Ashton Shumpert sat in the coaches office at Itawamba AHS and smiled. He couldn’t help it. It was the first time this season that the 4-star ATH talked to me for this Recruiting Diary that he would get to play the following night.
Shumpert was finally cleared early Thursday morning after being sidelined the first three games of the season recovering from the effects on mono. IAHS was 3-0 and coming off of a bye week. He had yet to take contact this season.
“I’m just ready to play,” Shumpert said, then smiled. “It’s been a while. I’m full speed and ready to play.”
He had been involved in practice since a week earlier but had yet to have contact. He said he was ready to hit and be hit.
“I’m anxious to hit,” Shumpert said.
Shumpert added another offer to his list with the addition of Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles are the 10th suitor on a list that includes Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Purdue, Alabama, Memphis and Alcorn State.
Shumpert was in contact with Vanderbilt recruiter Derham Cato last week. He was in attendance for Mississippi State’s win against Auburn the week before and planned to be in Oxford for the Rebels’ game against No. 14 Texas and the circus it had become.
“They might make a little noise. I want to see how they come out, how the scheme is and how they run against them,” Shumpert said of the Rebels. “(Mississippi State’s) defense played awesome. They played like an SEC defense (against Auburn).”
