Kadarius Calloway

Jarquez Hunter had plans to participate in several college football camps this summer, but like everything else in the world of sports, those plans changed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

The Neshoba Central senior running back, who has offers from Auburn, Tennessee and Ole Miss among others, could only work out on his own when the coronavirus shutdowns sent him home from school in the spring. He’s been doing summer workouts with the rest of his Rockets teammates since June, but any further evaluations by college coaches will have to come from game film when the season begins in September.

Hunter has one thing working in his favor: Schools discovered him before the pandemic, so he was already getting recruited prior to the shutdowns. A lack of summer camps won’t put him as far behind as some others who are trying to make a name for themselves heading into their senior year with no football camps to help get them on schools’ radars.

“I’m really grateful I started talking to coaches and I don’t have to fight as hard to get offers,” Hunter said.

Philadelphia senior Kadarius Calloway, who recently flipped his commitment from Mississippi State to Alabama, is similarly thankful SEC schools have known who he was for a while.

“I’m really grateful for that,” Calloway said. “I’m glad I got my name out there before all of this happened.”

That doesn’t mean the two standouts from Neshoba County — both rated as three-star recruits on 247Sports.com — haven’t had their recruiting plans affected by COVID-19. In late June, the NCAA extended its suspension of all in-person recruiting for Division I sports through Aug. 31, a suspension that had been in place since March due to the coronavirus. Neither Calloway nor Hunter have been able to take official visits this summer. Calloway has yet to be able to visit Alabama’s campus.

“I’ll talk to coaches through FaceTime and Zoom meetings, but no visits,” Hunter explained.

Since he’s still uncommitted, Hunter said not being able to take official visits has made it difficult to decide where he wants to attend college.

“It’ll be hard not seeing a place and being able to get used to the coaches so that you can commit somewhere,” Hunter explained.

There hadn’t been much excitement for Calloway this summer prior to flipping to Alabama last week. Since then, Calloway said his phone has constantly blown up. The chance to play for Nick Saban was the main reason for picking Alabama, said Calloway, who also likes the idea of playing college football in a different state.

Recruiting hasn’t been the only thing on Calloway’s mind, however. Like many players and coaches, he anxiously awaited the Mississippi High School Activities Association’s decision on whether or not there would be football this fall.

“I was worried,” Calloway admitted. “Every day I woke up thinking I might not even play, and I was going to be mad if I didn’t play.”

After the MHSAA decided earlier this week to delay the season by two weeks — but still have a season — Calloway said he was grateful to have a little more peace of mind about football.

“It means a lot,” Calloway said. “I was happy when I found out. I’m glad that I’ll be able to play my last year in high school.”

Hunter feels the same way, and he hopes the 2020 season gets to be played from start to finish.

“I was really worried because it’s my last season and I wanted to play,” Hunter said. “It would’ve been really bad if I couldn’t.”