I'll admit, I was a doubter, but Jonathan Smith has been red-hot on the recruiting trail. No, the second-year Michigan State football coach still isn't recruiting at the high level that we should expect for this program, but he's gaining traction on the trail with his Plan A guys.
Heading into the first official visit weekend with just four total commits and a class that ranked near the 70s nationally with zero verbals since February was not a good look for Smith but that's changed.
Smith has landed six commits since the first official visits commenced on May 30 and the latest came on Tuesday afternoon in the form of a Big Ten target.
Michigan State beat out Iowa and Indiana for three-star edge rusher Cory House.
BREAKING: #MichiganState has landed 2026 three-star EDGE Cory House over #Iowa.
— Justin Thind (@JustinThind) June 10, 2025
The Memphis (TN) product canceled visits to North Carolina, Indiana & hometown Memphis to lock in with the Spartans - after he visited Iowa this past weekend.
Article: https://t.co/6A0iV6vn66 pic.twitter.com/U8asPP8dJ9
With the commitment, House becomes the third-highest-ranked pledge for Michigan State in the 2026 class and he's the second defensive lineman to commit to the Spartans, following Christopher Knauls over the weekend.
House is the No. 832 overall recruit in the class as well as the 77th-best edge rusher and Tennessee's No. 22 prospect, per the 247Sports Composite. His ranking is nothing to write home about, but he has some solid offers from the likes of North Carolina, Iowa, Indiana, Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, and Virginia Tech.
The 6-foot-5, 240-pound defensive end just took an official visit to Iowa the weekend after seeing East Lansing and that was apparently enough for him to make his decision and he chose the Spartans.
Michigan State's 10-man 2026 class jumped up to No. 44 after the commitment.