Top 8 recruits visiting Michigan State football during Spartan Dawg Con
Michigan State football and Jonathan Smith are set to host their first Spartan Dawg Con of Smith’s tenure on Saturday, July 27. The annual event brings many of the top recruits across the country in the high school junior class to East Lansing to one of the biggest recruiting events on campus all year long.
Smith is bringing many exciting visitors to campus this weekend including over 110 former Spartan legends as well as Mark Dantonio as well. But the most exciting visitors he’s bringing to campus are the extremely talented recruits.
Spartan Dawg Con IV is finally here.#MichiganState will host 5 four-stars, 25 priority targets + other prospects today.
— Justin Thind (@JustinThind) July 27, 2024
Plus, 110+ former players will be in town for an event that has come to define MSU’s resilient culture through change.
Preview: https://t.co/iYfAltq3v9 ⬇️
Smith has a long list of recruits visiting Michigan State on Saturday including 25 priority targets, but here are the top eight according to On3.
Michigan State will welcome a host of important visitors over the weekend for the the annual 'SpartanDawg Con' event. Find the full list of visitors below..
— Jason Killop (@KillopOn3) July 26, 2024
(On3+): https://t.co/6oYXaIRJVg pic.twitter.com/STLGyacQhL
According to On3, Michigan State has an impressive eight players visiting that are in the top 500 of the 2026 recruiting rankings. When you compare that to the Spartan’s current 2025 class you’ll see that Michigan State only has one commit currently in On3’s top 500. So you can see pretty quickly how Smith is changing his recruiting tactics for the 2026 class.
The highest ranked recruit visiting is four-star wide receiver Mason James who is the No. 190 players in the class. Smith also has four other four-star recruits visiting campus this weekend as well which is a very big number.
Can we expect a commitment this weekend?
While a commitment from a recruit visiting this weekend is possible, it’s likely not going to happen. Most recruits visiting are in the 2026 class meaning they still have a year and a half left in their recruitments. So they all are likely in no rush to end their recruitments with a commitment this weekend.
Now that doesn’t mean it’s impossible though. We’ve seen players commit after Spartan Dawg Con in the past so it is a possibility. But if I were a betting man I’d bet that no player commits.
This event is still extremely important though. Smith and his staff can lay the groundwork with all of the recruits in town to hopefully earn some commitments in the future. So hopefully the coaching staff can do just that and see the benefits of their hard work in the future.