Ohio State flexes recruiting muscle, beats Michigan State out for 4-star CB

It feels like everything I report on these days has to do with recruiting. Welcome to the dog days of summer where Michigan State football and Moneyball keep us from going completely crazy.

If Michigan State football isn’t recruiting well — such has been the case for years now — then it figures to be a long summer. Fortunately, there’s some excitement surrounding the new coaching staff led by Pat Fitzgerald. Although the rest of the university is seemingly falling apart around him, Fitzgerald is piecing together a decent first class that should act as an appetizer to an even better 2028 class.

The 2027 class got a nice boost this weekend with four-star offensive lineman Caleb Johnson committing to Michigan State over Indiana and Iowa, but it ended on a sour note with another four-star target committing to a Big Ten rival.

Four-star cornerback Deontay Malone was a surprise visitor at Michigan State a couple of weeks ago, but the momentum that Fitzgerald ran out of steam this weekend while he was in Columbus.

Malone committed to Ohio State over Michigan State.

I’ll admit, this is a big blow to the 2027 class, but I kind of expected this first Fitzgerald class to be modest as he attempts to get the Spartans back to college football relevance. I still would have loved to steal a four-star recruit like Malone from Ohio State’s backyard — it worked out nicely for Mark Dantonio from time to time.

All the momentum was on Michigan State’s side before the Massillon, Ohio, native made the two-hour trek to Columbus for his final scheduled official visit.

Ryan Day and the Buckeyes sealed the deal with the No. 284 recruit in the country.

The tough losses are piling up for Michigan State

While I do love the additions of guys like the aforementioned Johnson, Zach Forbish, Lawrence Kanneh, and Ohimai Ozolua to the 2027 class, the misses are starting to pile up.

There are a lot of “what if” misses that could have flipped the No. 41 recruiting class in the country to a top-25 group. These misses really stick out, in my opinion:

• Ronnie Gomiller, 4-star WR (canceled visit, committed to Cincinnati)
• Arnold Mugerwa, 3-star WR (canceled visit, committed to Rutgers)
• Isaiah Alvarez, 3-star WR (committed to Rutgers after MSU visit)
• Dominic Black, 4-star OT (canceled visit, committed to Kentucky)
• Drew Aagesen, 3-star OT/DT (canceled visit, committed to Iowa State)
• Myles Smith, 4-star EDGE (canceled visit, committed to Indiana)
• Marvin Nguetsop, 4-star DL (canceled visit, committed to Ole Miss)
• Nehemiah Ombati, 4-star DL (canceled visit, committed to Nebraska)
• Reinaldo Perez, 4-star DL (committed to Indiana after MSU visit)
• Gideon Gash, 4-star DB (committed to Texas Tech after MSU visit)
• Amarri Irvin, 4-star LB (currently committed to Notre Dame)
• Zykee Scott, 3-star LB (committed to North Carolina after MSU visit)
• Caleb Green, 3-star LB (canceled visit, flipped from Missouri to Nebraska)
• Rome Ewell, 3-star LB (canceled visit, committed to Arizona)
• Deontay Malone, 4-star ATH (committed to Ohio State after MSU visit)
• Steele Harris, 3-star WR (canceled visit, committed to Wisconsin)

Obviously it’s not realistic to land all ‘Plan A’ targets, but even picking up a few of these guys would have the fanbase singing a completely different tune. Right now, there’s some disappointment over being the No. 41 class in the country, but we have to just let this new staff figure it out.

If this class finishes in the 40-50 range and Michigan State makes a bowl game this year, no one will knock Fitzgerald unless he follows this up with another 40-50-range recruiting class.

Michigan State has the resources to land top 25 classes regularly if the football program shows a pulse.

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