent and 50% developing that talent. I love what Brian O'Connor and Tim Corbin are doing with their talent in terms of development.

[Jacksondevildog]

I didn't realize Crouse had decommitted. Hopefully we can get him back in the fold.

[engie]

Cohen's players genius

You are the one that misstated then genius.

There hasn't been freshman All-Americans rolling thru our talent pipelines lately. But it's due, if not past due, to happen. Although a spreadsheet will not define those trends for you -- and I have a feeling you would ignore them if they did. Love how you conveniently leave Collins out of the discussion. And Gridley to an extent. And Holder. And Woodruff. We have had some freshman contribution along the way.

Personally, I don't want to have to rely on freshmen. If you have one or two come in that you can't keep off the field -- great. A couple you can't keep off the hill? Even better. If not, let them play reserve roles and develop them. Injuries have shot our "normal" player development profile the past 2 years. If you want to argue that is on the strength and conditioning -- I won't argue with that.

[Harrydawg]

To follow up to all this hype on really young MSU baseball
commits, Washington School catcher Austin Kelly's
PSA Sox (u14) team won the WWBA National Championship
today in Lake Pointe, FL with Perfect Game.

Snopek has several future D1's on that team. Oh, they won the final 15-0

[PSYCHO(thesis)DEFENSE]

it doesn't add to or detract from the argument, but Dozier played 4a, & didn't play or start for varsity until 9th grade.

[Todd4State]

To follow up to all this hype on really young MSU baseball
commits, Washington School catcher Austin Kelly's
PSA Sox (u14) team won the WWBA National Championship
today in Lake Pointe, FL with Perfect Game.

Snopek has several future D1's on that team. Oh, they won the final 15-0

I hate that Snopek is an Ole Miss guy though. Probably won't matter much though.

[Todd4State]

it doesn't add to or detract from the argument, but Dozier played 4a, & didn't play or start for varsity until 9th grade.

I consider anything below 5A a small school comparatively speaking on a national level- IMO.

[Harrydawg]

To follow up to all this hype on really young MSU baseball
commits, Washington School catcher Austin Kelly's
PSA Sox (u14) team won the WWBA National Championship
today in Lake Pointe, FL with Perfect Game.

Snopek has several future D1's on that team. Oh, they won the final 15-0

To correct my post, I learned tonight that Austin Kelly did not travel with Snopek's U14 team......