Could Michigan State football kick off the 2025 class with a 4-star commit?

With four-star linebacker Dante McClellan committing next week, Michigan State football could kick off its 2025 class with a bang.

Michigan State football has been quiet on the recruiting trail ever since National Signing Day. The Spartans signed a top-40 class for 2024 under Jonathan Smith, but we haven’t heard much about 2025.

The cycle has been slow, but the staff is still putting in work.

In fact, one of the top linebackers in the Midwest is announcing his commitment next week and Michigan State is one of five finalists.

Announcing my verbal commitment Monday, April 22nd 6pm est@coachhall330 @EdwinGlick @bondedits15 pic.twitter.com/Cl1iafZ1XP

— Dante McClellan 4⭐️ (@dante__il) April 16, 2024

On Monday, four-star linebacker Dante McClellan announced that he’ll be committing on April 22 at 6 p.m. ET and he’s deciding between Michigan State, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisville. That’s an interesting top five, but all of those programs have improved over the past year or two (Michigan State improved this offseason with the hire of Smith).

It’s not going to be an easy recruitment for Smith to win as Missouri had a huge year, Kentucky has been consistently solid, Tennessee is an SEC contender, and Louisville has become an ACC contender.

So could McClellan really become Michigan State’s first 2025 commit and kick the Spartans’ class off with a bang?

I wouldn’t count on it, unfortunately. While there’s still a chance, Steve Wiltfong of On3 placed a prediction on Tuesday afternoon for the four-star linebacker to pick Eli Drinkwitz and Missouri.

Although just because he commits elsewhere next Monday doesn’t mean his recruitment is shut down. In fact, Michigan State is one of two programs in his top five that currently has an official visit lined up with him. He’s expected to visit East Lansing on June 1 before checking out Missouri on June 21.

The 2025 class could remain at zero commits after McClellan’s decision (Wiltfong is very plugged in) but I wouldn’t rule him out yet. And I would expect a huge boost to the 2025 class in the next week as the spring game will have plenty of visitors.

This summer will be huge for Michigan State football recruiting.