With official visits chugging along and Michigan State football rising in the national ranks seemingly every day (there was nowhere to go but up), Jonathan Smith is resting easier these days.
While there is some pressure off his shoulders thanks to six commitments through the first two weekends of official visits, he's not done working on the 2026 class. He has 10 commitments in 2026 and the class is up to No. 44 nationally but that's not quite good enough.
Fans are expecting annual top 25 classes from Michigan State because the program is too storied to not have success on the recruiting trail.
That probably won't happen this season.
But it could flirt with that top 25 range. That would mean that Smith would need to land most of his Plan A guys and not lose more targets from his own backyard to schools like Kansas and Rutgers. He will have to land a guy like three-star lineman Khalief Canty Jr. over Missouri and North Carolina.
We will know sooner rather than later if that's going to happen. Canty announced on Wednesday that he would be making his college decision on June 23.
I will be making my decision where I’m going to school on June 23rd‼️‼️ things might of changed👀👀
— Khalief Canty Jr🎚️ (@kjcapn) June 11, 2025
Canty is one of the top targets left on Michigan State's recruiting board and the Detroit native is set to take his first official visit this summer to East Lansing to check out the Spartans on June 13. He visited North Carolina on April 4 and is going to check out Missouri on June 20 before deciding.
Missouri has the leg up by getting that last visit, but Smith has an opportunity to win him over this weekend and get him to join the class.
Canty is ranked the No. 429 overall recruit in the class as well as the No. 37 interior offensive lineman and No. 9 prospect in the state of Michigan, per 247Sports.