Tyler Lockhart is transferring BACK to State

Welcome to the new recruiting landscape for university sports. Players now have more power and more autonomy than ever before.

This includes changing their minds about where they want to play.

On Wednesday afternoon, four-star linebacker Tyler Lockhart of Winona (Miss.) decommitted from his nearly three-month commitment from Mississippi State and signed his papers with rival Ole Miss. This followed a commitment he made to Auburn in May–June.

But on Wednesday evening, Lockhart changed his mind again. The Bulldogs announced that they had received his signed paperwork and were heading back to Mississippi State.

Lockhart’s decision could be one of the first of its kind in the new era of recruiting. In October, the NCAA announced it was immediately ending the National Letter of Intent, which had tied a player to a college program’s scholarship for one season. Every football player now signs athletic sponsorship paperwork accepting a scholarship awarded by a football program or university, but is not required to sign it.

While this is currently a period of NCAA recruiting shutdown where schools are not allowed to contact recruits, Lockhart or any other player can choose where they sign and even change their mind. Technically, they can transfer as often as they want as long as the school they sign with agrees to accept their signed paperwork.

BulldogBlitz.com will have a lot more on this situation and Lockhart’s decision to go back and sign with Mississippi State.