‘I feel like a celebrity now.’ Major offers roll in for young Moss Point football star
Moss Point High School hasn’t been a popular recruiting spot in decades, but one sophomore receiver is about to change that.
Even though he’s been stuck at home along with the rest of his classmates due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Larry Simmons has been given plenty of reason to smile over the last couple of weeks thanks to eight scholarship offers from FBS programs.
Ole Miss was the first major program to express serious interest April 6.
“It was mind blowing,” Simmons said. “It was so unexpected. I knew the coaches were starting to like me, but I’m just a sophomore. They had plenty of time to offer me.”
After the Rebels made the first move, his offers began to pour in.
Later that day, it was Auburn.
April 7: Nebraska, Florida State, Southern Miss, Mississippi State.
April 9: Oregon, Indiana.
Simmons’ list of offers dwarfs those of Moss Point standouts going back over the last two decades, and he’s just getting started.
Ole Miss and Auburn in pursuit
Simmons also tacked on an offer from Alabama State, an FCS school, to give him nine offers in the span of four days
“It was really shocking because out of the nine offers, eight were Power 5 schools,” he said. “It’s definitely been the bright part during this crisis.”
What makes the offers even more surprising is Simmons has yet to attend a camp at any of those schools. As COVID-19 continues to shut down college campuses, it may be difficult to follow through with the list of camps he’d planned to attend this summer.
The college coaches have relied on a highlight film that Moss Point coach Eugene Harmon sent out to the programs. He included players that were graduating in 2021 and threw in Simmons as his top prospect for 2022.
“They were impressed with his film and I started receiving calls,” Harmon said. “It just took off right before we were out of school (due to COVID-19). I started fielding calls about two weeks ago about Larry. The offers started rolling in.”
Not since Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker was drawing the likes of Michigan State coach Tom Izzo and Kentucky’s John Calipari has a Moss Point athlete drawn this much college interest.
“I feel like a celebrity now,” Simmons said. “I made a name for myself and I want to put on for my city.”
Larry Simmons shows versatility
As a freshman, Simmons played linebacker, safety, cornerback and receiver. During his sophomore season, he saw the majority of his playing time at receiver while also getting some time at quarterback behind junior starter Ruben “Deuce” Lee.
As a sophomore, Simmons caught 48 passes for 1,035 yards and nine touchdowns and ran 22 times for 193 yards and three scores.
“He has a lot of versatility,” Harmon said. “He’s just an athlete. I think (the college coaches) saw that and I think they see he has two more years to grow. They felt they could go ahead and pull the trigger.”
Simmons’ numbers could take another leap as a junior with Lee back at quarterback after throwing for 2,553 yards, 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 2019.
Lee, who holds a Southeastern Louisiana offer, could be the next Moss Point star to see his recruiting stock improve. Southern Miss, South Alabama, Troy and Tulane have all shown significant interest.
Simmons has been running routes for Lee while classes have been out to to stay sharp for the upcoming season.
“I workout two to three times a day,” he said. “Nothing has really changed while we’re on lock down. I get the same workouts in. I meet up with (Lee) and other teammates at 6 in the morning at Deuce’s house. We do drills and stuff. We keep working.”
Moss Point enters the 2020 campaign with a good shot at repeating as the Region 8-4A champion, and Simmons believes he and Lee will make sure college coaches continue to travel to the Tigers’ games.
“I think this is the year Deuce will prove himself,” Simmons said. “I see more colleges showing interest in him.”
