Will Michigan State football reel in elusive 4-star WR Antonio Gates Jr.?

A year ago, it looked like Antonio Gates Jr. was set to be a Spartan. New Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker had done a good job recruiting him in a short time on campus and he even set a decision date for fall of 2020.

Fast forward to late-July of 2021 and we are still awaiting the decision of Gates Jr. The excitement surrounding Michigan State’s presumed lead for him has since faded.

There are four 247Sports crystal ball predictions for him, each favoring Michigan State, but the last one was made in January of this year. Six months ago, there was palpable momentum for Michigan State but when his recruitment was prolonged, it seemed like the Spartans were falling back in the race for him.

But he did give Michigan State fans a reason to be excited this week, releasing his top five schools on Thursday, including the Spartans among the group.

Also making his top five are Florida, Penn State, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Two of those programs have been thorns in the side of Michigan State on the recruiting trail over the years (Penn State, Kentucky). This one will go down to the wire and there’s no real feeling right now.

Gates Jr. would close out Michigan State football’s 2022 WR class

Michigan State has two receivers committed in its 2021 class and with an already-loaded position group already on the roster, there’s likely only one spot left for a wide out.

Jaron Glover and Tyrell Henry are the wide outs currently committed in the 2022 class but if they do add another one, it’d be between Armani Winfield or Gates Jr. It looks like Winfield will remain committed to Texas while Gates Jr. is still on the table and Michigan State is still very much alive here.

The 6-1, 185-pound son of NFL tight end legend Antonio Gates was just bumped up to the No. 210 overall prospect in the 2022 class by 247Sports.

Will Michigan State finally reel in the four-star receiver?

I like the Spartans’ chances here if the staff still wants to put the full-court press on him. If they like what they have at receiver in the 2022 class already, that’s the only way I could see them falling out of the race here, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Michigan State was Gates Jr.’s current favorite.

Mum has been the word on this recruitment for months, so I doubt we’ll hear a decision in the coming month or two, but Michigan State is in a good spot.