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Michigan State Recruiting: 5 bold predictions for October
Sep 2, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio stands on the field before a game against the Furman Paladins at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Take a look at the five bold predictions for Michigan State recruiting in the month of October.
Michigan State recruiting has been relatively quiet as of late for football, but the basketball classes have been heating up. Over the summer, Michigan State added four-star big man Thomas Kithier to its 2018 basketball class and just this past month, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Xavier Tillman were added to the 2017 class.
Tom Izzo has been recruiting like a madman lately and he’s getting the job done. He has proven that he’s not going to exclusively target four-year players anymore and that’s evident with his 2016 class of Cassius Winston, Nick Ward, Miles Bridges and Josh Langford.
Mark Dantonio, on the other hand, has just a few spots left in his 2017 recruiting class and might be gearing up for a big 2018 group. Many, including myself, believe that 2018 could be his best class yet and there’s reason for excitement. There are big names who are very high on the Spartans.
Let’s take a look at the Michigan State recruiting bold predictions for both basketball and football in the month of October.
5. Another 2018 football target commits
Sep 24, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; General view of Spartan Stadium during the first half of a game between the Michigan State Spartans and the Wisconsin Badgers. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Like I said earlier, there are still plenty of big names left on the board for the Spartans who have added four-star athlete Xavier Henderson to the class already. He was the first 2018 commit for Dantonio over the summer and he grew up a Michigan fan, converted to a Spartan and is the cousin of Ed Davis.
Henderson happens to be teammates with another top 2018 target in four-star tight end Trenton Gillison and you can bet he’s close with other recruits from the state of Ohio who Michigan State is after.
Another name to keep an eye on, although he might let the process play out, is L’Christian Smith who was the teammate of Messiah deWeaver last season. He has been high on the Spartans as well.
One of my favorite recruits in the class, though, has to be four-star linebacker DeAndre Square who loves the Spartans and is a Detroit-native. He could help Michigan State reel in Kalon Gervin as well.
Someone will commit, it’s just a matter of who.
Mar 18, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo looks on during the first half of the first round against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in the 2016 NCAA Tournament at Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
4. Brandon McCoy trends more toward MSU
Michigan State fans have been clamoring for Brandon McCoy to pick the green and white over schools like San Diego State, California, Oregon and Arizona, but it all depends on whether he wants to stay out west for college or move closer to where some of his family resides (Chicago) and play for the Spartans.
The thought of adding another top-10 recruit to the program has to be scary for any opponent over the next two years. Imagine a roster with McCoy, Nick Ward, Miles Bridges, Cassius Winston, Josh Langford, Xavier Tillman and Jaren Jackson Jr. — that’s not even fair.
Some have thought that the commitments from Tillman and Jackson Jr. might push McCoy elsewhere, but no matter which school he attends, he’s going to get major minutes. Michigan State will make room in the rotation for the big man to play.
With a potential decision nearing in the next few months, hopefully, the talks for McCoy to Michigan State will increase.
A visit to East Lansing is expected to happen in the near future and when it does, potentially this month, I can see the ‘lean’ label used to describe McCoy’s relationship with Michigan State.
Jan 14, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Lourawls Nairn Jr. (11) brings the ball up court against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the 2nd half of a game at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
3. Nojel Eastern commits to MSU
I’ve been expecting this to happen for months now. Nojel Eastern has been a strong lean to Michigan State ever since the coaching staff turned up the pressure when recruiting him and it’s only a matter of time before he picks the Spartans, in my opinion.
Eastern, a good friend of current MSU defensive tackle Naquan Jones, reigns from Evanston, Ill., and is being recruited by a host of Big Ten schools including Michigan, Purdue, Ohio State, Illinois and Northwestern.
The four-star guard/forward’s reach isn’t strictly the Big Ten, though, as he’s also drawing interest from programs such as Seton Hall, Xavier, Kansas, Iowa State, LSU, Missouri, Duke, USC, UCLA and UNLV. He is a talented kid and one of the top-60 prospects in the country.
In fact, Eastern ranks No. 59 overall and is the 14th-best small forward prospect in the country, according to 247Sports. Don’t let that label of ‘small forward’ fool you, though. This kid can play the one, two or three at the college level and just imagine a 6-foot-6, 200-pound point guard who can handle the ball and drive to the basket with ease.
I can see Eastern committing this month after a visit to East Lansing took place at the end of September.
Sep 17, 2016; South Bend, IN, USA; Michigan State Spartans tailback L.J. Scott (3) and wide receiver R.J. Shelton (12) celebrate after MSU defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 36-28 at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
2. KJ Hamler picks MSU over Oregon
The news that K.J. Hamler would be transferring from Orchard Lake St. Mary’s to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., this past summer was crushing for the Spartans. No longer could the four-star slot receiver just ‘check in’ with a spur-of-the-moment unofficial visit to East Lansing nor could the staff pay him a visit for one of his Friday games.
Hamler chose the juggernaut program in Florida which fields about two dozen Division 1-offered players starting on both sides of the ball. That may be an exaggeration, but that’s how it feels when you hear about elite talents coming out of that school.
After an preparing all offseason for increased competition, Hamler suffered a major setback when he tore his ACL in the first game of the year. He would miss the remainder of the year and some colleges that were recruiting him probably backed off a little bit.
One of the major threats to land him other than MSU was Oregon. That was Michigan State’s main competition and rumor has it that the Ducks have slow-played him slightly since the injury.
Dantonio and the staff know what Hamler is capable of and they’ve been hot on his trail for years, never letting up. That type of persistence, and the fact that MSU is close to home, will cause him to commit this month, in my opinion.
Mar 5, 2016; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Bryn Forbes (5) hugs Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo during the second half of a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
1. Brian Bowen commits after long wait
Every month, Michigan State fans seem to hope for the potentially inevitable commitment of five-star small forward Brian Bowen. The Saginaw-native is related to former Spartan star Jason Richardson and has been close with Izzo and the program for years.
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You can understand why people believe he’s a lock to Michigan State since he’s treated the program like family since he was a kid and he has a relative who played there in his ear about how great it is. Not just any relative, though, Richardson succeeded under Izzo, left early for the NBA and had an All-Star career.
I can feel it. This is going to be the month Michigan State finally lands the elite small forward who now plays for La Lumiere in Indiana. He’s teammates with another 2017 MSU commit in Jaren Jackson Jr. and a major 2019 lean in point guard Tyger Campbell.
With all of that influence on the team and a top-six schools list recently released which doesn’t include the big boys such as Duke, Kentucky or Kansas, now could be as good a time as ever to commit to Michigan State.
Just imagine a class with Bowen, Eastern, Jackson Jr., Tillman and McCoy. Add that to the 2016 group and you have the most talented team in Michigan State history.
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