Valenti to Mississippi State

Former Jesuit tailback Kevin Valenti, Hillsborough County's top rusher in 2006, confirmed in a voice mail to the Times late Tuesday night he will attend Mississippi State University and join the football team as a preferred walk-on.

Valenti, who ran for 286 yards in a five-quarter span late in the season, began practice with the Bulldogs at 6 o'clock this morning and couldn't immediately be reached.

According to All Sports Community Service founder Tyrone Keys, who traveled to Starkville with Valenti's family, the 5-foot-10 ex-Tigers workhorse received a "leadership scholarship" from MSU that covers roughly half his tuition. Valenti also had been considering Division I-AA Nicholls State.

"Nicholls State must have called 10 times (Tuesday)," Keys, whose organization helped connect Valenti with MSU, said early this morning. "It was crazy."