Jesse Anderson tried to spread the word about Ahmad Hardy. He called college coaches. He sent film to try and convince them.

“I begged them to give him a shot,” Anderson said. “But it was what it was.”

Nobody ever said no. They were cordial.

“It was always, ‘He’s on the radar. We’re looking at him. We’re evaluating him,’” Anderson said.

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Offers? Hardy — Anderson’s star running back at Lawrence County High in rural Mississippi — was hoping college coaches would just call him. Yet that rarely happened for the prospect from Oma, Miss., a place so small it doesn’t have its own Wikipedia page.

After he ran for 2,442 yards as a senior, more than anyone in the state, the only schools that called, brought him to campus and extended an offer were Louisiana-Monroe and a few local junior colleges.

He hoped the big programs in Mississippi wanted him. They didn’t.

“I was a zero-star recruit,” Hardy told The Athletic.

Still, Anderson said he felt it was a “foregone conclusion the big guys were gonna come knocking one day.” After Hardy rocketed to a freshman All-American season at Monroe, dozens did.

Hardy chose Missouri. In his first season in the SEC, he’s making the most of it. He leads the country in rushing with 730 yards and nine touchdowns, helping the Tigers to a top-15 ranking entering Saturday’s crucial clash with No. 8 Alabama. In one year, Hardy has risen from an unknown Sun Belt freshman to a Heisman Trophy contender.

Anderson, who coached