Mike Leach Calls Mississippi State WR 'Ultimate Success Story' of Transfer Portal

It's no secret wide receiver Makai Polk has had a lot of success at Mississippi State -- he finished the season out as the Southeastern Conference's leader in receptions with 98 total. 

That's also good for the second-most in the nation.

Polk has received plenty of praise for his accomplishments and got even more on Wednesday in head coach Mike Leach's National Signing Day press conference.

"The ultimate success story of the portal is Makai Polk who is the leading receiver in the SEC and then the ultimate non-success story is the 3,000 or so that sought greener pastures last year that didn’t find a new pasture," Leach said.

Polk finished out the season with 98 receptions for 989 yards with nine touchdowns. He crossed the century mark four times in 2021 with his highest yardage game coming against Memphis in the third week of the season when he reeled in 11 receptions for 136 yards with one score.

Polk started his career off at Cal, where he caught a total of 36 passes in 12 career games, eventually making his way to the coaching staff that was after him to begin with.

"We recruited him at Washington State, we just didn't get him," Leach said. "And then he recruited us at Mississippi State. It's kind of funny. We said, 'Well, you'll catch a lot more balls at Washington State.' And then we go to Mississippi State and he goes, 'Yeah, I want to catch a lot more balls.' So he came here, so it was a good deal.”

Expect Polk to continue to be a consistent factor within the offense moving forward in what should be an exciting 2022 season for Mississippi State football.