It’s been a good past few days for Michigan State football on the recruiting trail.
Over the weekend, Michigan State picked up its highest-ranked commit of the 2027 class in four-star offensive lineman Caleb Johnson. He chose the Spartans over home-state and reigning national champion Indiana as well as offensive lineman haven Iowa. It was a huge Big Ten recruiting battle that Pat Fitzgerald was able to win.
Fitzgerald picked up another Big Ten recruiting victory over another one of the rising programs in the conference, Illinois.
On Monday evening, three-star athlete Don Spillers committed Michigan State over Illinois.
Blessed to be a SPARTAN 🟢⚪️ pic.twitter.com/F6cA9vnOqL
— Don Spillers lll 3⭐️ (@DonSpillers14) June 16, 2026
With the recruiting win, Michigan State now possesses the No. 13 recruit from the state of Michigan as well as the nation’s No. 881 overall prospect.
Spillers becomes the 15th commitment for Michigan State in the 2027 class which is still ranked No. 41 in the country. I think the class is a little better than 41st, but maybe that’s just me. I think guys like Jack Carlson, Ohimai Ozolua, Grant Adloff, Zach Forbish, Eli Stumpf, Lawrence Kanneh, and Don Spillers are better than their rankings and they’re going to be key pieces for the future of Spartan football.
The three-star athlete, who projects to play safety at Michigan State, also held offers from Louisville, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Pitt, and Purdue.
Michigan State will take another in-state recruiting win any way it can get one.
Pat Fitzgerald is building a solid first in-state recruiting class
First-year head coaches don’t often have in-state success right away. It takes a year of relationship-building with coaches and top targets as well as somewhat decent success on the field. If Michigan State isn’t winning, Michigan is cleaning up with the top in-state recruits.
When Michigan State does start winning, however, I expect the Spartans to be competitive with just about every top recruit in the state.
Before that even happens, Fitzgerald is proving that he’s no slouch on the in-state recruiting trail, landing three of the state’s top 14 recruits while also being in the mix for three more. There’s a chance that Michigan State lands half of the top 14 recruits in the state in this cycle. Not too shabby for a first-year head coach who’s been out of the NCAA for three years.
If he can land Anthony Cartwright, Jameer Henry, and Chad Willis, this has a chance to be a surprisingly-good in-state cycle for Michigan State.
Just the start.
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