Recruiting Notes

I know the big news is that MSU is going to the Outback Bowl to face Georgia, and I know that many people are disappointed with that outcome.  I'll write up something more extensive on that at a later time, but for now I'll just note that it should be a great game -- perhaps as exciting as the Big Ten Championship Game.  Both teams are good and they should be pretty evenly matched.

Anyway, at the moment I'm more concerned with recruiting.  The main news is that the Spartans are pretty close to resolving their biggest talent concern for next year.  As I have written before, the Spartans biggest concern for next year (apart from breaking in a new quarterback) is the weakness of the wide receiver unit.  They are losing their top 3 receivers from this year (Martin, Cunningham, and Nichol) and they don't appear to have anyone capable of filling their shoes.  Well, the latest news is that the Spartans are looking strong with Ohio wide receiver, Monty Madaris.  According to 247:

"The Spartans are leaving no stone unturned in their bid to land WR Monty Madaris and probably don’t have to worry about a major competitor in their bid to land the talented wide receiver."

Madaris is considered to be a 4-star recruit by all recruiting sites, and is generally regarded as one of the top 50 wide receivers in the nation.  Madaris is scheduled to take an official visit to East Lansing, and hopefully that means that a commitment will be coming soon.  

So if Madaris commits -- and with Tony Lippett expected to move to wide receiver full time next year, and hopefully with Bennie Fowler getting healthy and taking a step up, and with Aaron Burbridge (a top 10 receiver in the country) committing to the Spartans -- the wide receiver position might turn out to be fine next year.  I wouldn't be surprised if this unit starts slowly next year and then finishes really strong.

Apart from Madaris, the Spartans are also serious contenders for Illinois athlete, Tevin Coleman, and Indiana line backer, David Perkins.  Coleman is mainly considered a running back, but he is being considered for multiple positions.  He has visited MSU 3 times, and according to 247, Coleman has a top 3 of MSU, Indiana, and Georgia Tech.  So there is good chance that he will choose the Spartans.  Perkins decommitted from Notre Dame and now appears to have the Spartans at the top of his list (according to 247).  There's talk that Perkins could become the next Denicos Allen . . . wouldn't that be nice?

The Spartans also seem to really want to bring in a safety and they have their eye on 3 of them: Jordan Diggs (Florida), Demetrious Cox (Pennsylvannia), and Bam Bradley (Ohio).  Diggs would be a huge acquisition, but consequently, he is also the least likely to come to East Lansing.  Bradley may be the most likely of the three to choose the Spartans, though he does have an offer from Ohio State.  So in the end, all 3 of these guys may end up going elsewhere.

There are several other recruits of interest to the Spartans, but I think these are their top priorities.  The Spartans only have about 2 (maybe 3) spots left to fill, so I suspect they will wrap up the class with a couple of the names mentioned above.