Comp's Recruiting Notebook 3/9/18

At this time last year, Michigan State had three commitments from Ohio recruits, marking one of the strongest starts the program had ever had in recruiting south of state border.

The Spartans don’t yet have commitments from the Buckeye State for the Class of 2019 but Michigan State has been busy, trying to make headway.

Pickerington Central defensive lineman Karter Johnson and Toledo Central Catholic wide receiver Jase Bowen are two Ohioans who are getting strong attention from Michigan State who merit some watching in the coming months.

* Karter Johnson (6-2, 270, Pickerington Central) is ranked the No. 22 player in Ohio. He has offers from Michigan State, TCU, Indiana, West Virginia, Syracuse, Kentucky, Boston College and MAC schools.

“I’d say TCU is contacting me the most,” Johnson said. “I have been having conversations with MSU, OSU, IU, and a few others.”

Johnson has said at other times that Indiana has been in the heaviest contact with him. So it’s a hot race, already.

Johnson visited Michigan State for the home basketball game against Purdue.

“I had a great visit,” Johnson said. “I liked the campus and coaches. It was my first time (at Michigan State).”

He said he speaks with Michigan State defensive tackles coach Ron Burton, “at least once a week. We text a lot.”

Former Pickerington High School teammates Josiah Scott, Xavier Henderson part of the Michigan State program and report back to Johnson on occasion.

“I hear it’s a great place to be and they’re glad they’re there,” Johnson said.

Pickerington Central tight end Trenton Gillison signed with MSU in December and will enroll this summer.

When asked about upcoming visits, Johnson said: “I plan on visiting TCU, Indiana, Pitt and OSU, along with Michigan State.”

As for TCU, he has no prior connections with the Horned Frogs.

“They kind of came out of nowhere, but I’m glad they did,” Johnson said. “I’ve been developing a great relationship with the DL coach, Coach Fitch.”

THE SKINNY: Michigan State scored some points with Johnson during his visit to East Lansing and the Spartans are in good shape to get another visit. Ohio State looms as the power broker in the equation. He wants an OSU offer, but Buckeye offers are difficult to acquire.

Michigan State is in it, with some Pickerington Central players on campus, capable of helping.

He plans to visit TCU, Texas and Michigan in the spring.

A look at Johnson's athleticism:

* Michigan State wanted Jase Bowen (6-1, 178, WR, Toledo Central Catholic) on campus during spring practice. Then Michigan State really, really wanted him on campus, and asked him to come up to East Lansing for the March 1 practice, MSU’s last practice prior to spring break.

“Coach Tressel told me to get on campus as soon as I could so I could meet with coach Dantonio, and (March 1) was the earliest I could do it,” Bowen said. “Very happy I went up, too.”

Bowen had visited Michigan State three times for baseball.

Bowen is committed to Notre Dame for baseball, but is keeping football options open. He is participating in some of the exposure camps, and earned the Alpha Dog award at the UnderArmour Camp in Cleveland in late February. He was also named wide receiver MVP.

“Coach Tressel says he likes my versatility and love for the game,” Bowen said. “I had sit-down meetings with Coach Samuel and Coach Dantonio. I also got to sit in the receiver meetings and the team meetings as well as being with the receivers, and other coaches for the practice!”

(Bowen included that exclamation point during his text interview with SpartanMag).

“Coach Dantonio basically said he wants guys with high character and wants to develop further relationships with guys before the offer,” Bowen said. “He told me that he sees me as a offer guy, (it) just has to be the right time! It was a great talk.”

Bowen has offers from Kentucky, Iowa State, Minnesota, Yale and MAC schools. Michigan State has yet to offer.

When asked about the baseball commitment and the fact that he is still making the rounds as a football recruit, he said: “I am open to football, as my dream for as long as I can remember had been to go to college for free, and where ever that leads me I will pursue.

The extent of ND’s baseball offer isn’t known at this time, but full scholarship offers in that sport are rare.

In addition to the schools that have offered him, Bowen said he is also hearing from Ohio State, Michigan State, Army, Notre Dame (football), Iowa and Rutgers.

For spring practices, he plans on visiting Ohio State, Minnesota, Iowa State, Kentucky and Cincinnati.

THE SKINNY: Michigan State has yet to offer, but MSU’s hurried visit invitation is an indication that the Spartans have given Bowen a higher prior to than many others who have yet to get an offer.

As a football player, he reminds me of a smaller, quicker Keith Nichol with a faster top gear and more natural hands. He has quick feet and eats up ground while remaining shifty. He can get up and go.

SOUTHWEST OF THE BORDER

* In Indiana, Michigan State followed up Jack Kiser’s visit to campus last month with a scholarship offer on Feb. 27.

Kiser (6-2, 206, LB, Royal Center, Ind.) has also taken unofficial visits to Indiana and Notre Dame in recent weeks.

Indiana, Purdue and Iowa offered last summer. Iowa was the first to offer.

Kiser is something of a local legend in Royal Center (Ind.), where he led Pioneer High to the state championship last year as a dual-threat QB and physical, ball-hawking safety.

He rushed for more than 1,900 yards last year.

As a sophomore, he rushed for more than 1,600 yards and 35 TDs, while passing for more than 1,300 yards and 25 scores for a team that finished as the state runner-up.

As for the Michigan State offer, “Coach Warner had me all him and that’s when he told me (Michigan State was offering),” Kiser said of Michigan State area recruiter Dave Warner. “I guess (I was) kinda surprised.”

He shouldn't have been. This guy is an uncommon athlete with football skill.

Kiser attended the Michigan State-Purdue basketball game. He might have quietly been rooting for the Boilermakers. His dad ran track at Purdue, and he grew up a Boiler fan.

As for Michigan State, “Great facilities,” Kiser said. “Fans are awesome and the coaches really care about MSU.”

At 6-2, 206, he covers ground as a two-deep safety with angry speed. It’s no wonder Iowa made him an early offer. He looks like a prototypial Iowa linebacker, running around out there.

“Growing up, I was always a linebacker,” Kiser said. “My freshman year, we had three seniors at linebacker so I played strong safety. Since then, my head coach just kept me back there. I still drill with the linebackers at practice along with doing secondary drills.”

He’s being recruited solely as a linebacker for college.

He visited Stanford last summer.

“I’m going to Northwestern on (March) 17th,” he said.

As for Michigan State, he had a conversation with linebackers coach Mike Tressel during his visit.

“I’m hoping to get back there some time this spring,” he said.

Thursday night, Kiser showed his versatile athleticism at a major indoor meet in West Lafayette, a qualifier for the Hoosier State Relays.

He won his heat in the 55 meters and clocked a 6.87, qualifying for the Hoosier State Relays.

He also finished third in the shot put with a toss of 52 feet, 1.75 inches.

THE SKINNY: Kiser’s father, Aaron, competed in track and field at Purdue in the early ‘90s. He finished second in the discus and shot in the Big Ten.

Kiser’s uncle, Brian, was a six-time Big Ten champion in throwing events at Purdue.

Kiser’s father openly tweeted that he was rooting for Wisconsin to beat Michigan State in the Big Ten basketball tournament quarterfinals, last weekend.

Prying him away from Purdue would seem unlikely. But Jack’s recruitment has already lasted longer than some expected, and he is taking serious looks at his options.

Kiser’s sister, Maddie, is running cross country at the University of Louisville. So crossing state lines to wear opposing colors isn’t against family orders.

Kiser said he enjoyed his visit to Michigan State, but Michigan State probably needed to be TKO-impressive to gain on Purdue.

The timing is also good for Purdue, with that program enjoying a level of apparent stability for the first time in years.

Kiser at an indoor meet on the Purdue University campus last night:

IN-STATE UPDATE

It’s a strong year for in-state talent in the state of Michigan, but the Spartans are frugal with scholarship offers. By our count, Michigan State has offered scholarships to 12 in-state juniors. Meanwhile, the Spartans are watching many more closely.

Among those on the radar are:

* Marvin Ham, LB, Belleville.

* MJ Griffin, DB, Saline.

* Ruke Orhorhoro, DE, River Rouge

* Josh DeBerry, DB, Warren De La Salle.

* MJ Griffin (6-1, 180, CB, Saline) visited Michigan State for the first day of spring practice last week.

“It went great,” Griffin told SpartanMag.com. “Spent a lot of time with Coach Dantonio and (Paul) Haynes. Met the whole staff and watched how Haynes and (Don) Treadwell coach the DB's. I know where I stand with State and I feel good about it.”

There’s a good chance his recruitment is going to blow up in the weeks and months ahead. Especially if he keeps making plays like this one last week in 7-on-7 league:

Michigan State has some ground to make up against Kentucky. Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops formed a bond with Griffin way back when Griffin was a grade schooler who participated in Florida State’s camp when Stoops was defensive coordinator for the Seminoles.

* Marvin Ham (6-1, 215, LB, Belleville) is ranked No. 20 in Michigan by Rivals.com. He has offers from Iowa State, Boston College and MAC schools.

He visited Minnesota last weekend.

“I really liked the University of Minnesota, they had some of the best facilities that I have ever seen,” Ham said. “Everything there was new and the coaching staff welcomed me full fledged. I spent most of the visit with coach (Kenni) Burns, but I still spent ample time with Coach (Marcus) West, Coach (Robb) Smith, Coach (Norries) Wilson, and some of the other GA’s.”

Burns coaches running backs, West coaches d-linemen, Smith is the d-coordinator and linebackers coach. Wilson is director of player development.

Ham has no other visits planned, but more are sure to come.

“Right now Michigan State, Indiana, Maryland, Pitt, Minnesota, USF, Syracuse, Michigan and Oklahoma State have been reaching out to me daily,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of schools reaching out lately and a school that just started showing high interest is Minnesota.”

Michigan State wide receivers coach Terrance Samuel is the Spartans’ primary contact for Ham.

“I’ve been talking with him through my coach and he says I’m a very athletic linebacker that can cover well in space,” Ham said. “They also told me that they loved my film.”

* Ruke Orhorhoro (6-5, 235, DE, River Rouge) is one of the more interesting prospects on the rise, this spring.

His rankings haven’t yet caught up with his offer list, but will likely correct itself in the future.

He has offers from Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kentucky, Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, Syracuse.

Northwestern offered on Wednesday.

He has a rare combination of height/size (6-foot-5) and legitimate speed, ability, body control and edge flexibility to be a prospect at rush end, which is one of the hardest positions to find talent.

Here’s a look at his quickness at the UnderArmour Camp in Cleveland:

Orhorhoro, who calls himself “The Nigerian Nightmare” on his Twitter feed, was not surprised by the offers from Iowa, Minnesota and the others.

“I was expecting those offers because I had been in contact with those coaches for quite awhile,” he said.

Coach Kenni Burns of Minnesota extended the offer from the Gophers.

“He told my head coach, Corey Parker, who then told me,” Orhorhoro said.

As for visits in the near future, he said: “I plan to go to Syracuse, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky and Western Michigan so far.”

As for Michigan State, he said he last heard from Coach Terrance Samuel two days ago.

“He (Samuel) said he likes my film, pass rushing skills and that I have a great frame,” Orhorhoro said.

* Josh DeBerry (5-11, 166, CB, Warren De La Salle) has offers from Kentucky, Iowa State, Iowa and MAC schools.

He visited Syracuse last weekend.

He visited Kentucky in late February.

Michigan State quarterbacks coach Brad Salem is DeBerry’s main contact on the Spartan staff.

“I hear from Coach Salem about once a week,” DeBerry said. “He tells me how he wants to get me up there again and to keep working.

“I haven’t been to State that recently. They sent me their spring ball schedule and I plan on attending at least one.”

DeBerry said he began hearing from Michigan State since signing day.

Kentucky defensive backs coach Steven Clinkscales is the Wildcats’ primary recruiter for DeBerry. They usually communicate via text.

“Coach Clink called me on the phone and told me (about the UK offer, on Feb. 11),” DeBerry said. “It was unexpected when he told me. I was very excited to receive my first SEC offer.

“Prior to that, I was hearing from him here and there through text. That was actually my first call from him and he said he likes that I’m a winner and he loves the type of player I am.

“I went there last year for a camp and toured the place a little.”

He also camped at Ohio State and Louisville last year.

“I’ve heard from Kentucky, Michigan State, Iowa, Iowa State, Central Michigan, Eastern, Toledo, Miami of Ohio,” he said.

DeBerry had been planning the Feb. 24 visit to Kentucky for a few weeks, and the Feb. 11 offer cemented it.

His recruitment and scholarship attention will be interesting to note in the coming weeks.

* As for others with long-standing Michigan State offers, Jaren Mangham and Michael Fletcher recently took visits further south.

Fletcher (6-5, 233, DE, Flint Carman Ainsworth) visited Georgia last weekend. He is ranked the No. 11 player in the state.

Mangham (6-2, 217, RB, Detroit Cass Tech) made the rounds in the Lone Star State in late February.

“I’m just coming off a State of Texas visit,” he said. “I went to Texas A&M, Texas, Baylor, TCU and Houston.”

All of those schools offered. Texas was the notable offer. Mangham’s mother attended Texas A&M. His father was an All-MAC linebacker at Bowling Green and grew up in Holly, Mich., in northern Oakland County.

Mangham’s parents met when his father was working and living in Texas. Jaren was born in Texas. They moved from Houston to northern Ohio when he was 12. They now live in the Detroit area.

“I’m going to be visiting Minnesota, Colorado, Tennessee, Arkansas, West Virginia and Boston College in the next few months,” Mangham said.

He attended the Michigan State-Michigan basketball game in January.

What’s been MSU’s message?

“Michigan State talks about family and the system they run for big backs and Coach D’s success against rival schools,” Mangham said.