Philadelphia High School standout receiver Lideatrick Griffin signed his National Letter of Intent Wednesday to play football at Mississippi State next year.

Griffin was joined by friends, family and teammates at the school’s library as he made his pledge to the Bulldogs official after verbally committing to MSU back in June.

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Philly senior said he’s relieved Dec. 18, the first installment of college football’s National Signing Day, arrived.  

“It felt good because I was waiting for all the recruitment to be over,” Griffin said. “I wanted to just interact with the Mississippi State fans and get stronger.”  

In addition to the signing event, he also received a surprise FaceTime chat from Bulldogs head coach Joe Moorhead.

“It brightened my day with that,” Griffin.

The four-star recruit fielded other offers from Ole Miss, Auburn and Tennessee, among others, after catching 94 passes for 1,674 yards and 14 touchdowns in 25 games through his sophomore and junior seasons. He also rushed for more than 800 yards and scored six touchdowns during that span.

He helped lead the Tornadoes to three straight appearances in the Class 2A quarterfinals.

“You’re always lucky to have a player like that,” Philadelphia head coach David Frey said. “It’s been a while since we’ve had someone sign (with a college) this big, so we were due for another one. It means a lot to the coaching staff, school and the community.”

Frey said he first had the notion that Griffin could sign with a prominent school two years ago when the then-sophomore returned three kickoffs for touchdowns in a victory over 2A powerhouse Scott Central, which was the Rebels’ only loss of the regular season. 

“When I saw how he made all of those players miss and ran the three kicks back, I thought, ‘Everybody’s going to see this,’” Frey said. “That game, I knew he was going to be something.”

Griffin was ranked third in the state by ESPN and 16th in the county at his position. Last weekend, he participated in the 33rd annual Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game.

Frey said he’s seen Griffin’s speed and route-running skills improve over the last several years, and Griffin has become smarter and a better leader. He added that Griffin’s success will make a lasting impression on the Tornadoes.

“It motivates other kids to want to get where he’s at,” he said. “I think it’s going to make the younger players want to work harder.”

Griffin said he’s looking forward to the opportunity to represent the city of Philadelphia.

“There are not too many people who have done this before,” he said. “There have been a lot of good players who have come through here before, but they didn’t go too far, so I want to make it far.”

Mississippi State opens its 2020 campaign Sep. 5 at home against New Mexico.