Chaston Smith, who goes by “Chas,” is a 2026 defensive back prospect out of Bearden High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. Smith just completed his freshman season, where he played at the varsity level for Bearden, and is already generating strong college interest.

Smith has already received scholarship offers from Michigan State, Kentucky, Louisville, Vanderbilt, Mississippi and others. Earlier this week, Smith made the trip to Detroit to compete in the SuperMax 100 Midwest Invitational event, which featured some of the top talent from the states of Michigan and Tennessee.

Following the event, Spartans Illustrated caught up with Smith to discuss his interest in Michigan State and early recruitment process overall.

The Spartans offered Smith a scholarship back in April when general manager/executive director of player personnel and recruiting Saeed Khalif reached out to the young defensive back. He visited the East Lansing campus that same month.

While there is a long way to go in Smith’s recruitment, Michigan State is already high on his list.

“I can see myself at Michigan State,” Smith told Spartans Illustrated. “I like the campus and how the coaches greeted me when I came in (to East Lansing).”

MSU likes Smith at the cornerback position. As a 2026 prospect, Michigan State coaches and staffers can’t have too much contact with Smith as of yet, but it is a relationship that Smith is hoping to develop in the future.

“(Michigan State) likes my coverage skills and my all-around game,” Smith said when asked why the Spartans were interested in him.

The 6-foot, 150-pound cornerback says that Michigan State, Kentucky and Vanderbilt have shown the most interest in him so far.

While a lot of it is new to Smith as a very young prospect, he is enjoying the recruiting process overall. There will likely be more schools interested in Smith in the near future, but for now, he is just taking it one day at a time and is appreciative of his opportunities.

“I’m just looking at (my recruitment) as a blessing,” Smith said. “You just gotta put the work in behind the scenes and you get rewarded for it if you get the right opportunity.”

In addition to Michigan State, Smith has taken visits or competed at camps at Georgia, Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Louisville, Tennessee and others. He does hope to take another trip to MSU at some point in the future.

Of course, being a high school freshman right now, Smith does not have a timeline in mind as far as a commitment goes. He is looking forward to training and getting prepared for his sophomore season at Bearden.

Smith helped lead the Bulldogs to the playoffs this past season, but said the team “didn’t get where we wanted to get.”

As mentioned, Smith has a long way to go before choosing a school, but he’s a name to watch moving forward for fans of Michigan State and several other schools.