Michigan State football pulls off massive flip of 4-star LB Ma’a Gaoteote

With the early signing period kicking off on Wednesday, Michigan State football signed a slew of commits but one happened to be a massive flip.

Rumors had been swirling for weeks leading up to the start of the Early Signing Period about the potential flip of four-star USC linebacker commit Ma’a Gaoteote. He had been committed to USC since 2018 and his brother was a linebacker for the Trojans, but recently announced his intention to transfer from the program.

When his brother revealed plans to transfer, it was pretty clear that Ma’a was going to open his recruitment back up at the very least.

He did one better, committing and signing to Michigan State on Wednesday, becoming the highest-rated pledge in the Spartans’ 2021 class.

Not only does Gaoteote become the highest-rated commit in the class, he’s also the highest-ranked signee for the Spartans and he fills a major position of need. Losing Luke Fulton and Charles Willekes to transfers hurt the depth of this unit and the likelihood of Antjuan Simmons departing after this season is high.

That means that Gaoteote could end up playing early on and the staff could even have a spot for his brother if Mel Tucker and Co. decide to hit the portal hard.

Michigan State fans were hoping for signings of Audric Estime, Rayshaun Benny or Geno VanDeMark on Wednesday, but they’re holding off until February, it seems. This is quite the consolation for not inking the three highest-ranked commits in the class.

Gaoteote is ranked the No. 155 prospect and 11th-best outside linebacker in the class from powerhouse Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, according to the composite. He’ll be a huge addition to the green and white and should see the field early on.