Former Michigan State football fan favorite WR Ricky White named All-American

Ricky White, forever a Michigan State football legend following his 2020 defeat of Michigan, was named an All-American by the AP on Monday.

The Associated Press announced their All-American teams, and a name that lives in the hall of single-game Michigan State football legends made that list. Ricky White, best remembered at Michigan State for his eight-reception, 196-yard performance against the Wolverines in 2020, was named as a third-team All-American by the AP.

Ricky White’s route to being an All-American

White was a three-star prospect out of high school, rated No. 416 in the country. He committed to the Spartans over offers from other Power Five programs such as Georgia Tech, Louisville, Rutgers, and Pitt.

Despite the change in coaching staff upon the retirement of Mark Dantonio, White stayed committed and looked to shine on field during 2020.

White certainly shined. With the pandemic delaying the start of the season and preventing fans in the stands, he put on a show for all Spartan Nation watching at home. Despite the highly favored Wolverines, White kept getting open. The Wolverines’ weakness to the go route was fully exposed, and White put up nearly 200 yards and a touchdown in his first and only edition of the battle for Paul Bunyan. 

Despite these huge numbers in his breakout game, White only caught two more passes for 27 yards in 2020. He then sat out all of 2021 for an undisclosed reason, and entered the transfer portal at the end of the season. 

In the portal, White did not even receive a 247Sports ranking. UNLV believed in the former Spartan and he joined the Rebels for 2022. In 2022, he recorded 51 catches for 619 yards and four touchdowns. 

After these impressive numbers, no one could have expected the leap White took for this season. White went nuclear, with 1,386 yards and seven touchdowns on 81 catches. Once again, White helped his school upset a Power Five program, as he had 165 yards when UNLV beat Vanderbilt in September. He ended the season on a five game streak of 110-plus receiving yards per game. That ended against Boise State in the Mountain West Championship, where he was held to only 86 yards. White has dominated the Mountain West Conference this season, and absolutely deserves the honor of third team All American. 

With Jacoby Windmon entering the portal, who would have thought that the Windmon for White portal swap would have UNLV coming out as winners (unless MSU can convince Windmon to come back)?