Michigan State football landing 4-star ATH Dillon Tatum seems inevitable

Even with the 2021 season officially a week away from kickoff, an interesting recruiting development took center stage for Michigan State football on Thursday night.

About a week or two ago, four-star West Bloomfield athlete Dillon Tatum said that he was getting close to a decision and that Michigan, Michigan State, and now Tennessee were pushing for his commitment with time winding down. He said that he planned on making a decision within the coming weeks and announcing his commitment, but mum has been the word since.

Things seem to have changed as of Thursday night as some Michigan State insiders on 247Sports like Justin Thind and Corey Robinson both placed crystal balls for Tatum to join the Spartans.

But they weren’t the only ones. In fact, Steve Wiltfong was the biggest crystal ball on Thursday night and he was joined by Allen Trieu, Evan Flood, Stephen Brooks, Sean Scherer, and even a couple of Michigan insiders. In all, Michigan State received a flood of nine crystal ball predictions to land Tatum on Thursday night, showing that a commitment is probably imminent.

Tatum was considered a strong Michigan lean as recently as a month or two ago, especially since Jim Harbaugh hired his high school coach Ron Bellamy this offseason.

But the tides have quickly changed.

Few things seem as inevitable as Mel Tucker gaining momentum on the recruiting trail and stealing some big-time in-state kids from Michigan.

Long story short, Tuck comin’.

Tatum would raise Michigan State football’s 2022 class ranking

If Tatum does end up joining Michigan State’s 2022 class, he’d be the 20th commitment and the third-highest rated in the composite, right behind Katin Houser and in front of Jaden Mangham.

In fact, Tatum is the No. 266 overall prospect in the class and the 14th-best athlete. He’s the No. 5 Michigan-based recruit and he was actually the backup running back to Donovan Edwards who is now a freshman at Michigan with a bright future. Not even his former backfield mate and head coach seem to be enough to lure him away from Tucker and MSU — at least that’s how it looks.

Tatum would become Michigan State’s fifth four-star commit (according to the composite) and also the fifth prospect ranked in the top 300.

Not a bad class for a second-year coach in his first full recruiting cycle after a 2-5 season.

Imagine what he could do after a 10-win season.