2024 three-star offensive lineman Rustin Young commits to Michigan State
Michigan State football has gained a commitment, this time from 2024 three-star offensive lineman Rustin Young.
Young committed to Oregon State in July before decommitting recently in light of the Spartans luring head coach Jonathan Smith away from the Beavers to become the next MSU football coach.
The Honolulu, Hawaii native took a visit to Michigan State this past weekend to check out East Lansing and get a look at how Smith has operated the Spartans' program after transitioning from OSU.
That visit was the proverbial nail in the coffin for Young as he makes the decision to commit to coach Smith for a second time in his recruitment, only this time at a different school than the prior time.
Young has clearly built up a strong relationship with offensive line coach/run game coordinator Jim Michalczik. Of course, Michalczik was Young's position coach while he was committed to the Beavers, and now they will continue to strengthen that bond in East Lansing.
He explained to Rivals' Adam Gorney how being familiar with the staff and being able to introduce some of them to his parents on the MSU visit helped solidify his decision to stay with Smith's staff and commit to MSU.
"It made me feel a lot more comfortable knowing them already and it was the first time my parents got to meet those coaches because the last time I went to see them it was with my sister and brother-in-law," Young said.
“Being able to introduce them to my parents was really nice. They really liked them and meeting parts of the original staff that stayed, they were just as great as the new coaches.”
Young, who also has an offer from Arizona State and took a visit there earlier this month, holds other offers from Auburn, Arizona, Utah, Boise State, California, Fresno State, Hawaii and several others.
The 6-foot-5, 270-pounder ranks as the No. 5 player in the state of Hawaii.
He becomes the 17th commitment in the Spartans' 2024 high school recruiting class overall, and the fifth offensive linemen, joining twins Mercer and Charlton Luniewski, Payton Stewart and Rakeem Johnson.
Michigan State also currently has commitments from defensive end Kekai Burnett, wide receiver Austin Clay, quarterback Alessio Milivojevic, defensive back Andrew Brinson, running backs Makhi Frazier and Brandon Tullis, tight end Wyatt Hook, wide receiver Nick Marsh, defensive back Jaylen Thompson, athlete/defensive back Justin Denson Jr., defensive back Keshawn Williams and linebacker Jadyn Walker.
As of press time, Michigan State's 2024 class ranks 54th in the nation, but that number is likely to climb.
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