The 2026 NFL Draft is the focus of everyone’s attention on Thursday night, but Michigan State received some good news earlier in the day.
Pat Fitzgerald has been turning his attention toward the 2027 recruiting class with the 2026 group all but sewn up outside of a few last-minute transfer additions.
He’s already working hard to land some top in-state prospects.
According to Emmett Matasovsky, three-star wide receiver Chad Willis has trimmed his list to just four schools and Michigan State made the cut. The Spartans are in that top four for Willis along with Cincinnati, Pitt, and Minnesota.
The final four doesn’t truly show just how coveted Willis has been in the 2027 class. The three-star wide receiver from Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Mary’s has received offers from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Vanderbilt, and Wisconsin, among others. He doesn’t have a ton of good offers since the calendar flipped to 2026, but he’s gathered almost three dozen.
Willis is ranked the No. 814 overall recruit in the 2027 class as well as the 14th-best prospect in the state of Michigan. He’s not exactly a blue-chip guy, but he’s talented enough to draw interest from reigning national champion Indiana, and that’s good enough for me.
The 6-foot-2 receiver already has a Big Ten-ready frame which is probably why he has two conference teams in his final four, but Michigan State may have the connections necessary to win out in this recruitment.
Chad Willis already has Michigan State connections
Michigan State has built somewhat of a pipeline with Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and Willis has a handful of former teammates currently on the Spartans’ roster for 2026.
Willis’ former teammates like Bryson Williams, DeJae White, Jayden Savoury, and Antonio Johnson are all expected to be on the roster when he gets to college — and why wouldn’t he want to play with some familiar faces. If Willis wants more familiarity at a program he grew up watching, Michigan State would be the move.
This is where Fitzgerald has the upperhand in Willis’ recruitment.
Those former teammates currently connections can’t be overlooked.
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