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Michigan State football official visit preview: June 23

Who will be on campus this weekend?

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Michigan State football
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Michigan State football is entering its last official visit weekend of the month and it happens to be the most important.

The final weekend of June is fast approaching and there is one main focus for the Michigan State football staff: recruiting. With many recruits setting commitment dates for early July, the time to make impressions on top prospects is coming to an end.

The last big official visit weekend is coming up as well and MSU has some high-value targets coming to campus. It’s imperative that Mel Tucker and the staff pull out all of the stops this weekend and put together a great pitch. Doing so could net some really influential recruits.

Overall, there are four top-100 recruits on campus this week. All of them could have a big impact in East Lansing.

Let’s break down the visitors.

Charles Lester III, 5-star CB (unofficial visit)

OK, so Charles Lester III is not coming this weekend. He surprisingly showed up in East Lansing on an unofficial visit Wednesday. I couldn’t make a list without including him.

Lester III is the No. 18 overall player in the 2024 class and the No. 2 overall cornerback. The visit announcement came as a shock as there had not been many rumblings of him coming to campus prior to him posting his arrival on Instagram. He has set a commitment date of July 29 and most experts believe he will pick Florida State.

Getting him on campus at all is a good sign so hopefully Mel made a good impression. If somehow he decided to schedule an official visit for a later date, that would be a good sign that MSU made enough of an impression to make him think twice.

David Stone, 5-star DL

The No. 5 overall ranked player in the 247Sports Composite will make his much-anticipated return to East Lansing this weekend. Everyone’s favorite five-star has been on campus three times prior to this weekend.

Many fans were worried that the Spartans may not get an official visit on the books for Stone but that is not the case. He has been very vocal about his love for East Lansing and Tucker and is looking forward to spending the weekend in Michigan.

The Spartans are battling it out against Oklahoma, Miami, Florida, and Oregon for Stone.

The five-star has said very recently that he is still undecided on his timeline for a commitment and a school. He did go on record saying that he plans to take his time committing and that once he does he plans to stay committed. Getting him on campus for an official visit is definitely a good sign.

Hopefully the coaches will continue to build that good momentum with him. Landing Lester or Stone would be the first official five-star commit for Tucker as the Spartans’ head coach.

DeAndre Carter, 4-star IOL

Another top-100 overall player coming to campus, DeAndre Carter lists as the 88th-best player in the 2024 class. The 247Sports Composite has him as the No. 2 overall interior lineman.

Carter stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 340 pounds. He currently holds 28 offers from other schools. As of now, the Spartans are fighting against USC, Auburn, and Texas for Carter’s services. I don’t anticipate any quick resolution of his recruitment in the future as he has no concrete timeline for his decision. And 247Sports also shows him tentatively penciled in for an official visit to Texas in September.

Carter has been to East Lansing once so far when he took an unofficial visit this past March.

Jason Brown, 4-star RB

Sticking to the theme of top-100 visitors coming this weekend, Michigan State football welcomes in running back Jason Brown. He ranks as the No. 90 overall player in 2024. Brown hails from Seattle, Wash., and has been a priority target for the Spartans for some time.

The four-star back holds 23 offers and is being heavily recruited by several major programs. It appears MSU, Washington, Alabama, USC, Georgia, and Texas are the major players so far. The Spartans are Brown’s only official visit on the schedule thus far, however. That is a good sign for MSU.

Brown was most recently on campus during an unofficial visit this past April. He has given no official timeline but has hinted at potentially committing somewhere during the summer. A great impression this weekend could maybe persuade that.

Nick Marsh, 4-star WR

This name is surely ringing a bell for Spartan fans. The former MSU commit is back on campus for his final official visit before his commitment date on July 7. Marsh originally committed to the Spartans back in July of 2022 and was thought to be the focal point of the class early on. He decommitted on March 7 of this year, stating his intention to continue his recruitment, but mentioned that the Spartans would still be a strong candidate.

MSU has kept up its push for Nick to the very end.

Most experts believe that the Spartans and Penn State are his top two schools. Marsh’s mother has also been very vocal in her support for Michigan State but also states that it’s his decision solely.

Tucker and the staff having the last visit before his commitment is a golden opportunity to sway the momentum back in our favor for good. Marsh has always been vocal about his love for East Lansing. Whether or not Tucker does enough this weekend to convince the recommit remains to be seen. You have to think the Spartans have a decent shot here regardless.

Marsh ranks as the No. 102 player in the 2024 class, per the 247Sports Composite.

Jamari Howard, 4-star CB

Here’s another former MSU commit who the Spartans would love to have back in the class. Also, another top 100 overall player visiting this weekend.

The 6-foot 2 corner from Miami is ranked the No, 10 cornerback and No. 88 overall prospect in the 247Sports Composite.

Howard decommitted from MSU in May, but the Spartans are still on his short list of schools. Others fighting for his services are Florida, Miami, and Rutgers. He is another electric piece that could really upgrade the Spartan secondary should he commit.

Look for the Spartans to make a significant effort in landing him this weekend

Justin Denson, 3-star DB

I wrote a piece on Justin Denson earlier this week when he officially came out with his top five list of schools. He also set his commitment date for July 1. Getting the last shot to pitch to Denson is big as well.

The Spartans have been trending in the right direction for him. He has 28 total offers. MSU, Florida, and Oklahoma appear to be the top three for him. Winning out against those schools is no small task, but the Spartans have just as good of a shot as any here.

The Providence, R.I., standout would be a great addition to a rebuilding secondary in East Lansing.

Mercer and Charlton Luniewski, 3-star OL prospects

I had to list Mercer and Charlton Luniewski together cause they are being recruited together. In fact, that’s one of MSU’s main factors for the kids in their recruitment. They want to play together at the next level and not all schools are offering both.

Regardless, the twin tower offensive line prospects will be in East Lansing again this weekend. Mercer plays offensive tackle and Charlton slots as a guard. Michigan State is viewed as the front-runner for the dynamic duo however other schools are getting involved.

The twins are coming off an official visit to Cincinnati last weekend. Look for the coaching staff to stay aggressive in their recruitment. Having current 2024 commit Andrew Dennis back on campus to help pitch them will certainly help as well. Dennis has returned to campus on visits every weekend this month to help try to pitch prospective recruits.

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Michigan State football: Deion Sanders pursuing the top 2024 Spartan commit

This would be a tough loss.

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Deion Sanders pushes for Michigan State football commit
© Cris Tiller / USA TODAY NETWORK

Deion Sanders and Colorado are pursuing the top Michigan State football commit in the 2024 class. Not great.

We knew the Mel Tucker firing would begin a domino effect of other schools coming after Michigan State football players. It appears it has already started.

College football is the wild wild west. Now that the future of the Michigan State football program is cloudy, other programs are circling and looking for players to pull away. This includes current players on the roster who will soon have a 30-day transfer window open to them, as well as future commits.

This is an unfortunate reality of the nature of the game. This should have been expected and will continue throughout this upcoming offseason. Until the Spartans have a new head coach, teams will consistently be calling.

One of the latest examples is four-star 2024 Michigan State commit Nick Marsh who recently shared on social media that he’s been extended an offer from Colorado and Deion Sanders.

Few schools in the nation currently carry as much hype and excitement as Colorado. Marsh has already committed to the Spartans, decommitted, and then re-committed again. Potentially losing a player of his caliber again would be a huge blow to Michigan State. Spartan fans will be hoping the program finds stability in the near future to keep Marsh and the rest of the 2024 class intact.

While it’s a near certainty that the program will lose players from both the current roster and future classes, the players certainly aren’t to blame. The nature of college football is that more often than not, players are committing to a coach more than a program. Tucker convinced young men to buy into his vision for the program and the future they could have with him. With all of that changing, it’s certainly understandable why many of these players may be considering a change of scene.

Marsh seems to have a strong relationship with Michigan State wide receiver coach Courtney Hawkins. The hope will be that Hawkins is able to keep Marsh connected to the program throughout this current season.

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Michigan State football commit shoots up the recruiting rankings

Reggie Powers got a nice bump.

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Michigan State football
© Nick King / USA TODAY NETWORK

One of the top Michigan State football commits in the 2024 class shot up the recruiting rankings this past week.

For the last week, Michigan State football saw nothing but bad news. So how about some good news for a change? Michigan State commit Reggie Powers just skyrocketed up the recruiting rankings and now is the No. 210 player in the country, according to On3.

Powers is a 2024 safety who committed to Michigan State this past summer on June 14. He was a pretty unknown name to the recruiting world then, but that appears to be changing.

Reggie is a 6-foot-0, 195-pound safety from Dayton, Ohio. He is coming off a great junior season last year that saw him accumulate 80 tackles (8 tackles for loss), 10 pass break ups and 2.0 sacks. On top of that, he also had four forced fumbles which is a huge number for a safety. Powers was previously unranked before this update, but now he is a solid four-star recruit and No. 210 in the country.

What this means for Michigan State

It is no secret that we need help on defense, specifically in the secondary. Since Mel Tucker was hired four years ago, our secondary has arguably been our worst positional group. Having extremely talented recruits at this position is a great sign for our future.

Michigan State’s 2024 recruiting class is still pretty small. We currently have 13 commits and have the 49th ranked class in the country. This poor ranking is not up to our standards by any means, but some of that is due to having such a small number of recruits currently committed. Michigan State will likely rise in the team rankings as more kids commit to the program.

Jaylen Thompson, Justin Denson, Syair Torrence, and Camren Campbell join Powers as the 2024 Michigan State secondary commits.

Will Michigan State be able to hold on to Powers commitment?

This question can be asked for every current Michigan State commit. With the recent news regarding Mel Tucker and the poor on field play against Washington, there are serious questions surrounding the state of our program. No recruit has come out and said much in the last week about the state of our program. However, it would be silly to expect them not to be debating their options at this point.

Any four-star player is always a huge get, but when it’s at a positional need like in the secondary it is that much more important. We are only three months until signing day, so let’s hope we can hold on to him.

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Mom of Nick Marsh blasts Freep for misleading headline

Not a good look for the Freep.

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Nick Marsh, Michigan State football
© Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

The mother of Nick Marsh has not taken kindly to a headline by the Detroit Free Press that was used without permission.

In a sensitive time when recruits and current players are undoubtedly hoping to avoid questions about the Mel Tucker situation, it seems like the Detroit Free Press isn’t respecting the wishes of said recruits.

According to the mother of Nick Marsh, her son was approached with questions about the situation and he replied with “no comment” and the Detroit Free Press went on to use a misleading headline without permission.

She went off on the paper on Twitter.

There’s nothing that a recruit could say right now that could be emotionally fair given the situation. Asking them about the head coach that recruited them likely getting suspended and likely fired for a nasty incident is going to yield a mixed bag of responses. But if a player says no comment or visibly doesn’t want to speak about the matter, you respect that.

Clearly that didn’t happen in this case.

From the looks of it, the Freep may have burned bridges with one of the state’s best recruits. Not exactly good for business.

Marsh’s mom is right, though, you don’t publish a headline like that or use quotes when a player doesn’t want to comment. It should be common sense that any commit or recruit is waiting to see how Michigan State handles this situation before making a final decision.

Plus, this just isn’t the distraction needed for Nick Marsh during his senior season and with so much stress already added to his plate with the whole Tucker situation. Now he has to answer to people who believe his quote means that he’s leaving.

This comes just one day after Marsh’s mom expressed gratitude for Spartan moms who are helping to keep things intact during this mess.

Do better, Freep.

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