Brown switches to MSU

Earlier this week, Marrero, La., native Ryan Brown said he had a change of heart and faced a tough decision. But the Archbishop Shaw 2012 defensive end prospect went with the school he felt most "comfortable" with and switched his commitment from South Florida to Mississippi State on Wednesday night.

Brown became MSU's eighth commitment within the Class of 2012 and the Bulldogs' fourth commitment in the last two weeks. He also became MSU's third 2012 verbal from the state of Louisiana, joining Quadry Antoine and Torrey Bell.

"I called coach Chris Wilson first and talked to him about it," said Brown. "He was so exciting and started jumping up and down and yelling. He said he was happy to have me part of the family. Then I called the head coach, Dan Mullen, and he said the same thing and said he was proud to have me part of the Bulldog family.

"And then I called my recruiting coach Greg Knox. I think he was probably more exciting than the other coaches because he recruits in my region and he probably got some brownie points (laughing)."

The 6-foot-5 and 240-pound Brown also held offers from South Florida, Colorado, Pittsburgh, Southern Miss and Louisiana-Lafayette among others. He also drew heavy interest from UCLA, Vanderbilt and Kansas State and was asked to visit those camps in order to receive a scholarship offer.

Last year at Archbishop Shaw High School, Brown earned all-area honors and collected 51 tackles, including nine tackles for loss and four sacks.

Brown recently attended one of MSU's camp session and was able to see more of the Bulldogs' campus and gridiron program. He noted that trip played a factor in re-thinking his college future.

"Me and my family went to camp at Mississippi State," said Brown. "Since that time, we've prayed about this decision and went ahead and planned this decision. We just focused on where I fit in the best and where I felt the most comfortable at. So we decided I was more comfortable at Mississippi State and I wanted to be in the SEC. So I said 'why wait?' and went ahead and called Mississippi State last night to commit."

Brown added that it was tough to de-commit from South Florida and his relationship with their coaches made it difficult.

"It was kinda hard because I grew so close to their coaching staff," said Brown. "They are great guys and I checked in with them every week. So that made it hard to do. But I have moved past that and I am shutting down my recruitment now. I am proud to be a Bulldog and glad to be part of their family."