Legacies can certainly play a part in college football recruiting. Prospects grow up attending games, traveling to college towns, and seeing the football program up close, first-hand. Three-star tight end Blake Gunter knows this life very well. The Madison, Miss., native has been to Oxford more times than he can remember, attending Ole Miss games with his family year in and year out as a youngster.

Blake's father, Bubba Gunter, played linebacker for the Rebels from 1987-1989, so he spent most of his fall Saturdays in The Grove going to games with his family.

"I'm super familiar with Oxford and the campus," Gunter said. "My family always had season tickets so were there every home game."

Despite being a legacy and spending a ton of time at Ole Miss, he says his parents are giving him the freedom to make the decision his own.

"My parents have been great throughout the process," Gunter said. "My older brother (Grayson) went to Arkansas and they had no problem with that."

The Madison Central tight end said he's unsure of a timeline, but he said once he has his mind made up, he will waste little time making it known.

"I won't do a top-schools list. ...Whenever I make a decision I'll just tweet it out," Gunter said.

Gunter said he primarily talks with Ole Miss tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley. He said that he focuses on fit and usage of his position when he takes in games on Saturday.

"One of the biggest if not the biggest thing I'm looking at is the offense and how they use their tight ends," Gunter said. "It's an undervalued position and Ole Miss does a great job of utilizing it in Coach (Lane) Kiffin's offense."

As mentioned above, Gunter said he hasn't narrowed things down at all, but he is focused on a few programs right now.

"Ole Miss and Arkansas are sticking out right now," Gunter said. "Florida State, too"

He also said that his thought process on a decision has changed in regards to the NCAA-mandated dead period and the COVID-19 pandemic not allowing official visits.

"At first I was going to wait until I could take visits," Gunter said. "Now, I'm certain I can make a decision without it."

The Ole Miss target helped Madison Central to a 7-4 record in 2020, hauling in 34 passes for 454 yards and five touchdowns.

"Our entire offense is coming back in terms of skill players and our defense is mostly coming back," Gunter said. "I think we're going to be really good in 2021."

The 6-foot-3, 230-pounder said he mostly talks to 2022 target Stone Blanton, but other than that he doesn't talk to other fellow in-state recruits. With that said, he told me that all of that will change once he commits.

"Whenever I commit, I will make it priority No. 1 to recruit for that school," he said.