Last Saturday was an eye-opening event for Texas native Landon Brown.

A rising prospect in the class of 2026, Brown got the royal treatment from Mississippi State baseball coaches for a weekend visit in Starkville. It was so good that Brown shut everything down and chose the Diamond Dawgs.

“As soon as I got to the visit, it kind of felt like home,” Brown said. “The coaching staff, the facilities and everyone was just amazing. We went to the Hardy concert at the baseball stadium and that was unreal. I got to see just about everything that you’d want to see, and it made my mind for me. It felt just like where I live. All the people were really nice and easy to get along with.”  

The phone has been blowing up for Brown since he was able to begin communication with coaching staffs around the country and Chris Lemonis and his staff had to fight off some heavy competition.

Being inside the state of Texas, Brown was being pursued heavily by some strong baseball brands. Texas, TCU and Baylor were among his final five teams with Oklahoma State also in the mix. Dallas Baptist was another team that had his attention.

The relentless recruiting from the entire staff at State coupled with what he saw on campus got the job done for the Diamond Dawgs.

“It was always good. When I got my first call from them, the conversations were really good,” Brown said. “They watched me a little over the summer and were one of my first calls when they could contact me. Coach Gaut was really good at keeping in touch with me.

“It was a little overwhelming the first day, but when I started making connections it was an awesome experience getting recruited. Getting a chance to hear the cowbells at games and stuff is going to be awesome. When I was younger, I watched their run in 2021 and that was really cool. It’s a great program and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

Where Brown ends up playing on the next level is the most intriguing part of his next couple of seasons. The 2026 star from Iowa Colony has played all over the field during high school and travel ball.

State recruited him as a two-way player and hasn’t had any issues taking those kind of athletes when they get the chance. Brown projects mostly as a third baseman in the field and can also pitch from the right side. The staff talked to him a little bit about all of it last weekend.

Pitching is at the top of the list for Brown with a fastball sitting in the low 90s.

“I’m a two-way. I play third in the summer and pitch a little bit. I hit the ball really well. State likes me playing multiple positions and they told me that the game will let me know where I need to be.

“From a pitching side of things, the presentation from coach (Justin) Parker was awesome. Some people might think it’s boring just because of all the things they presented, but it was unreal for a pitcher. He got the team ERA down this year and seeing what he can do with me on the next level is exciting.”

Brown is the second player to make the call for the 2026 class in the last two days. It’s a class that has gotten some restructuring in the last few months and is building some steam with Connecticut LHP Quincy Bright and Indiana LHP Beckett Doane. The latter committed on Tuesday night and Maroon and White Daily will have his story on Thursday.  

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