Tag: michigan state football recruiting

Locked On Spartans: A surprise commitment and a QB breakdown

Wil and Matt react to Michigan State landing a football commit, AJ Kirk, seemingly out of nowhere.

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Wil and Matt react to Michigan State landing a football commit, AJ Kirk, seemingly out of nowhere. Then they breakdown MSU’s quarterback competition. Learn more about your ad choices.

You can find the episode on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

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Locked On Spartans: A surprise commitment and a QB breakdown

Wil and Matt react to Michigan State landing a football commit, AJ Kirk, seemingly out of nowhere.

[jwplayer 1tjDKyFK]

Wil and Matt react to Michigan State landing a football commit, AJ Kirk, seemingly out of nowhere. Then they breakdown MSU’s quarterback competition. Learn more about your ad choices.

You can find the episode on iTunes, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

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4-star Oak Park OL/DL Rayshaun Benny lists MSU in top 4, plans to commit ‘soon’

Rayshaun Benny, a four-star lineman from Oak Park, Mich., has Michigan State, Michigan, Penn State and Kentucky as four finalists.

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Rayshaun Benny, a four-star offensive and defensive lineman from Oak Park, Mich., announced on Saturday he’ll be committing “soon” and Michigan State is still in the running to land this highly-touted prospect.

Benny took to Twitter on Saturday afternoon to reveal Michigan State, Penn State, Kentucky and Michigan are the four programs that cracked his finalists’ list, and hinted at his verbal commitment coming in the near future.

Benny, who is listed at 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds, is ranked as the No. 6 overall prospect in the state of Michigan and  No. 188 nationally in the class of 2021, according to 247Sports. He is also ranked as the No. 14 defensive tackle by the recruiting service.

Allen Trieu, a national recruiting analyst for 247 Sports, is really high on Benny and considers him not only a player who will make an impact in college but forecasts a career in the NFL as well.

“Build wise, he looks like an inside-outside swing guy on the hoof. Has played both sides of the ball in high school and plays with tenacity and has good functional strength already. Runs his feet on contact and plays with good balance. Has good feet and athleticism in pass protection but has to get stronger in his punch and improve hand technique. Can play guard or right tackle in college. Natural athleticism and intangibles are that of a multi-year Power 5 starter and will have an opportunity to play on Sunday,” Trieu writes of Benny on his 247Sports’ profile.

According to 247Sports, Benny has been on four unofficial visits to Michigan State since the Spartans offered him in May of 2019. Benny has offers from numerous power five programs across the country, and previously cut his list to eight schools in July. Arkansas, Arizona State, LSU and Tennessee were the four schools removed from his latest finalists list released on Saturday

247Sports has Benny leaning towards Michigan, with all six of their crystal ball predictions as the Wolverines landing him.

Check out Benny’s highlights from his junior season at Oak Park High below:

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WATCH: MSU 4-star WR target scores 68-yard game-winning TD on Friday

4-star wide receiver Michigan State target Antonio Gates Jr. scored a 68-yard touchdown on the eve of his commitment on Friday night.

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It’s shaping up to be one hell of a weekend for 4-star wide receiver and Michigan State target Antonio Gates Jr. — who scored a monster game-winning touchdown on Friday and is set to commit later today.

Gates — 247Sports’ No. 4 best recruit in Michigan for 2022 — is expected to announce his commitment on Saturday but before doing that he came up huge for Dearborn Fordson High School on Friday night by scoring a 68-yard game-winning touchdown. The reception helped seal a crazy back-and-forth 27-22 Tractors’ win over Livonia Churchill High.

Watch the impressive play below:

Gates — who is the son of former NFL Pro Bowler Antonio Gates — has been a top target for Mel Tucker and his staff since offering him in April, and if he does choose the Spartans on Saturday, he’ll be Tucker’s first commit in the 2022 class.

Gates is the No. 21 ranked wide receiver and No. 171 ranked player overall in the 2022 class, according to 247Sports. He currently also holds offers from a handful of power five programs, including Arkansas, Penn State, Nebraska, Iowa State, Kentucky and Ole Miss.

Check back with Spartans Wire throughout Saturday as we keep you posted on Gates’ commitment status.

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MSU Offers 3-Star ATH from Lone Star State (WATCH HIGHLIGHTS)

Jarred Kerr of Lexington, Texas announced on Friday that Michigan State is the 19th school to hand him a scholarship offer.

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Michigan State remained active on the recruiting trail this week, handing out another offer on Friday — this time to 3-star athlete Jarred Kerr of Lexington, Texas.

Kerr is ranked 24th among all athletes in the class of 2022 by 247Sports. He’s also listed as the 46th overall prospect in the state of Texas by 247Sports. ESPN is a little higher on Kerr, ranking him as a 4-star prospect and a member of their prestigious ESPN Junior 300.

Kerr, who is listed as 6-foot-0 and 183 pounds, has already received a slew of offers from power five programs, including Baylor, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Florida, Texas, Texas A&M and many more. Michigan State was the second program to offer Kerr this week, with Arizona State handing out a scholarship offer on Monday.

Highlights from Kerr’s sophomore season at Lexington High can be seen below:

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MSU Football joins Vols, Dawgs in Offering 2023 DT out of Georgia

Kayden McDonald, a 6-foot-3 and 325-pound defensive tackle in the 2023 class, already has offers from Georgia and Tennessee.

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Michigan State is remaining active on the recruiting trail this week, with another offer to a highly-touted rising 2023 recruit in SEC Country.

Kayden McDonald, a 6-foot-3 and 325-pound defensive tackle at North Gwinnett High in Suwanee, Ga., was the latest prospect to receive an offer from Mel Tucker and his staff, joining a number of recruits to be handed an offer in the past two days.

McDonald has yet to receive a rating from 247Sports but it’s safe to say he’ll be a highly rated prospect. The Spartans were the third team already to offer him, joining a pair of SEC powers in Georgia and Tennessee. Both the Bulldogs and Vols issued an offer to McDonald last week.

McDonald is the second recruit out of Georgia in the class of 2023 to receive an offer from Michigan State this week, with highly-touted defensive end Lebbeus Overton announcing yesterday he received a scholarship offer from the Spartans. Overton is currently the top-ranked player in the 247Sports 2023 recruiting rankings.

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MSU Football Offers 300-pound, 3-Star DT from Detroit

Deone Walker, a three-star prospect at Cass Tech High, announced on Monday via Twitter that Michigan State is the latest school to offer

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Building up the D-Line continues to be a point of emphasis for Mel Tucker and his staff, with the Spartans issuing an offer to a massive prospect in the 2022 class.

Deone Walker, a three-star prospect at Cass Tech High in Detroit, announced on Monday via Twitter that Michigan State is the latest school to offer him a scholarship. Walker is a mammoth, listed at 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds, and is ranked by Rivals as the 19th best prospect in Michigan for the class of 2022.

Walker is beginning to gain more and more attention on the recruiting trail, currently holding offers from Michigan, Pittsburgh, Central Michigan and Bowling Green.

Michigan State has yet to land any verbal commits in the 2022 class.

Check out highlights of Walker from this year:

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6-foot-6 OL/DE prospect includes Spartans in list of top schools

The Spartans are joined by Nebraska, Florida State, Minnesota, Oregon and a handful of other teams on his list of top schools.

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Ru’Quan Buckley, a three-star offensive lineman and defensive end prospect out of Grand Rapids, listed Michigan State in his newly released top 11 on Saturday.

The Spartans are joined by Nebraska, Florida State, Minnesota, Oregon, Cincinnati, Purdue, Central Michigan, Arkansas, Toledo and Iowa State on the list. Buckley, who is a senior at Godwin Heights High, is ranked as the 14th best prospect in all of Michigan by 247Sports.

Allen Trieu, a national recruiting analyst for 247Sports, projects Buckley to be a starter at the next level and believes he’ll have the opportunity to play either O-Line or D-Line in college.

“Tall, long and still very lean prospect but has a more developed lower body. Good athlete who has played basketball. Plays both defensive end and offensive tackle in high school and could do either at a high level in college. Shows flashes of nastiness and intensity. He could do that more consistently, but has improved on that through his high school career. Bends pretty well and shows the ability to get skinny on defense and get through gaps. Technically raw and has to improve with his hands. Great upside and only just scratching the surface of what he can be. Likely projection is Power 5 starter at defensive end (and can play in an even or odd front) but offensive tackle is not out of the question either,” Trieu wrote of Buckley back in March.

While Michigan State is one of only two in-state schools to crack Buckley’s list, he’s currently projected to commit to Nebraska by a pair of recruiting analysts from 247Sports. Should Mel Tucker and his staff land Buckley, he’d be either the fourth offensive lineman or fourth defensive lineman to verbally commit in the 2021 class.

Check out Buckley’s highlights from his junior season below:

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Michigan State football offers 2022 4-star WR Taylor Groves

Michigan State football has made an offer to 2022 4-star WR Taylor Groves out of Tennessee

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Mel Tucker and the Michigan State football staff are making plenty of offers to talented 2022 prospects. Now, four-star wide receiver Taylor Groves announced he has received an offer from the Spartans.

Taylor Groves stands 6 feet, 2 inches and weighs 175 pounds. Groves is from Cross Plains, Tennessee, where he plays for East Robertson High School. He is the 39th-ranked receiver in the 2022 recruiting class and the ninth-ranked prospect in Tennessee according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

As of right now, Groves has offers from LSU, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Baylor, Colorado and Vanderbilt.

You can watch some of his highlights here.

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Michigan State picks up prediction for four-star receiver Antonio Gates Jr.

Gates Jr. will announce his commitment on October 10.

The Antonio Gates Jr. to Michigan State scuttlebutt is picking up steam.

247Sports national recruiting analyst Allen Trieu has locked in a crystal ball prediction for the talented 2022 WR to commit to Michigan State. This comes less than a week after the first recruiting predictions for the Dearborn Fordson prospect went the way of MSU courtesy of two Rivals.com publishers. There are currently four predictions for Gates Jr. between the two sites and all four are for MSU.

Gates Jr. announced last Monday night that he would be making his college choice on October 10.

Michigan State has pursued the junior gates heavily, offering him a scholarship back in April. He is rated as a four-star prospect in the 247Sports composite rankings and is slotted in as the No. 218 player in the class of 2022 and the No. 3 player in a very strong crop of Michigan prospects.

Gates’ dad, NFL Hall-of-Famer Antonio Gates, originally went to Michigan State to play both basketball and football, but then-coach Nick Saban wouldn’t allow for him to play both sports resulting in Gates transferring to Eastern Michigan.

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