There wasn’t a senior in the entire state of Mississippi who saw their recruitment take off like Lawrence County defensive lineman Johnathan Davis.

In a month, Davis went from a guy that community college programs were hoping to sign to receiving multiple Power 5 offers.

On Wednesday, Davis chose Mississippi State and signed with the Bulldogs after also getting offers from the University of Texas and Ole Miss among others.

The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Davis was mentioned by MSU head coach Zach Arnett during the Bulldog’s signing day press conference. Arnett said assistant coach Tony Hughes had been keeping tabs on Davis throughout the year.

“Tony Hughes actually took me to Lawrence County High School [weeks ago],” said Arnett in his press conference. “Tony said, ‘There’s a guy flying under the radar, but he’s an SEC football player who may end up being a future Sunday player’”

Davis was a Daily Leader All-Area selection after controlling the middle of the line of scrimmage for a 7-3 Lawrence County team. Davis was in on 7.5 sacks for LC head coach Jesse Anderson and was picked to play in the annual MAC Bernard Blackwell All-Star Game.

Once Tezas offered Davis on Jan. 21, his recruitment started to pick up.

One thing helping the Bulldogs is that Davis was raised in a family of MSU fans. He’s the second local product to sign with Mississippi State in this class as Brookhaven High offensive lineman Amari Smith inked with the Bulldogs during the early signing period.

“We saw him in person. We evaluate him beforehand, recruited him and that went a long way in signing him,” said Arnett. A lot of other schools came late to the party, wanted to hop in an get a steal from the state of Mississippi. We were there first. I’m incredibly proud of him and his family for sticking with us.”