From the Coast to Colorado? Deion Sanders makes a play for Ocean Springs pair
Coach Prime, meet Chopper.
Ocean Springs football teammates and Class of 2026 prospects Sharroid “Chop” Whitehead and Jayden Ross both received scholarship offers from coach Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes this week.
The pair are both former Sacramento State commits and have seen their recruitments surge in recent weeks. Ross has over a dozen offers as a three-star offensive tackle, and official visits planned for Tulane and Mississippi State.
For Whitehead, Colorado was team No. 35 to extend an offer. Though the multi-talented athlete has long been a veteran of the recruiting process, the Buffaloes’ offer drew the strongest reaction out of him yet when he posted the news on Twitter.
“Coach Prime makes a statement where he doesn’t offer many high school guys,” Whitehead told the Sun Herald. “He calls himself the ‘Portal King.’ He only offers high school guys when he thinks they’re ready to step foot in Boulder and start and play a game right away. That put it in my mind that if he thinks I’m ready, I know I need to go somewhere where I can make an immediate impact and put on for Ocean Springs.”
Whitehead said the offer formally came in from Director of Recruiting Darius Darden-Box and running backs coach and former NFL great Marshall Faulk. Sanders was with his son Shedeur in Cleveland at the time, but Whitehead was informed Sanders reviewed his film and approved an offer.
“They like my speed and they told me they’ve been watching me for a while,” Whitehead said.
Whitehead has been recruited primarily as a running back, but has played three different positions for the Greyhounds. The slippery 5-foot-9 speedster lined up at quarterback during district play in 2024 and led Ocean Springs to a spotless region record.
He was previously lined up at receiver with a focus on attacking horizontally. At quarterback, Whitehead leveraged his downhill explosiveness to great effect and ended up with 1,061 rushing yards for this season and four 100-yard games over his last six.
Whitehead and Ross are two members of what may be an historic class for South Mississippi. Ten of the state’s top 60 Class of 2026 prospects hail from the Coast and two of them — Picayune’s Nolan Wilson and Pascagoula’s Tylan Wilson — are four-star recruits, according to 247sports.
The group of rising seniors won’t be a flash in the pan, though, if you ask Whitehead.
“It’s a new norm for South Mississippi,” Whitehead said. “When this 2026 class goes and everybody goes to these huge schools, then the whole world will know South Mississippi football is some of the best football played in the country.”
Rising prospects from the Coast
Gulfport running back Cooper Crosby has been hailed by his coach Blake Pennock as a “Power Five” back and may be on the verge of a recruiting breakthrough.
Crosby received his first three offers this spring from Louisiana, Arkansas State and Southeastern Louisiana. He also became a U.S. Army All-American in March after running a laser-time 40-yard dash of 4.39 at the bowl game’s regional combine.
On the north side of town, Harrison Central wide receiver Darrion Kirksey committed to Bill Belichick and North Carolina in April over offers from Ole Miss and Arkansas.
“I feel like Belichick is a good coach,” Kirksey told On3.com. “I watched him for years. When he’s coaching he’s hard on you and definitely can make you a better person and prepared for the NFL or anything else.”
Over on the west side of town, West Harrison’s Jazear Carter received his first D-1 offer from Army last month. Carter was hyper-productive as an interior defensive lineman last season, picking up 24 tackles for loss out of 101 total.
The Sun Herald named Carter to its list of prospects poised to break out over the coming months back in January.
This story was originally published May 1, 2025 at 1:32 PM.
