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D'IBERVILLE, Miss., March 30 -- As I said in the previous report, Mississippi is loaded with talent, so I spent a second day in the state to meet with its top prospects.

Actually, before traveling to Jackson for player interviews, I took a detour to Monroe, La., for a quick stop to see the No. 1 player in that state: QB Robert Lane (6-3, 210), a terrific all-around talent who's also considered perhaps the best baseball prospect in Louisiana. He's one of those elite, five-star prospects and probably will rank among the top 25 nationally. His father and uncle both played at LSU.

Then I returned to Mississippi for appointments with Jackson's top prospects. The area's talent is better this year than last, and Provine H.S., coached by Willie Collins, will be perhaps the most productive school talent-wise in the state in 2002. Among its top players: WR Doug Sherrod; DB Willie Williams; RB Greg Clark, an SEC-caliber back; TE Robert Hough, who could also play WR or DE; and QB Jeremy Young, who'll rank as one of the top three signal-callers in the state. Young is an All-American type of QB who can run as well as throw, has great escapability and is built along the lines of Vincent Young, the No. 2 QB of the Class of 2002. But Provine's best player -- and probably the state's top prospect -- is SS Quinton Culberson (6-1, 210), who has great speed to the ball and hits like a LB; he may end up as the most recruited player at his position in the nation. Coach Collins says that Culberson might be a better prospect than former Mississippi State star and Washington Redskins DB Fred Smoot, who also played for Provine.

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