National Signing Day has come and gone and the Wisconsin Badgers have put together a fairly decent class compared to the rest of the Big Ten. In the spirit of looking at recruiting classes compared to the rest of the conference, Badgers Wire is taking a look at Wisconsin’s class on a national level and a conference level. We’ll be including their national rankings and their conference rankings. Next up on our list is a total mystery under new leadership, but was pretty under recently-departed leadership, the Michigan State Spartans. New coach Mel Tucker takes over from Colorado for Mark Dantonio.
The Spartans were a defensive powerhouse under Dantonio, winning the Rose and Cotton Bowls among others during his time as head coach. Taking over for the embattled coach is Tucker, who is the feature of a three-part segment at one of our college wire sister sites, Trojans Wire. The first installment of that series looked at Tucker’s hire at Michigan State and how the Spartans were able to lure him away from Colorado with a top assistants pool. Tucker had the money to attract top talent to his coaching staff, something which dwarfed the resources available to him in Colorado. Considering what the Spartans were under Dantonio, Tucker should consider himself fortunate that he will reportedly keep several Dantonio assistants to provide continuity on the coaching staff. It is better than he might have expected under all the circumstances.
The Spartans have the nation’s No. 43-ranked recruiting class in 2020. The coaching shakeup has left them without any recruits for the upcoming season, though that’s going to change. They finished with the Big Ten’s No. 10 recruiting class with a player average rating of .8569. Their best player is wide receiver Ricky White. At 6-foot-1, 165-pounds, Jones (.8861) is the No. 40 player in Iowa and the 68th-best receiver in the class of 2020. The Badgers (.8782) have a higher per-recruit average than the Spartans (.8647). The Badgers’ best player in 24/7’s composite rankings is offensive tackle Trey Wedig (.9643). The 6-foot-8, 320-pound behemoth is ranked (.0782) higher than White for the Spartans.
The position where both classes compare: strongside defensive end. The Badgers signed Aaron Witt (.8655), a 6-foot-5, 230-pound player out of Winona, Minnesota. He’s the No. 31 player at his position in the nation and the seventh-best player coming out of Minnesota. The Spartans signed Kyle King. At 6-foot-4 and 242 pounds, Yelverton (.8552) is the nation’s 44th-best tight end, but he’s the 7th-best player in Indiana. Both players are likely to sit and learn with veteran players ahead of them, but the beauty of a new coach is that every position is open at Michigan State.