Michigan State football trending with rising Tennessee DE Alex Okelo

Alex Okelo didn’t play in his first two years of high school but he broke out as a junior and now he could be a steal for Michigan State football.

During Mark Dantonio’s tenure, he was known for reeling in a raw athlete every now and then with tremendous upside. Every so often, he would recruit a player who was new to the sport of football, but rapidly grew in just a year or two of high school ball.

It seems like Mel Tucker is trying to do the same.

Michigan State offered three-star Tennessee-based defensive end Alex Okele back on June 12 and the Spartans have recently been trending with the raw athlete who looked like a basketball player first as a high school freshman and sophomore.

According to SpartanMag, Okelo didn’t start playing football until midway through his junior year and he racked up 60 tackles and seven sacks, earning 11 FBS scholarship offers.

Programs like Indiana, Florida State, Kentucky, Indiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Louisville all extended an offer to the 6-foot-5, 217-pound defensive end from Nashville, Tenn.

Raw is a word that doesn’t even begin to describe Okelo because he’s been on the field for not even a full season and he already holds a handful of Big Ten, ACC and SEC offers. He has caught the attention of many in a short time and now Tucker may dip into SEC country to steal maybe the biggest diamond in the rough in the class.

Okelo has been getting FutureCasts and Crystal Balls for Michigan State over the past week and it seems like the Spartans are the team to beat. He’s ranked the No. 933 overall player in the class and 56th-best weak-side defensive end, according to the composite.

The Spartans could get some good news soon on Okelo.