Gautier's Gainer sees his stock rise with Mississippi State offer

Gautier rising senior offensive lineman Paul Gainer left his visit to Mississippi State for junior day on Feb. 14 with more than he expected.

MSU coach Dan Mullen offered Gainer a scholarship during a visit to his office.

"He talked about how Mississippi State is all about family and that's something nobody can beat," Gainer said. "He wants me to be a part of the family. He offered me a scholarship."

The 6-foot-3, 275-pound Gainer added the MSU offer to the Louisiana-Lafayette offer he picked up as a 10th grader.

Gainer, who is also hearing from Memphis, Middle Tennessee and Jackson State, said Tuesday that he has no timetable on when he plans to pick a school.

"It's kind of surreal," Gainer said of the recruiting process. "It's all exciting and fun, but I just want to go somewhere I can get an education and have fun. Football, it's fun, but school is important."

Gainer carries a 3.1 GPA at Gautier High School and would like to major in psychology or engineering.

Gautier head coach Chris Peterson said that Gainer improved his stock with a strong junior campaign for the Gators.

"The one thing is he went to Mississippi State and Ole Miss to a camp and he also went to a satellite camp Louisiana-Lafayette hosted at Ocean Springs," Peterson said. "He worked out with all them before the season started. He had a very solid junior year. You couple those things together along with his size, his grades and his personality, we're expecting to get several more."

Peterson's brother, former Madison Central coach Brad Peterson, was recently hired to the staff at MSU as director of player personnel.

Gainer plays tackle for Gautier, but Peterson said that he likely projects to play guard on the college level.

Peterson received a phone call Tuesday from new Memphis head coach Mike Norvell, who hired Moss Point native Marcus Woodson to his staff to help recruit the area.

Gainer will likely give Gautier its second Division I signee in as many years after quarterback/athlete LeCharles Pringle signed with Alcorn State in February.

Gautier is coming off a 5-6 campaign.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Gautier's Gainer sees his stock rise with Mississippi State offer ."