The third weekend of official visits is now upon us, Michigan State football fans. After a fairly successful first weekend which saw two commitments from visitors, this past week saw three more commits join the squad. They also made great impressions with several other visitors and hope to maybe land a few more recruits from the past weekend as well.
This weekend, seven more prospects are descending on East Lansing. Could more good news be on the horizon? Potentially so.
First, let’s take a look at the list of visitors coming in this weekend.
** All rankings used on this list are based off 247 Sports lists **
3-star EDGE Chris Addison (Winnsboro, La.)
The fringe four-star stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 250 pounds. He is listed as an 89 overall on 247Sports. Aside from having an awesome first name, Chris Addison is a multi-sport athlete. He plays football of course but also plays basketball and throws the javelin on the track and field team at his high school.
Addison has received a total of 17 offers and has visited Arizona State and UCLA so far. He also plans on taking another visit after he leaves MSU to Tulane in his home state. Florida State was also listed as a finalist for him, however no visit has been set up for this cycle.
He would be a big boost to a position of need for this staff. Hopefully they can make a great impression on him this weekend. MSU did recently land an edge commit from Corey House. I would be willing to bet they would love to add Addison still to the mix as well.
3-star WR Samson Gash (Detroit, Mich.)
The Detroit Catholic Central product stands 6-foot-0, weighs about 180 pounds, and ranks as an 89 overall per 247. He is the son of former NFL fullback Sam Gash who played for 12 years in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl in the process.
Gash is a dual-sport athlete and plays multiple positions in football. He runs track and made the state finals in the 100-meter dash. He set a state record with a 10.41-second 100-meter dash this past year. On the football field, he has played receiver, running back, defensive back, and even returned kicks for Catholic Central.
His recruitment has been an interesting one so far. Samson has a total of 16 offers. He has visited West Virginia and will be at MSU this weekend and then will end the cycle with an official to Cincinnati next weekend. He also is planning on going to a camp at Alabama on June 23 where many think he will pick up an offer from the Crimson Tide. Cincinnati has also pushed hard for him and may be trying to put together a sizable NIL package for him.
If the Spartans want to land him, they will have to make a big impression this weekend. I would expect the Spartans to stay in the thick of the battle for sure. Even if he commits to Cincinnati or Alabama, this could be a case where Courtney Hawkins and Jonathan Smith work on a flip before signing day if they don’t land his early commitment.
I would expect the other schools to do the same if he does choose MSU as well.
3-star LB Adam Shaw (Hillsdale, N.J.)
I’ll be honest, this recruitment sent MSU fans into a tailspin recently. Adam is a 6-foot-3, 205-pound linebacker out of New Jersey. His parents both attended and played sports for MSU back in the 1990s and since he is a legacy, many thought he would be a shoo-in for the coaching staff.
Well, to start the month, many fans were not thrilled to hear that he committed to Rutgers coming off his official with them the weekend of May 30. They cited his commitment as another sign that this staff was not performing as well as needed on the recruiting trail. Fast forward two weeks and several commitments later, and Shaw has decommitted from Rutgers, will be visiting this weekend, and the Spartans appear to be the frontrunners, according to many experts.
Shaw is a very talented linebacker who will be a great piece to this team moving forward. He has a total of 16 total offers. He also is an 88 overall on 247Sports. While the linebacking room is crowded now, we will be losing a lot of pieces after this season and next, so it is good to restock the cabinet with talented players. Shaw is just that.
Hoping the coaching staff can make their final impressions and potentially gain a commitment from him after this weekend.
3-star OL Khalief Canty (Detroit, Mich.)
Another Detroit native, this one hailing from Cass Tech, Khalief Canty is a 6-foot-5, 305-pound offensive lineman who has a ton of talent and personality. He ranks as an 88 overall on 247Sports currently and is very close to being a four-star in their composite rankings.
Canty holds 20 total offers. He has taken a visit to North Carolina early this past April but it appears to be down to two schools for his services: Michigan State and Mizzou. He will be in East Lansing this weekend and then will finish the cycle with a visit to Missouri next weekend.
I am not totally sure how close Khalief is to a decision. The rumor is that Missouri has a lead in the race. A good impression/weekend would go a long way in helping make it a tougher decision for him.
3-star WR Rai’shawn Elmore (Indian Trail, N.C.)
Rai’shawn Elmore is a bit of a late bloomer on the list here. He is rated an 86 overall by 247 but his offer list has not quite caught up to the potential he’s shown of late. The 6-foot-2 wideout has received seven offers so far. MSU certainly stands in a good spot on this one but will have to contend with a couple of in-state schools wanting to keep Elmore home.
Elmore visited wither Charlotte last weekend. After Michigan State this week, he will be heading to East Carolina to close out the cycle. A good impression this weekend could potentially get Rai'shawn to consider canceling that visit.
The 185-pound wideout has all the tools to be a physical playmaker at the next level. His talent is certainly a bit raw but I could see Hawkins working wonders with him. He could be a good fit with Hawk’s “no block, no rock” philosophy and could help a lot in both the run and pass games.
3-star TE Joey Caudill, 3-star OL Eli Bickel (current MSU commits)
I don’t want to take any shine away from these guys, but since they’ve already been covered pretty extensively when they committed, I’ll just summarize.
Both Joey Caudill and Eli Bickel will be in town this weekend representing Michigan State's current class of commitments. They both have expressed a desire to help the staff do some convincing with the weekend visitors that MSU is the place for them and we are appreciative of that.
Caudill is a 6-foot-5 tight end from Mansfield, Ohio, who has a ton of raw ability. I really like his game and think he could definitely be a big difference-maker for the Spartans in the future. Bickel is a North Branch, Mich., native who checks in at a robust 6-foot-6, 270 pounds. The offensive lineman was one of the first commitments in this class for the Spartans and will be part of a big group of young offensive linemen to come under Jim Michalczik’s tutelage.
Hopefully these guys can be big difference-makers in pitching the new crop of recruits in town this weekend. Thanks for coming back to campus and helping out, guys.
Final thoughts
With Thursday's commitment of Collin Campbell, the four-star offensive lineman from Arizona, MSU’s 2026 class currently stands at 11 commits. There are some highly talented guys in that group and also some guys that could really blossom after some coaching and time with Michigan State.
Much like the class, this weekend’s visitors are the same. I really like this group of visitors and landing 2-3 more after this weekend would really be a big boost for the Spartans.
Heading into next weekend where the Spartans have a total of eight more players coming to campus, it would be awesome for the class to pick up as much momentum as possible. Next week’s visitors will again have a lot of fringe four-star talent coming to campus. Getting more commits to help convince them would be great.
Good luck to all the staff this weekend and congratulations to all the visitors. We hope everyone has a great time this weekend. Keep it here for the latest recruiting updates and as always, Go Green.