Michigan State gets commitment from 2024 three-star QB Henry Hasselbeck
Michigan State has its quarterback pledge for the 2024 recruiting class. Henry Hasselbeck, a three-star signal-caller out of Massachusetts, announced his commitment to the Spartans on Friday.
Hasselbeck currently attends Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, Massachusetts. He ranks as the No. 5 player in the state of Massachusetts.
The quick-rising quarterback feels his best fit is in East Lansing because of the relationships he was able to build with the Michigan State coaching staff.
Hasselbeck wrote the following message on Instagram to announce his commitment to MSU.
"I’ve decided to follow my dream and play college football," he said. "With that being said, I’m honored and excited to announce my commitment to play at Michigan State University! I want to thank God, my family, my coaches, and all the teammates that helped and supported me to to get here. I’d also like to thank Coach Tillman and Maryland Lacrosse for their unwavering support and the opportunity to play lacrosse at Maryland. Thank you for treating me like family. Forever a fan."
Michigan State offered Hasselbeck a scholarship in late May, which he said he was "fired up" about. The bond between Hasselbeck and the program quickly developed from there.
Shortly after the offer, Hasselbeck set up an official visit to Michigan State and he was in East Lansing during the first weekend of June. The official visit was Hasselbeck's first time on MSU's campus, and really opened his eyes to what the Spartans have to offer.
"Michigan State really blew me away," Hasselbeck told Spartans Illustrated in early June. "They definitely made me feel like they really wanted me."
Hasselbeck took that official visit with his dad, Matt Hasselbeck, who of course is a three-time NFL Pro Bowler and a member of the Seattle Seahawks' 35th anniversary team and Ring of Honor. Matt is also Henry's quarterbacks coach at Xaverian Brothers. However, Henry's mother, Sarah Hasselbeck, was unable to make the trip at the time.
Henry then returned to East Lansing with Sarah and the rest of his family on June 19 and June 20 for an unofficial visit. He wanted his mom to get a chance to see campus, connect with the MSU coaches and learn more about the program.
The youngest Hasselbeck built a strong connection with Michigan State offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson and assistant quarterbacks coach Jake Reiling. He felt like the MSU coaches made him a priority,
In fact, during the official visit, Johnson personally picked up the Hasselbecks from the Detroit Metro Airport and drove them back for their return flight, which is not all that common for offensive coordinators at this level to do.
"The coach I spent the most amount of time with (on the official visit) was Coach Jay Johnson,” Hasselbeck said. "He picked us up from the airport, was at all of our meals, ran all of our football meetings, and even drove us back to the airport for our early flight home Sunday morning."
Henry is also fond of Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker. While on the official visit, it was clear that Tucker actually took the time beforehand to learn about the young quarterback's game, and made the effort to get to know him as a player and person while he was on the trip. There are similarities in their personalties.
"I spent a good amount of time with Coach Tucker (on the official visit)," Hasselbeck said. "We had a great conversation in his office, but also talked over lunch, and even at a dinner at his house on the last night. He is a very real person and we had a lot of things in common. It was obvious to me that he watched a lot of my film and that meant a lot to me."
While on the official visit earlier this month, Henry was hosted by Michigan State redshirt junior quarterback Noah Kim. Hasselbeck called Kim the "perfect host."
In addition to Michigan State, Henry has scholarship offers from Pittsburgh, Arizona, Georgia Tech, Boston College, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Connecticut, East Carolina, Army, Navy, Liberty, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth and others. He has 20 offers in total.
Henry is also an elite lacrosse prospect. He was previously committed to Maryland to play lacrosse, but publicly decommitted from John Tillman's program on Friday. He has obliviously decided to focus on football now and plans to attend Michigan State University instead.
The Hasselbecks are an athletic family. Of course, Matt had a very successful NFL career and played at the highest level from 1998 through 2015 with four different NFL teams. In fact, Michigan State's current head strength and conditioning coach, Jason Novak, was the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Tennessee Titans during Matt's time in Nashville in 2011 and 2012.
Matt played his college ball at Boston College, but he wasn't the only BC athlete in the family. Sarah was an accomplished field hockey player for the Eagles, while Henry's older sisters, Annabelle and Mallory, compete on Boston College's No. 2-ranked women's lacrosse team.
Henry is obviously a multi-sport athlete, having played football, lacrosse and ice hockey throughout his youth, and recently competing in indoor track as well. He credits his mom, dad and sisters for making him a better person and athlete.
The Michigan State coaches like Henry's competitive spirit, ability to play multiple sports, athleticism and, of course, his NFL pedigree. The young Hasselbeck is still growing into his frame at 6-foot-3 and about 170 pounds, and still has a lot of developing to do, but has sky-high potential.
With Hasselbeck now in the fold, Michigan State’s number of verbal commitments for the 2024 class has quickly grown to 10. Hasselbeck joins four-star running back Anthony Carrie, four-star cornerback Jaylen Thompson, three-star defensive back Syair Torrence, three-star offensive lineman Andrew Dennis, three-star offensive lineman Logan Bennett, three-star offensive lineman Mercer Luniewski, three-star offensive lineman Charlton Luniewski, three-star defensive back Reggie Powers III and three-star cornerback Camren Campbell.