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Mississippi State

100 Day Bulldog Countdown: 55 Days - No. 55 Jakheem Shumpert and Colin Coates

3rupauk8_400x400by: Robbie Faulk07/06/25RobbieFaulkOn3
jakheem shumpert
Photo by Mississippi State Athletics

Year two of the Jeff Lebby era has arrived and the Mississippi State coach is back to work.

After a disappointing first season, the coach and his staff are doing what they can to get things back on track in Starkville. The players on the field will be the difference for State this season if they are to make a return and we’re going to discuss every single one of them over the course of the next few months.

As we do every year, we’re counting down 100 days until State’s first game at Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on August 30. Over this period of time, we’ll breakdown every scholarship player on the roster, look back at great moments in MSU history and even talk about legends that have come before the current Bulldogs.

Today, we look at a couple of new faces on the lines for the Bulldogs.   

55 Days: No. 55, Junior OT Jakheem Shumpert

MSU had a couple of big junior college offensive linemen on the radar during December and Lebby needed to land both of them.

One of those was Saquon Miles from Hinds and State beat out Ole Miss and several others for his signature. The other was Shumpert and the Northwest Community College blocker waited until signing day but would announce for State.

The massive 6’5, 330-pound tackle started his career with Shannon High School where he got into football late in the game. Shumpert didn’t start his high school football journey until his senior season but he had the look of a player that could do big things on the next level.

With a lot of ground to make up, Shumpert was taken by Northwest CC and he started out as a defensive lineman for the Rangers. After getting his feet wet in year one, Shumpert would work his way into one of the top JUCO offensive linemen in the country.

Shumpert was ranked No. 16 overall nationally by the On3 Composite Rankings and he was the No. 3 OT while ranking 10th in the state of Mississippi. After helping NWCC to a fantastic season and a 10-1 mark, Shumpert had options. Along with State on the offer sheet, he landed opportunities with Virginia Tech, Kansas State, Memphis, Troy, USF and many others.

Having taken an official to State, Shumpert had a good idea that he wanted to stay instate and play for the Bulldogs. On signing day, he sealed that deal.

Shumpert landed on campus in January and he has a head start on the newcomers on the team. We’ll see what training camp brings to accurately figure where he might impact the State roster.

55 Days: No. 55, Junior DT Colin Coates

It was a bit of a surprise when State landed Coates in the transfer portal in May because not many people had the defensive lineman on the radar.

Coates is 6’2, 320 pounds and the Baltimore, Md., native played his first two seasons at Charlotte. In 2023, Coates started his career by playing in five games and starting in one contest and he made 14 tackles with 2.0 tackles for loss during that stretch. He would play in all 12 games for the 49ers last season as a sophomore and he made 14 more tackles with a fumble recovery.

He played high school ball at St. Francis Academy and was rated as a three-star prospect. Only Charlotte and Toledo offered as he would commit to the 49ers. At this point, it would be surprised if he plays a major factor in State’s defensive plans but he does add depth to the unit.

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