Michigan State hosted a plethora of highly-ranked recruits for their annual Green and White Spring Game on Saturday. Among those visitors was 2023 Katy (TX) Paetow five-star DE David Hicks Jr., the No. 2 player in the country, according to Rivals.com.

In addition to MSU, the 6-foot-4, 255-pound defensive lineman holds offers from nearly every Power Five program in the country. Those offers include Ohio State, Clemson, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas A&M, and many more.

The five-star recruit spoke with SpartanMag.com's Jason Killop on Sunday and went in-depth on his visit to East Lansing.

BACKGROUND

Hicks Jr. was on the radar of recruiting sites and college coaches since his middle school days. As an eighth-grader, Hicks was a prospect on the rise, when he began working with a training guru who was also up-and-coming at the time. Michigan State fans may recognize that trainer as recently-hired Pass Rush Specialist Brandon Jordan. The duo connected while they were both on on the rise and Hicks continued training with Jordan until December 2021, when Jordan was hired at Michigan State.

The five-star lineman was already familiar with MSU and its football program prior to the Jordan hire having received an offer in May 2021.

"Coach Jordan, he has been training me for so long so seeing him as a coach and giving MSU a chance was important," Hicks told SpartanMag.com.

In addition to Jordan, Hicks has his eyes on Mel Tucker acknowledging that the MSU head coach is just one of fourteen African American head coaches in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.

"The fact that they have a black head coach, you don't see that a lot... Mel Tucker is making a lot of history," Hicks said. "I feel like after a while he will get the whole program to be in the National Championship all the time.”

ON SATURDAY'S VISIT

Hicks arrived in East Lansing late-Friday accompanied by his grandfather. The duo arrived in the evening so they settled into their hotel room before heading to campus on Saturday morning.

"We went and got breakfast in the morning with the coaches," Hicks said. "It was with Coach Jordan and Coach Coleman. I am familiar with Coach Coleman from talking on the phone as well. He is a good coach. We also broke down film and he taught me different aspects of how he coaches the game."

"After that, we went over to the athletic facilities to meet all the rest of the coaches. They showed us around and we took the photoshoot before the Spring Game," Hicks said.

As the recruits settled in on the sideline Saturday, Hicks took in the crowd and was impressed given the weather.

"It was pretty cool to see everyone actually out there like all the fans, because for me from Texas it was actually cold outside so to see everyone out there and the crowd,” Hicks said. “Seeing rappers and Olympians there as well was pretty cool.”

“(The fanbase) will play a little bit of role in my decision because you want to go somewhere like home," Hicks said. "I feel like reflection of your school is a lot based off of your fans. If your fans are loyal to your school it is usually a good foundation for the school.”

In terms of the on-field activities, Hicks had his eyes on the defense, specifically his former trainer and current MSU assistant BT Jordan.

“It was really cool to see him in the college coaching aspect. Seeing how he coaches and how trains and the different ways that he does stuff,” Hicks said. “The way he works is like, we’ll do foot work stuff while also working on our hands. He is always working on two aspects of your game at once. He will break down the certain move you need to learn and the angles. Then you will go full speed with it.”

While on campus, Hicks, along with his grandfather, met one-on-one with Tucker in his office.

“I just feel like Coach Tucker is a really good coach. He talked about a lot of good stuff in the meeting that we had and like I said, I think he will change the program,” Hicks said. “He feels like I can come in and play. He believes in playing the best guys. As long as I put the work in I can come in and play.”

In following the theme with most recruits that pass through East Lansing during Tucker's time, Hicks was met with plenty of unexpected moments and sights.

“Michigan State is a cool place to be. It surprised me in different aspects,” Hicks said. “It is a really good place to be at.”

Hicks tells SpartanMag.com he will unofficially visit Oregon next weekend. The five-star does not have any schools locked in for official visits, but plans to take two in the summer and the other three during the fall.

Hicks does not plan to make a decision anytime soon, but Michigan State is in the running for a return trip following Saturday's visit.