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Ole Miss and Mississippi State are among the top 4 schools in the running for 3-star Class of 2026 offensive lineman Dalton Toothman.
Auburn and Clemson were also in Toothman’s top 4 list that he released on Saturday afternoon alongside their Magnolia state rival Rebels and Bulldogs.
Both Mississippi schools have a great shot at luring Toothman to Oxford or Starkville because he’s a Mississippi product out of Vancleave High School. Toothman is listed at 6-foot-5, 295 pounds and is rated the No. 63 offensive tackle prospect in the country from the Class of 2026 and the No. 22 player out of the state of Mississippi by 247Sports. Toothman does not have a 247Sports Composite ranking yet.
Toothman made a spring visit to Ole Miss’s campus on April 12. He’s scheduled to visit Oxford yet again on June 6 and Starkville a week later on June 13. Finally, an official visit to Auburn is scheduled for May 16.
“Every time I’ve been there (Ole Miss) or every time I’ve talked to the coaches, they just make me feel like I’m a top guy and they actually want me there,” Toothman told Inside the Rebels. “Also, it’s like the home aspect of it. It’s close and being in Mississippi. It’s kind of like a familiar place.”
Time will tell if the Mississippi close proximity factor pays off for either Ole Miss or Mississippi State in getting the talented in-state offensive lineman for the 2026 season.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
