Michigan State football: 5-star DL David Stone picks commitment date

Five-star Michigan State football defensive line target David Stone has picked a commitment date and finalists.

A consensus five-star defensive lineman from Florida, David Stone is the top target for Mel Tucker and the Michigan State football staff. At 6-foot-4, 270 pounds, Stone is the kind of player that can change the trajectory of a program.

On Thursday, he announced he will be committing on Aug. 26 and listed six schools that are still in the running. It will be a fight between Michigan State, Oklahoma, Miami, Florida, Oregon, and Texas A&M.

Where will he go?

I know plenty of MSU fans have felt like Stone has been using Spartan Nation for interactions by keeping us in the mix but part of me feels the love he has for East Lansing is authentic. I think he has shown enough online that he genuinely loves the staff and campus.

It was certainly a kick below the belt when pass rush specialist and lead recruiter Brandon Jordan opted to join the Seahawks while Marco Coleman left for his alma mater, Georgia Tech. I think we are still a close second after those two departures. It sounds like new defensive line coach Diron Reynolds has done a great job building a relationship with Stone but only time will tell if he approves of the new hire.

The competition

The real threat of this recruitment comes from Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners as they are currently the favorite. Stone’s home state is Oklahoma and OU has always been solid on the recruiting trail, especially in its home state (bet they wish they didn’t miss on Bai Jobe). With solid donors, a history of putting players in the NFL, and close proximity to home, it’s understandable why Oklahoma is at the top of the list.

Based on what I’ve gathered via the legendary twitter.com, the real contenders are MSU and Oklahoma and Miami has come in strong recently. The others — TAMU, Oregon, and Florida — are often referred to as ‘bag schools’ which always opens up speculation when they’re involved.

The kiss of death

Obviously things can change in a heartbeat but when we talk about insider predictions, Stone received a ‘Fong Bomb’ back on March 11, 2022. Although it has been 16 months since the Director of Football Recruiting for 247Sports placed his prediction, MSU fans know all too well that crystal balls can be changed at any moment. The ‘Fong Bomb’ is the kiss of death especially if the pick has not been changed. For what it’s worth, Spartan Tailgate’s insiders placed crystal balls for Stone at the end of December 2022 and have yet to change them.

Those of you that follow me closely on Twitter (@chopmanmsu) know that I have done my best recruiting in the past. Eating pancakes, riding scooters, and driving Cadillacs are all things I’ve done out of superstition. For Stone, I collected a pile of literal stones which are stacked up by my shed in the backyard. My fingers are crossed that I didn’t collect those stones for nothing.

Yeehaw,
ChopMan