Michigan State football makes top 7 for top-50 OT Maxwell Riley
Official visit season is wrapping up for the summer and Michigan State football coach Jonathan Smith has focused heavily on his 2025 class as it's grown from zero in April to 10 by the end of June -- and potentially 11 on Tuesday night.
Smith is working hard to make sure he fills out his 2025 class with guys who fit his system as well as the Spartan mold. He's done a good job so far, but he's nowhere near finished.
But that doesn't mean he can't look ahead slightly to the 2026 class.
The first-year head coach has to focus on the next two classes because the second the season starts, he needs to have some top 2026 targets in place to really focus on after December's early signing day. One of those targets happens to be top-50 offensive tackle Maxwell Riley from Avon Lake, Ohio. On Tuesday, he released his top seven schools and the Spartans made the cut.
God has blessed me immensely with these opportunities. After much discussion with my family we have decided to narrow the list of prospective college football programs to seven. I will be concentrating on my relationships with these schools moving forward. Thank you & God Bless! pic.twitter.com/uborftpwlN
— Maxwell Riley✝️ (@bigmax2026) June 25, 2024
This is one of the more loaded top sevens I've seen Michigan State involved in for quite a while. The Spartans made the cut along with Clemson, Florida State, Missouri, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Ohio State. All of those teams, outside of maybe Clemson and Oklahoma, were legit national title contenders last season. Michigan State has its work cut out for it.
Riley is ranked the No. 35 overall recruit in the class and he's the sixth-best offesnive tackle, per 247Sports. He may be a 2026 prospect but he already holds nearly 30 offers.
Hopefully Jim Michalczik's resume can help out here and he can become the Spartans' first real big recruiting win on the high school trail under Smith.