It’s going to be a couple of years before we really reap the rewards of Pat Fitzgerald’s first recruiting class at Michigan State, but it’s becoming pretty clear that he has an eye for talent.
The first-year Michigan State head coach has picked up commitments from several recruits who were being clearly undervalued.
In fact, Zach Forbish and Cordaro Parham could fit into that category. They were both unranked when they committed to Michigan State over the past few weeks, but they’ve since shot up the rankings. Pathan is the No. 102 cornerback in the country and Forbish is the No. 887 overall recruit. They may not be four-stars, but going from unranked to top-100 at the position is impressive.
The Spartans were also high on unranked defensive lineman Dallas Ward before he committed to Rutgers a week ago. He also went from unranked to top-900 nationally.
Fitzgerald clearly knows how to spot talent and I think we’re going to see that trend continue for as long as he’s head coach in East Lansing. He may not be landing four and five-stars regularly, but he’ll find undervalued talent and build his roster the way Mark Dantonio did. I do believe, however, that Fitzgerald will land more four-stars than his predecessors.
One of his four-star commits in the 2027 class was actually just recognized as one of the best in the country with an all-star game invite.
Ohimai Ozolua was invited to participate in the Military Appreciation Bowl at the Dallas Cowboys’ practice facility (basically a small college stadium) in December.
Ohimai Ozolua, Welcome to The Military Appreciation Bowl this December at The Ford Center home of the Dallas Cowboys pic.twitter.com/Q9m4SixRsl
— Joe Ray (@joeray36) June 18, 2026
Ozolua is a four-star defensive lineman from Chicago who’s ranked the No. 429 overall recruit and No. 50 defensive lineman in the 2027 class, per 247Sports.
Michigan State got a good one.
Michigan State’s 2027 class is riddled with intriguing talent
The 2027 class might not be ranked very highly (No. 51) nationally, but it has some guys who I believe could legitimately be four-star candidates before the cycle is over.
We already know that Caleb Johnson and Ozolua are four-stars, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Forbish, Eli Stumpf, Lawrence Kanneh, or Don Spillers soared in the rankings eventually. My best bet would be Forbish who’s the No. 1 receiver on one of the top teams in the talent-rich state of Texas.
Michigan State also has guys like Savior Owens, Grant Adloff, and Jack Carlson who I believe could be borderline four-star talents.
The talent is there and I think Fitzgerald is hitting all the right positions and looking into the correct talent-rich areas. This is exactly how Dantonio built his classes.
Will it work in today’s landscape? We’re about to find out.
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