Four-star Mississippi DE has top three

One of the nation’s top-rated strongside defensive ends has three schools at the top of his list entering his senior season.

Long Beach (Miss.) standout Xavier Mitchell says Tennessee, Ole Miss and LSU are the early favorites to land his commitment.

“Those are the three that have done the best job so far and the three I feel the best about,” he said. “I’ll keep things open for other schools if someone I like comes along and offers, but right now I really like those three.”

Mitchell (6-4, 245, 4.8), who recorded 72 tackles and 10 sacks as a junior, talked about each of his favorites:

“I’ve liked Tennessee’s program for a long time. They’re always good, one of the top teams every year with a chance to win the SEC and national championship. I think they’ve got a good staff of coaches to learn from.

“With Ole Miss, I really love their coaches. They were great to work with when I went to camp. I felt very comfortable around them. I’ve also got an old teammate (Brandon Jacobs) who is a running back there.

“LSU was real nice when I went down there last year for camp. I got to work with coach Muschamp a lot. He was real good. They’ve got a strong program with a chance to be real good the next few years with the way they’ve been recruiting. I know they’ve brought in some great talent and expect to compete for a championship. It would be nice to be a part of that.”

Mitchell also has offers from Auburn, Mississippi State and Southern Miss. He plans to camp at Southern Miss and LSU at the end of July.

Academically, he maintains a 3.1 GPA and has scored an 18 on the ACT. He projects as a full-qualifier, but will take the test again in hopes of achieving a higher score.