All eyes will be on East Lansing on Friday night as Pat Fitzgerald and his top Michigan State football recruiting targets descent on the Breslin Center to take in what’s sure to be one of the games of the season thus far in Big Ten hoops.
Tom Izzo and Michigan State basketball will be hosting No. 3 Michigan in the biggest home game in the rivalry in probably five years. Heck, it might be the biggest since Cassius Winston was in town.
Everyone will be focused on that, but Fitzgerald’s main priority — other than supporting Izzo — is making sure his visitors have a great time and inch closer to commitments, or signings. Fitzgerald is hosting several big-name targets, including a 2027 four-star tight end in Anthony Cartwright and four-star 2026 commit Samson Gash who is nearing a decision.
Fitzgerald is doing a really good job with the 2026 high school and transfer classes (rankings don’t tell the story, in my opinion), and he’s beginning to shift his focus toward 2027.
Winning fans over would begin with landing a top-25 class in 2027, and keeping some of the best in-state prospects not only in the state, but in East Lansing. One of those top in-state targets might be trending elsewhere — toward a Big Ten rival.
Indiana is the “favorite” for 4-star OT Dewey Young
According to a new report on Rivals, Indiana has emerged as the “favorite” for four-star offensive tackle Dewey Young from Kalamazoo.
That’s bad news for Michigan State.
Young has been a top Michigan State target dating back to the Jonathan Smith days, and he’s likely been prioritized by Fitzgerald and the new staff already. Unfortunately, Indiana has not only joined the race, but the reigning national champions are the front-runners to land Young over Michigan and Michigan State. It was never going to be easy for Michigan State to land Young over Michigan, but now the Spartans have to worry about yet another Big Ten rival — and title contender.
Let’s hope Fitzgerald gets him to campus soon to show that he’s still a main priority for the Spartans in the 2027 class, because we don’t want the rich (Indiana) getting richer — especially if he’s stealing from Michigan State’s own backyard.