It’s still early in the Pat Fitzgerald era to really gauge how good of a recruiter that he’s going to be at Michigan State.
The first-year head coach is coming off a multi-year hiatus after being let go amid a controversy at Northwestern and he never quite had the resources in Evanston to recruit top classes. Recruiting again after that time off could be difficult, but he’s landed some really impressive recruits in the 2027 class like Ohimai Ozolua and Caleb Johnson.
The 2027 class is still ranked close to 50th nationally, however, which isn’t going to win a ton of fans over, but he’s landed has a chance to sign the best class in years in 2028.
Michigan is absolutely loaded with talent in the 2028 class, especially at the top, but one recruit stands out above the rest and a recent quote proves that he should be Michigan State’s No. 1 target.
Detroit Cass Tech’s Antijuan Wilkes has “narrowed” his list to 12 schools and Michigan State is among them, but he talked about a potential commitment to the Spartans with On3’s Jason Killop.
Nation's top '28 OT Antijuan Wilkes updates Michigan State recruitment following summer visits…
— Jason Killop (@JasonKillop) June 25, 2026
“People would look and say, ‘Oh, he went there? Then I am going to go there too’.”
(On3+); https://t.co/2Uh7ujeVFD pic.twitter.com/mDoRWAvyO5
Wilkes said that if he picked Michigan State, he would get all of the top talent in the state of Michigan to follow him. That alone should be enough reason for the Spartans to make him their top target in 2028.
Landing Wilkes could help Fitzgerald secure one of the best in-state classes in program history.
The state of Michigan is brimming with talent in 2028
Looking at the top recruits in the state of Michigan for 2028, it would be intriguing to see who Wilkes would bring with him to East Lansing if he did commit to the Spartans.
Wilkes is the No. 2 recruit in the state behind fellow five-star Deandre Braden from Harper Woods. He’s also right ahead of his quarterback, Donald Tabron II, who could be the most important recruit from the state. He’s a five-star quarterback and could follow his star offensive tackle wherever he goes. If Wilkes goes to MSU, he’s going to be recruiting Tabron, too.
Five-star edge rusher Jayden Bell from Brother Rice would be a fun addition as well as four-star athlete Camden Noe and two more four-stars from Cass Tech in LaMarcus Army and Mylan Griggs.
I can only imagine that if Wilkes committed, a couple of his four-star buddies from Cass Tech would join him. Cass Tech has four of the top seven recruits in the state.
It’s time to go all in on Wilkes.
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