Pat Fitzgerald will get one final shot to convince coveted 4-star WR to sign

Pat Fitzgerald has been living in the transfer portal over the past 1.5 weeks, and he’s done a fantastic job of landing nearly 30 newcomers so far. Michigan State did lost about 40 players to the portal and will have other open spots on the roster to fill, so Fitzgerald had to make sure he ate, slept, and breathed transfer portal after it opened on Jan. 2.

Now, he’s filling up the transfer class quickly, and with limited spots left, he can focus on trying to get one final piece of the 2026 class puzzle completed.

Four-star wide receiver commit Samson Gash opted not to sign in the early period with Michigan State, and instead continue to ponder his options. Many recruiting experts were under the impression that he would be signing with West Virginia in the early period over Michigan State and Alabama, but that never happened.

Fitzgerald will now have one final opportunity to court the four-star Jonathan Smith commit before National Signing Day in February.

According to Allen Trieu, he’s planning one more official to Michigan State at the end of the month as well as another trip to Penn State before making a decision.

Both programs also reportedly had in-home visits with Gash.

Gash would likely become the last piece of the 2026 high school recruiting class puzzle, and he’s a big one with Nick Marsh and Omari Kelly gone.

Retaining Courtney Hawkins has to help with Samson Gash

Fitzgerald’s decision to retain Courtney Hawkins had to be a big deal for Gash who was recruited by the Spartan legend and receivers coach. He’s back under the new staff, and now all he has to do is build a relationship with Fitzgerald, and I like where Michigan State sits.

Penn State isn’t going to be an easy team to hold off, however.

While Matt Campbell didn’t recruit him at Iowa State, according to his 247Sports profile, the new Penn State head coach has wasted no time getting in on this recruitment. He’s probably been given a nice “salary” pool for 2026 recruits, so why not go after one of the top unsigned receivers to help out the offense?

Still, it’s going to be tough to top Michigan State’s relationship with Gash, thanks to Hawkins and even his older brother, Caleb Gash, has to be trying to reel him in to East Lansing, assuming he stays with Joe Rossi’s defense.

Signing the nation’s No. 50 receiver and fifth-best Michigan-based prospect in the 2026 class would be a huge way for Fitzgerald to kickstart his in-state recruiting prowess.