RECRUITING REPORT

MSU commit Keith Joseph, Jr. following in father's footsteps

Courtney Cronin

The Clarion-Ledger

Pascagoula defensive end Keith Joseph, Jr. has long been pegged as a Mississippi State commitment years before his own recruitment took off.

His father, Keith Joseph, Sr., was a defensive end for the Bulldogs in the early 1990s. The two built a bond around football and now, around a school and campus that, for both of them, feels like home.

"Me and my dad had talked about it before and I just woke up this morning, went to football practice at the beach and told my dad I'm ready," Joseph said. "He said, 'let's make the phone call.'

"After all of my visits to Mississippi State, I felt like I was at home," he said. "Even at the camps everything felt great.I talked with my dad and I realized that's where I want to be."

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound prospect admits that his father was a major reason he decided to commit to Mississippi State and often relies on him for advice when it comes to football, given he played the same position his son is playing now.

"It was a big factor," Joseph said. "He's been through everything I'm going through now. He's played a big roll in my recruiting process, all of my skills. He really helped me find my way."

Joseph called MSU defensive line coach David Turner earlier Friday morning to let him know of the commitment. He said Turner asked him if this was what he really wanted and welcomed him warmly.

The three-star defensive end prospect recently camped at Mississippi State and Louisiana-Lafayette and while he doesn't have any future camps planned right now, he hopes to be at Big Dawg Camp in July to compete against some of the state's top players.

As one of the most highly recruited prospects on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Joseph also holds offers from Southern Miss, Duke, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisville, among others. When it boiled down to committing to the Bulldogs, not only did wanting to extend his family's football legacy play a roll, but wanting to compete at the highest level close to home is a plus.

"I thought about some of my other offers and I really don't know anybody at those schools," he said." Why not be a star in your home state?"

Joseph is the 18th commitment for Mississippi State in 2015 and only the second on the defensive line, joining three-star Clay Chalkville (Ala.) DE Kendall Jones. After committing, Joseph says his next task is to get Petal offensive lineman Javon Patterson and Brandon defensive tackle Fletcher Adams on board with the Bulldogs.