Ladies and Gentlemen, I am back. After 2 weeks of vacation visiting in-laws in Italy immediately followed by a work trip in Southern California this week, the eagle has landed back in the streets of Philadelphia. Now let’s dive into what was an insane June. Some of the things that I’ll discuss here are not directly-MSU related, but have implications for MSU’s recruiting class. Without further ado, let’s get into it.Midwest recruiting is either an Inferno or a Frigid wasteland.
In June, we’ve seen some very interesting things happening at places like Ohio State, Notre Dame, and Michigan. What else can be said about OSU except Brian Hartline is the best recruiter in the country. In the span of 3 days, he landed 2 5 star WRs and a 4 star top 100 WR to pair with another 4 star WR. OSU followed this up with a great close to June landing 3 top 250 DBs to round out their 4 man DB class. I have no inside info, but I’d be a bit surprised if OSU doesn’t complete the flip of elite 11 QB: Austin Novosad. It’s pretty clear at this point that Baylor won’t be able to hold off TAMU and OSU here. Moral of the story, the beat goes on at OSU.
Until OSU turned things into overdrive, Notre Dame was the leader in the clubhouse recruiting this cycle. I’ve followed Marcus Freeman’s career dating back to when he played at OSU during my PhD. He’s always been a sharp guy. Full disclosure, I was really hoping that we could pry him away from Cincy when Tuck took the MSU job. We all know what happened, and he is now the head man at ND. The verdict is still out on him as a coach given the bowl game, but his staff can close PERIOD. Since April, his staff has landed 10 4-star recruits including a borderline 5-star OL Charles Jagusah (more on him later). In terms of MSU targets, MSU really only crossed paths with ND for OT Elijah Paige and DB Peyton Bowen. I’m calling it now that Elijah Paige will have a great career at ND and potentially be a pro. I was holding out hope that Tuck could pull him away from the West Coast Schools (apparently Freeman had the same idea ☹).
Now onto a topic that I will spend a good chunk of time on the Michigan Wolverines. A lot has happened since I went on vacation. Recently, Michigan went nearly 2 months without securing a verbal commit, which was shocking coming off of a beating OSU and their first CFB berth last year. Yes, it is June, but UM has been struggling on the trail. The QB developments have been surprising. Despite Michigan beat writers like EJ Holland and Sam Webb forecasting him to sign with Michigan for months, 5 star 2023 QB Dante Moore is trending heavily to the Oregon Ducks with an announcement to come shortly. Not going to lie, this one was satisfying and could be even more so if Oregon joins the Big Ten this month. I’d love to see Moore tear up UM in the Big House. The Moore news was preceded by ND landing QB CJ Carr (the grandson of former UM coach Lloyd Carr) in the 2024 class. For those keeping score at home, Michigan has 2 FR QBs, Cade McNamara (JR), and JJ McCarthy (SO). I fully expected the loser of the QB battle to transfer out at the end of last year. Somehow, both Cade and JJ are still there. JJ has been hurt all spring, and will be playing catch-up to compete for the job. I will be shocked if both these QBs are on this roster when we play them in the fall. Given the Moore and Carr news, UM could be in big trouble if JJ transfers out considering: 1) UM faithful are not high on 4 star Jayden Denegal (who MSU evaluated last cycle), and 2) UM is now putting all their faith in landing 5 star 2024 QB Jayden Davis.
When you look outside of QB, life has been rough for UM. In the list below, I lay out many developments that have been surprising. Players in bold were projected by UM faithful in early June to eventually land in AA (many of them are committed elsewhere). I’m surprised that they are struggling so badly with closing. Some of this may be NIL, and the other part is likely backlash from Harbaugh’s NFL flirtation. The other crazy part is that UM is struggling badly at OL recruiting after they won the award for best OL last year. I think that their class is worth monitoring as the recruiting cycle continues to unfold.
- 3 star OL Landen Hatchett (committed to Washington after Michigan OV)
- 3 star OL Logan Howland (Michigan is in there, but there is a thought Oklahoma may take him from them).
- 3 star OL Paul Mubenga (visited TAMU and LSU, and is announcing soon with Michigan potentially winning this one)
- 5 star OL Kadyn Proctor (cancelled OV, eliminated Michigan, committed to Iowa)
- 3 star OL Chris Terek (Took OV, post-visit trended to Iowa, but ended up committing to Wisconsin)
- 4 star OL Cayden Green (cancelled OV- eliminated Michigan)
- 3 star OL Evan Link (Was scheduled to OV to Michigan, cancelled due to illness, likely headed to PSU)
- 4 star OL Charles Jagusah (took an OV to Michigan and recently committed to ND)
- 4 star DL Collins Acheampong (Michigan has led this one the whole way until his Miami visit. His commitment was delayed, but Miami is in there big time due to NIL)
- 4 star DL Jason Moore (Took OV, but ND is the leader)
- 3 star DL Saadiq Clements (committed to Purdue supposedly after Michigan gained traction with a higher rated DT)
- 3 star DL Riley Van Poppel (committed to Nebraska)
- 3 star DL Joesph Mupoyi (UM leads, but he has an issue that wont allow him to be a take for now)
- 4 star DL Jaxon Howard (committed to LSU)
- 3 star DL Tyler Thompson (Michigan felt good here, but he committed to UNC post-UM visit)
- 4 star S Derek Williams (Took an unofficial to Um this summer and eliminated them shortly thereafter)
- 4 star DB Jyaire Hill (Took an OV to Michigan, and immediately was predicted to go to Illinois- Mom doesn’t like the staff and is running this recruitment)
- 5 star QB Dante Moore (trending heavily to Oregon)
- 3 star TE Chico Holtz (Apparently was a take then was told they were full so he committed to NW)
- 4 star WR Shelton Sampson (Named Michigan in his top group and eliminated them shortly thereafter)
- 4 star WR Fred Moore (committed to Michigan despite questions about his speed)
- 4 star WR Johntay Cook (Took an OV to Michigan, named them in his top 3, committed to Texas, and said UM’s pitch was way too basic- https://saturdayblitz.com/2022/06/30/michigan-football-johntay-cook-calls-wolverines-recruiting/)
- 4 star LB Raylen Wilson (DECOMMIT- No way to spin this- this one hurt since this was their best recruit. He’s likely going to UF or UGA now).
- 4 star LB Jaiden Ausberry (ND may be the leader now after Michigan thought they had this one wrapped up)
In my nearly 20 years following recruiting, MSU has NEVER had this much juice behind its entire operation. Folks may hate the whips and goats on the field, but they are making MSU highly visible with HS kids right now. Now more than ever, college football is an arms race. College recruiting is as much about social media presence/SWAG as it is about tradition/PT/team success/player development/# of players drafted. They all go hand in hand. In addition, you may have noticed that during June other teams started to emulate things Tucker deployed at MSU (ps- we have an elite photo shoot with the Pancake Honcho: ). If you are stale in any area, you will be left behind. This is why I am bullish that Dabo (https://saturdayblitz.com/2022/04/13/dabo-swinneys-regressive-nil-stance-comes-up-again/) and Harbaugh (https://www.si.com/college/michigan...m-harbaugh-nil-mel-tucker-ohio-state-ryan-day) will struggle mightily over the next 5 years given their stances on the portal and NIL. For the record, I am fully aware of what Clemson’s class looks like right now (number 4 nationally). It is elite, but I think it may look quite different if their offense continues to struggle. I think that by mid-season they will be in a full-blown QB controversy since DJ Uiagalelei seems to have hit a wall after Trevor Lawerence went to the NFL (https://theclemsoninsider.com/2022/...-in-on-the-big-looming-question-with-clemson/) The over/under on Clemson’s record is 10.5. I have them at 9-3 if their offense is functional so slam that under folks!!!!
But back to the guys in green….. In June, MSU landed 3 4 star commitments, and 1 3 star commitment. As I suggested last time, this will be a national class. I am however surprised that 60% of the class is from either FL or TX. Crazier yet, the percentage would be closer to 70% if we had closed some targets that looked green a month ago. The pull of MSU in Texas is intriguing to watch. If you look back a few years ago, all the best kids in Texas can’t go to Texas and TAMU. Houston, Baylor, Texas Tech, and TCU won a ton of games in the 2000’s pulling in this next tier of player in the lone star state. Tucker clearly sees this as a deep talent pool that his staff can tap into. For the state of MI, I did expect at least 4 in-state commits for MSU in this class. However, it’s looking more like we will only take 1 more if any.
Unfortunately, MSU has been bitten by the decommit bug. MSU lost a 4 star commitment (Jaylon Braxton) that will likely be committing to Miami shortly. In addition, we saw the Enow Etta situation flip-flop all over the place in June. My message to MSU fans in the NIL era, you will lose kids. This happens when you target high level players. You likely don’t notice it, but we aren’t competing against Purdue, Kentucky, and Iowa State on the trail much anymore. Most of our 2023 recruiting targets are guys with PSU, UM, Miami, FSU, UF, Bama, Georgia, Oregon and LSU offers. Hell, it’s mind blowing to me that MSU has and will continue to have a presence with top 250 talent at IMG in Florida. In prior years, programs like IMG wouldn’t event bat an eye at MSU. Plain and simple, we are after a different caliber of player now. Things can change on dime (no pun intended) for a variety of reasons. I know that you all hate to hear it, but recruiting is fluid. I enjoy following it, but there is no way in hell I would ever be involved in convincing 17-18 year old kids to commit to a college let alone pick what they wanted to have for lunch.
Before my vacation, I said that if MSU closes even 30% of the insane talent that is visiting MSU in June 2022, the 2023 will be a special group. I still believe this to be the case. MSU currently holds 10 commitments and has the 29th best class according to Rivals. For those of you freaking out about the class rank, R.E.L.A.X. I thought that the wave of commitments would continue through June, but it appears that things will pick up during July. We brought in something like 35-45 high level recruits in June. We were never going to land all of them. If this was your expectation, I suggest that you find another sport and or team to follow. No one signs every recruit that visits- not even Nick Saban himself. Shooters shoot!!! To elevate your talent level, this is the way to do it: pick your targets, get them on campus early and often, try to close them, if you take a L go to the next guy on the board. The approach is very similar to what the NFL does in free agency. I’ll close with some general comments on a few recruits that should be deciding soon.
- 4 star DE Enow Etta- This recruitment is officially in the top 5 for the most bizarre (other notables: Robert Bolden, Taylor Hill, CJ Olaniyan, Sevon Pittman, Drake Harris). Social media is terrible. I really wish that he would have just taken visits, and committed somewhere (eg Stanford). I think both the UM and MSU fanbases just want this one to be over. He will commit to UM any day now, but my gut tells me that he will either not sign there or transfer out as a SO. Time will tell.
- 5 star DE Jayden Wayne- I love the potential of this kid. He recently announced a transfer to IMG for his SR. year. All signs point to a commitment to Miami next week. This is one where I hope the coaches stay on him during the fall especially if we get off to a hot start. Further what happens if Miami struggles…..
- 4 star DE Jalen Thompson/ 4 star OG Cole Dellinger- Both recruitments are enigmas to me. I never thought a day would come where Rivals top 250 talent from MI wasn’t at the top of the wish list. A year ago, I thought both of them would be in this class. I’m wondering if one or both can be salvaged with a Spartan Dawg Con visit. If I could take one of them, I would take Dellinger considering you can never have enough OL. Per an update today from Jason, it looks like I may get that wish.
- 3 star OT Sham Umarov- He is a massive OT from Georgia. It seems like he has really enjoyed the recruiting process. His finalists are UGA, MSU, Tennessee, and LSU. He will commit on July 8th. Before July 3rd, I thought that Tennessee would be the spot, but things just got interesting. Georgia is only taking 5 OL this class, and they just had an OL flip to Bama (https://ugawire.usatoday.com/2022/07/03/ryqueze-mcelderry-decommitment-georgia-football-alabama/). It is unknown if UGA will take him as a replacement. IMO he’s a Dawg if they push for him.
- 4 star Joe Crocker- Finalists are Wisconsin, Miss St. and MSU. He is committing in a few weeks so we should have a better idea of how our OT board is trending. Given that 4 star OT Trevor Lauck went to Iowa, I would think hard about pushing for Crocker. I like him as a prospect. I am also fearful of what things look like if you only land 1 OL out of Bistonis, Kirkland, and McVay when Crocker and Ryan Caretta could have been had.
- 4 star Bai Jobe- All signs seem to point to a commitment from Bai Jobe in the coming days. I was shocked to see this be the case: a top 200 DE, number 1 player in OK. A lot of uncommon stuff there. He has great tape, is very athletic, and had offers from a lot of folks. Sign this kid up ASAP.
- 4 star Elliot Washington- I’ll admit I fully expected him to be Green by now. This looks like one that will go into the fall unless Alabama over recruits the secondary (which is possible right now). Keep your fingers crossed that he doesn’t take an OV to Bama in the fall. IMO We just need to win at least 9 games to complete the flip.
- 4 star Payton Kirkland- He has shut down his recruitment now. A month ago, I saw no way that he would end up at MSU. A few interesting things have happened here. Notably, Florida is taking more L’s on the recruiting trail than anyone in America (). Earlier this year, it seemed like Florida would lock down IMG and many local kids. This hasn’t happened. Miami is surging nationally and is closing kids that Florida led a long time for. The game changer for this recruitment appeared to be the OV to MSU. Tucker’s staff won over the family. MSU is an opportunity to come back to the Midwest, and have his family watch him play. I now fully expect him to be Green in 3 weeks.
- 4 Star OG Madden Sanker- I like this kid a lot, but he will be committing to Louisville on July 11th. Louisville has a lot of momentum after landing Rueben Owens a few weeks back. I personally don’t get it. Scott Satterfield is 18-19 in 3 seasons at Louisville. He is also fresh off of back to back 7 loss seasons. Malik Cunningham is a special QB when healthy, but they have a tough schedule this year. They have FSU, @ UVA, @ BC, vs. Pitt, vs. Wake, and vs. NC St, @ Clemson, and @ Kentucky to close out November. Per Lindy’s, that’s 4 preseason top 25 teams. If they don’t win at least 8 games, I expect that class to fall apart. Sell stock folks unless Malik Cunningham goes full Lamar Jackson 2.0. If we miss on OL targets, I’d watch Sanker as a flip candidate mid-season. On another note, I fully expect Owens to flip to a Texas school at NSD especially if he tears it up as a HS SR.
- 4 star TE Jelani Thurman- He is one of my favorite targets this cycle. He is an SEC TE, and a freak athlete. He took visits to Alabama, MSU, Auburn, and OSU. From the interwebs, Alabama hasn’t pushed for him after missing out on 4 star Riley Williams (Miami). Basketball is increasing in important for this recruitment. MSU played that card well during his OV. Auburn and OSU emulated it in his later visits. The leg up I think is that MSU has proven cases of being able to do both: Aaron Alexander, Dion Simms, Matt Trannon, Keon Coleman, Maliq Carr. I highly doubt that OSU would really let him do it. Auburn might, but who knows. Full disclosure, I also don’t get Auburn being an option for any kid considering Harsin won’t survive this year after the boosters tried to get him this offseason (https://www.si.com/college/auburn/f...in-lindys-sports-five-coaches-on-the-hot-seat). No inside info, but I like where we sit in this one.
- 4 star S Jayden Bonsu- I like this kid a lot, but all signs point to Miami here. OSU likes him, but their DB class is getting full fast. PSU wanted him, but Miami really turned up the heat on him. As a result, he has moved his commitment up to July 20th from August 20th.
- 3 star DL Terrance Green: A 6’5 DL with a 7 ft. wing span- yes please. There is a lot to like here. I’m hoping that with USC out, we can hold off Oregon and close him in the coming weeks. A class of Depaepe, Jobe and Green would be special.
- 4 star OL Bisontis/McVay- A lot of interesting developments out there. The flip of the UGA OL to Bama potentially takes up a spot at Bama for McVay. I’m also not sure that they are pushing for him considering that he struggled in his workout down there. Great prospect, but he needs to early enroll at his future college for S&C work. If Bama doesn’t push, I think that it comes down to Oregon and MSU. If we lose Kirkland, the chances increase greatly. With Bisontis, this would be a huge win for Tucker/Kap. This kid is a plug and play OL from day 1. I’m hoping that Berger can help close him out given their friendship.
- 4 star DB Caleb Presley- He’s my favorite DB recruit outside of Elliot Washington. He’s going to announce for Oregon this week. I am hoping that he will go to the Washington-MSU game in his backyard (Sept 17). If Oregon struggles during the Bo Nix era, this could make him a flip candidate later in the cycle. I expect this one to be contentious until signing day.
- 5 stars- I still do not expect MSU to land a 5 star this class. If we win at least 9 games, I would expect to be in the final 3-4 for both Hicks and Okunlola. I love both prospects, but you need to have a special season to land kids like them. Fingers crossed
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