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Michigan State Football: Mel Tucker works magic, lands 4-star ATH Jaden Mangham

By Connor Muldowney

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JULY 23: Mel Tucker, head coach of the Michigan State Spartans speaks during the Big Ten Football Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium on July 23, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JULY 23: Mel Tucker, head coach of the Michigan State Spartans speaks during the Big Ten Football Media Days at Lucas Oil Stadium on July 23, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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The wait officially came to an end on Sunday afternoon as four-star athlete Jaden Mangham committed to Michigan State football.

Mel Tucker put in some serious work before the four-star in-state recruit’s decision, making up ground during Spartan Dawg Con a day before Mangham’s originally scheduled announcement. He was looking like a strong West Virginia lean but Tucker and his staff put in the work to sway him back to East Lansing.

What makes this even more impressive is the third straight four-star commitment in the Spartans’ 2022 class which is more than Tucker had in all of 2021.

Mangham follows the commitments of Antonio Gates Jr. and Alex VanSumeren who just committed over the past two weeks. He’s the latest in-state star to pick the Spartans and he was overlooked by some of the top programs. Even Michigan fans will tell you that they wish that their staff landed Mangham.

The four-star commit from Franklin, Mich., is ranked the No. 285 overall recruit and 15th-best athlete, according to the composite.

Jaden is also the younger brother of Jaren Mangham, a former four-star running back from Cass Tech who played one season under Tucker at Colorado. Tucker’s departure from Colorado may have rubbed the Mangham family the wrong way, but he seems to have made up for it judging by the development in this recruitment.

This is a monster addition for Michigan State.

Michigan State football is trending in the right direction

After landing Mangham, Michigan State’s class should approach that top-20 range, and the staff isn’t done landing priorities in 2022. There’s no doubt about it, Michigan State is trending in the right direction.

The Spartans have landed their top four commits in the class over the past month and a half, starting with Katin Houser at the end of June and then Gates Jr., VanSumeren, and Mangham. All four of those guys will have major roles in East Lansing and could be early starters.

Tucker is improving the talent on this roster slowly by surely, but there’s plenty to be excited about for the future.

Next. 5 targets in 2022 class who could commit this summer. dark

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