USM or MSU for Louisiana WR

East Ascension (La.) wide receiver Shawn Nelson is close to making his college decision, but wants at least one more night to sleep on it.

“I think I know what I’m doing,” he said. “It’s between Southern Miss and Mississippi State.”

Louisiana Tech had also been in the picture until this weekend. That’s when Nelson took an official visit to Mississippi State. It was a good trip, he said, with one exception that could loom large.

“The only thing I don’t know about there is they want me as a defensive end and only a defensive end,” he said. “I really want to play wide receiver, so Southern Miss probably has the advantage.

“But there were a lot of things I liked about Mississippi State. They have good coaches and facilities there. It’s the SEC. They did a real cool thing with us where they had our jerseys and we got to put them on and run out on the field as they announced us. That was cool. I just don’t know about the defensive end deal.

“I’m going to spend a little bit more time thinking about it before I announce it.”

Nelson (6-4, 224, 4.5) had 700 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns as a senior.