Michigan State football: Top 4-star target repping Spartan gear

Top four-star Michigan State football target Elijah Dotson was spotted repping Spartan gear at a recent camp.

Michigan State football is just one week removed from its first Junior Day under Jonathan Smith, and one recruit in particular who was at this event is continuing to give the Spartans some love. It’s normal for recruits to post pictures after taking visits, but this recruit took it to another level.

Four-star athlete Elijah Dotson was at a camp recently and was captured wearing Michigan State gear. Many other schools are after Dotson, so for him to wear Spartan gear is a great sign — again, could be something, could be nothing.

Belleville 2025 WR/S/CB Elijah Dotson decked out in MSU gear. @ElijahDotson06 @BellevilleFB @RisingStars6 pic.twitter.com/amXgTZ4p7y

— The D Zone (@TheD_Zone) February 11, 2024

Four-star athlete Elijah Dotson

Elijah Dotson is a four-star athlete from Detroit, Mich. According to On3, he is the No. 352 player in the country and the No. 17 player at his position. He also is the No. 6 player in the state of Michigan as well.

Dotson is a must-get, in my eyes, if Jonathan Smith and MSU continue to recruit him hard. Focusing on the state of Michigan well and winning recruitments like this, especially in Detroit where a lot of college players come from, will only help Michigan State in the future. You never know how many good players will come from this area in the future, so if you can build good relationships with the high school coaching staffs that will only help the Spartans win more recruitments in the coming years.

Recruiting competition

Many schools are recruiting Dotson hard this recruiting cycle. He has many offers from other Midwest schools including Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Penn State, Louisville, and Tennessee. But it’s MSU’s biggest rival Michigan that stands out the most.

The Wolverines currently have three crystal ball predictions on 247Sports to land Dotson, so Michigan might just be the leader in his recruitment. However, those predictions were all placed in 2023 and are now over three months old. Once predictions get that old they lose value, so he may not be as pro-Michigan as those predictions suggest.

Michigan State also is trending toward the top of Dotson’s list as well. Not only is he wearing Spartan gear in the picture above, but he was also just in East Lansing on Feb. 3 for a visit. So Dotson wearing MSU gear directly after this visit could be a telling sign of where MSU stands in his recruitment.

There is no timeline for a commitment from Dotson yet, but Michigan State has to love its chances. Getting him on campus and seeing him wearing MSU gear in public is a great sign. If Michigan State can get him back on campus again soon, I think that would cement the Spartans as one of the top — if not the top — schools in his recruitment right now.