2025 four-star defensive lineman Kevin Oatis recaps recent Mississippi State visit

Two weekends ago, Hattiesburg High School’s Kevin Oatis was able to watch Mississippi State’s first scrimmage of the spring. The 2025 defensive lineman and On3 composite four-star prospect has taken in several visits to the Bulldogs’ campus over the past year, as well.

But with his recent visit, Oatis was able to get an in-person view of head coach Jeff Lebby’s program on the practice fields. Oatis is rated as the nation’s No. 19 defensive lineman and the state’s No. 8 prospect by On3 composite rankings.

“It was really good,” Oatis recalled. “I loved being back there. I loved the intensity of practice and I like how serious they are about practice. At first the defense started off slow but then they got rolling and got better and better.”

Naturally, most of Oatis’ scrimmage observations centered around the State defensive line. And a few of those Bulldogs caught his attention throughout the scrimmage portion of practice.

“The defensive line looked good to me,” added Oatis. “Coach (David) Turner is a very serious guy and I like that. I saw some guys doing well out there. I saw No. 22 (Kedrick Bingley-Jones), No. 95 (Gabe Moore) and No. 8 Sulaiman Kpaka) out there doing well at practice.”

With Turner, Oatis and his family have built a strong bond with Mississippi State’s defensive line coach. During his recent visit Oatis was also able to spent more time with Lebby.

“Coach Turner was just glad I came down there to see practice and watch the Dline,” the 6-foot-1 and 185-pound Oatis said. “Then Coach Lebby was telling me I have a big future ahead of me. He believes everything I need is at Mississippi State and I will be a great player there.”

Along with Lebby and Turner, Oatis also feels like a priority to the rest of State’s staff. That includes Mississippi State defensive coordinator Coleman Hutzler.

“It’s good with their other coaches on defense, too,” noted Oatis. “Coach (Coleman) Hutzler is on me hard, too. Really the whole staff is on me hard and show me a lot of love.”

Looking ahead, Oatis plans to have a busy summer of official visits. So far, he has three official visits scheduled for this summer and that includes a pair of SEC stops.

“I am not sure what’s coming up next,” Oatis mentioned. “I do have official visits set for Southern Cal, Mississippi State and Arkansas for the summer. But I plan to schedule some more official visits.”

And once those visits conclude, Oatis wants to map out his college future. He still has plans to make his college decision before his senior year begins and at this stage, he has a trio of SEC programs as his main favorites.

“I still want to make my decision before my senior year starts,” said Oatis. “I want to find the right school that will develop me, a school that my family loves and a school that has my best interest in mind. Right now I would say the main schools would be LSU, Mississippi State and Texas A&M.”

The post 2025 four-star defensive lineman Kevin Oatis recaps recent Mississippi State visit appeared first on On3.