Michigan State fans are going to love this quote from elite in-state OL recruit

We're just four months into the Pat Fitzgerald era at Michigan State, and it feels like the football program has had a bit of a revival.

While there's a lot of work to do, Fitzgerald has at least brought back the energy and excitement to the program. He's re-energized the fanbase, and he's done it just by not being emotionless like Jonathan Smith was. Being able to fire up a fanbase is an excellent quality to have, and Fitzgerald possesses it.

He's also hoping that energy helps in recruiting before he can produce results on the field. So far, it's working pretty well.

Proof of that comes in the form of a quote from top-100 offensive lineman Antijuan Wilkes from Detroit. He's the No. 11 offensive tackle in the 2028 class, and he provided fans with some recruiting juice. Arguably MSU's top 2028 target said that he could see his home being East Lansing.

If you want to read the in-depth quote from Wilkes about his recent relationship-building with Michigan State, you'll need to subscribe to On3, but Jason Killop does a great job there.

He did share what's probably the best quote from this past weekend's visits. He was arguably the biggest recruit on campus although he's in the 2028 class. Michigan State will have plenty of time to work on him, but it sounds like Fitzgerald has made a strong early impression on the top-100 prospect.

We're still waiting for Pat Fitzgerald's first big fish

Fitzgerald has been recruiting pretty well for a coach who has been out of the sport for a couple of years and who was just hired a few months ago, taking over a program that hasn't made a bowl since 2021.

Michigan State fans desperately want that golden era of Spartan athletics again like they experienced in the 2010s with Tom Izzo and Mark Dantonio winning Big Ten titles left and right.

Fast forward a decade, and Izzo is still around and Fitzgerald has taken the place of Dantonio -- well, he took the place of Jonathan Smith who took the place of Mel Tucker who took the place of Dantonio. Hopes are high, but the football program is still awaiting that "juice" that comes from recruiting success.

Wilkes could very well become Fitzgerald's first big fish to conjure up some momentum and get the excitement back in the program, but ideally, it would happen before 2028.

The next few months and the first month of the summer are going to be huge for MIchigan State's 2027 recruiting class, but it's hard to land a big fish with only "hope" to sell.