ACKERMAN — There’s an urgency inside Choctaw County High School’s gymnasium when Caleb Cunningham has the ball in his hands and an open court ahead of him.

“Oh, there he goes,” one fan in the wooden bleachers told another – willingly pausing a conversation to make sure his friend had eyes on the action.

It took until the second quarter, but finally the moment arrived against Eupora High School. Cunningham had a free lane to the hoop, and everyone knew what was coming. As he cocked back with his right arm, fans were already rising from their seats.

BOOM!

In unison, the crowd shouted as Cunningham delivered his first highlight Friday. A couple plays later, Cunningham delivered a near-carbon copy dunk.

BOOM!

To the home fans, it was nothing new. For Cunningham and the assortment of Mississippi State football coaches who made the 25-mile trip east to watch, it was a promise fulfilled by the five-star receiver.

“I told them before the game, ‘I’m going to try to tear the rim down,’” Cunningham told the Clarion Ledger postgame. “That’s what I was trying to do.”

Ackerman holds one of the state’s most exciting basketball talents, but to first-year MSU coach Jeff Lebby, it’s home to the nation’s second-best receiver in the 2025 recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. All it takes is one night inside the small-town gym to understand the Bulldogs’ pursuit of Cunningham.

Basketball has always been Caleb Cunningham’s first love

Bettie Cunningham, Caleb Cunningham’s mother, remembers watching her son shoot and dunk basketballs when he was only 3 years old. At 18 months old, Cunningham was already 3 feet tall, so it didn’t catch her off guard.

“It was no surprise that he was going to be special,” Bettie Cunningham said.

What did surprise her, though, was watching him evolve into a football star despite basketball being his first love. It wasn’t until he was 8 years old that football entered the picture, but once it did, things quickly became apparent to Cunningham’s parents.

“We noticed he was pretty good,” Bettie Cunningham said.

Cunningham (6-foot-3, 180 pounds) has developed into a five-star prospect. He’s the nation’s No. 11 prospect and the top player from Mississippi. He credits some of his skills on the gridiron, such as the use of his hands, to playing multiple sports.

For his basketball coach, Chris Pettit, Cunningham’s ability to play basketball and football was evident. But the evolution of Cunningham into his junior year has still been impressive.

“He was pretty skilled when he got here, but it has just progressed to a level above most people,” Pettit said.

Being part of a team is another skill that resonates on the hardwood just as much as on the gridiron for Cunningham. Due to weather, a divisional game last month between Aberdeen and Choctaw County was postponed. The new date overlapped with Cunningham’s scheduled trip to Oklahoma.

Cunningham went through with the visit. However, Pettit says Cunningham was, “torn up” about the decision.

“There’s a lot of kids it wouldn’t bother,” Pettit said. “He’s one of them it does because he loves his teammates, and he loves playing for them.”

Where Caleb Cunningham would rank in Mississippi State’s recruiting history

Four days before beating Eupora, Cunningham released his top 12. The list included Mississippi State and Ole Miss along with LSU, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma and Florida.

On Thursday, OU coach Brent Venables and his receivers coach, Emmett Jones, visited Choctaw County High School. The following night, Lebby was joined by MSU receivers coach Chad Bumphis and seven other staff members to watch Cunningham hoop.

The reasoning behind the Bulldogs’ pursuit is obvious. He’d edge out Deljuan Robinson as the program’s top-rated recruit, according to 247Sports’ all-time rankings dating back to 2000.

Bumphis landed a trio of four-star receivers in the 2024 class – his first at Mississippi State. He’s looking to make a bigger splash in his second.

How Mississippi State is impressing Caleb Cunningham

As the final minutes ticked of the Choctaw County girls game on Friday, Lebby was sitting in the stands with Cunningham’s family. Senior night festivities followed, and the Mississippi State staff remained in attendance. They then sat on the baseline throughout Cunningham’s contest and waited postgame to get a photo with their top recruit.

“That meant a lot to us,” Bettie Cunningham said. “(MSU) being the home team − that meant a lot to us for all of them to come down and watch. And they stayed the whole game. They weren’t just in and out. That means a lot.”

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The staff was treated to a trio of first-half dunks, although Cunningham wasn’t content with that. As Choctaw County was running away with it in the fourth, he got a final opportunity to bring the boom back into the arena.

Cunningham ran in transition, but instead of cocking back, he threw the ball off the backboard in an attempted alley-oop to himself. The crowd rose to its feet again, with Bumphis serving as no exception.

However, with a defender right on his hip, Cunningham couldn’t convert. He laughed it off as he ran back on defense away from the Mississippi State coaches still there.

“That really impressed me,” Caleb Cunningham said. “That showed they want me to come home. That shows a lot that they want me to come.”

Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @skrajisnik3.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How Mississippi State football is recruiting 5-star Caleb Cunningham