Two USC commits giving Mississippi State a look

Defensive lineman Cecil Stallings and offensive lineman Lloyd Cushenberry have been committed to South Carolina since last summer. Both say they are still committed. Both plan to take official visits to USC. And both are looking at the same second option.

Stallings, from Tucker, Ga., visited Mississippi State last weekend, while Cushenberry, from of Geismar, La., is going to Starkville this weekend.

“It went pretty good, I enjoyed it,” Stallings said of his visit with the Bulldogs. “I didn’t know that Mississippi State was that nice. That was a shocker to me. It’s like a family down there. Boys on the team seem real cool and they think of themselves as brothers.”

Stallings said he’s not talked recently with USC. In fact, his only contact with the new staff was when a recruiter came to visit him soon after Muschamp was hired. Still, he considers himself committed to the Gamecocks and is considering visiting USC or Ole Miss this coming weekend. If he visits one this weekend, he might visit the other Jan. 29.

“I’m still interested,” he said of the Gamecocks. Asked if that’s where he wants to go, Stallings replied, “I’m not so sure yet. My options are still open.”

Does he think the Gamecocks still want him?

“Kind of, but who knows?” he said.

Cushenberry said he’s set to visit USC Jan. 29.

USC in touch with Jamil Dukes

Defensive lineman Jamil Dukes of Mooresville, N.C., said he couldn’t make his official visit to USC last weekend because of family matters.

He has been in touch with recruiter Shawn Elliott about rescheduling, but a date has not been set. He said Elliott may be in to see him this week. Dukes said he doesn’t have a visit scheduled for this coming weekend.

Dukes said he’s not sure yet if he’ll have to go the junior college route first and that this semester will determine his fate. He said East Carolina is another school still in the mix with him.

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 3:17 PM with the headline "Two USC commits giving Mississippi State a look."