MSU's Baseball/Football Recruiting Connection
In the process of putting together his 13th recruiting class at Michigan State, Mark Dantonio has stumbled onto something new.
He didn’t plan on it. The talent just worked out this way.
He’s always been open-minded about two-sport athletes, but has never had a situation such as this year with two Plan A recruits - one committed and one undecided - capable of playing baseball in addition to football at Michigan State.
Jase Bowen and Adam Berghorst possess uncommon talent, and have caused Dantonio and Michigan State to make uncommon concessions.
Bowen, a wide receiver from Toledo Central Catholic, committed to Michigan State over Northwestern and others last weekend. He plans to play shortstop and centerfield at Michigan State as well.
Bowen has struck a friendship with Berghorst, a 6-foot-7 defensive end from Zeeland (Mich.) East High School, who has an 89-mile-an-hour fastball and tons of potential to add velocity as he matures.
Berghorst has offers from Michigan State, Michigan and Notre Dame. He visited Michigan State for the Green-White Game and indicated that Michigan State and Notre Dame are his finalists. A commitment could come soon.
“I will probably make a decision within the next two months,” Berghorst said.
Notre Dame also liked Bowen in baseball. Bowen committed to the Irish baseball program a few months ago. But when football programs started offering full scholarships rather than the customary partial scholarships of college baseball, he reopened his process and eventually committed to Michigan State.
Notre Dame didn’t offer Bowen in football. The Irish liked him in football, and a scholarship offer might have come in the future. But Bowen didn’t wait. Bowen wanted to commit to the school he grew up rooting for - Michigan State.
“It’s been my dream school for as long as I can remember,” Bowen said of Michigan State. “I really liked Le’Veon Bell in college and Connor Cook the year they beat Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship. It’s a great education, with a great fan base, and legends as coaches with excellent tradition.”
NO. 1 AT WR AND SHORTSTOP IN OHIO
Rivals.com ranks Bowen, a three-star recruit, the No. 1 wide receiver in Ohio and the No. 24 player overall.
Perfect Game USA, a national baseball scouting service, ranks Bowen the No. 2 baseball prospect in Ohio for the spring of 2019 and the No. 1 player at his position.
Berghorst is ranked the No. 12 football player in Michigan for 2019.
Bowen and Berghorst have commanded heavy scholarship interest from some of the Midwest's best football programs, but Michigan State’s baseball team was the first program to make in-roads with them.
“They (Michigan State baseball) were actually the first to recruit me for any sport,” Berghorst said. “It started with them last spring.”
Bowen had a similar experience with Jake Boss Jr.’s Spartan baseball program. Bowen’s unofficial visit to Michigan State on March 1 was his first with the Spartan football team. But he had been on campus three other times for Michigan State baseball unofficial visits.
MSU'S BOWEN PLAN
Two-sport athletes who play football and baseball often have to choose between the two, with football - and its deeper scholarship pockets - often winning out. And if the football program is paying the freight, football programs often are not open to letting one of their scholarship players dabble in baseball during the winter and spring months.
Occasionally, a program will allow a two-sport football/baseball prospect to play both sports in college, and that’s Michigan State’s plan with Bowen and Berghorst. It’s the first time Dantonio has ever made that overture to football/baseball dual-sport prospects.
“They did say they have never done it but are very open to it and very excited about it,” Bowen said.
What about March and April, when Michigan State spring football is in full swing while Michigan State baseball is deep into its season?
“I will play in the baseball games,” Bowen said. “But if I have no (baseball) game that day, I will practice for football.”
He’s a good enough to play baseball for Michigan State despite missing practice during the course of the week? Yes, it appears that way.
As for January and February, he will participate in football winter conditioning and baseball practice. He will juggle both.
He’s the first serious baseball/football prospect to commit to Michigan State since Matt Mauck, of Jasper, Ind., signed with Nick Saban’s Spartan football program in 1997. However, Mauck was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and elected to play professional baseball rather than enroll at Michigan State.
After three seasons of minor league baseball, Mauck retired from that sport and signed again with Saban, this time at LSU, in 2000. He eventually quarterbacked LSU to the 2003 National Championship.
Perfect Game USA hasn’t published its mock draft projections for 2019, but there’s a chance Bowen - with his terrific speed and football strength - could find his name on it.
“I could get drafted, but my intention is to go to college,” he said.
MSU’s intention is to use him in both sports. It's been a happy collaboration between Dantonio and Boss in chasing Bowen and Berghorst. Soon after Bowen committed to MSU, Dantonio pulled out his phone and texted the good news to Boss. Boss was coaching a game against Nebraska at the time.
Bowen committed to Michigan State during a team dinner at Cowles House, the ceremonial residence of MSU’s president.
“I pulled Coach D aside with my family and told him face-to-face,” Bowen said of the commitment. “He was very excited. We were all very excited. It was such an honor an relief to know that I will be playing at my dream school.”
DREAM SCHOOL?
Michigan State was his dream school? Growing up in Toledo? Isn’t Toledo maize and blue country? That’s the claim, anyway.
“There are actually more Ohio State fans around me,” Bowen said. “Both Ohio State and Michigan fans always seem to give me some. But I made sure I gave it right back when Michigan State won this year.
“There aren’t many Michigan State fans around me but there are some.”
There were no family members or friends who steered him into becoming an Michigan State fan.
“I really did it on my own,” he said. “I never liked Michigan growing up.”
But the Wolverines began contacting him right after Michigan State offered Bowen a scholarship. Michigan invited him to campus for an unofficial visit, and he went on March 15.
Michigan didn’t offer. “They did want me at their spring game (this weekend),” Bowen said.
But he won’t be going. He’s a committed Spartan - in two sports.
THE BERGHORST ANGLE
Berghorst also grew up a Spartan fan, with his family often attending Michigan State home football games. Michigan State’s early interest in him as a baseball prospect thrilled him. Then Michigan State offered him a football scholarship last December after offensive line coach Mark Staten, the Spartans' West Michigan recruiter, watched him practice basketball.
Around that time, Michigan State hired a new defensive ends coach, Chuck Bullough. Berghorst has been getting to know Bullough over the last few weeks, including Saturday.
“I really like him, very knowledgeable, been to a lot of places so he knows a lot,” Berghorst said. “I like the fact that he is here to stay now. I enjoyed talking with him.
“(He) really likes my length, and says he doesn’t have much of that right now and it’s great for pass rushing.”
MSU managed to have the nation's No. 7-ranked defense without a tall, pure defensive end last year. The Spartans are looking to fill that need on the roster for the future, and Berghorst is capable candidate.
Berghorst's junior film shows surprisingly good take-off quickness for a 6-foot-7 pre-senior, with head-and-shoulder quickness to cross your face, and hands to stab or defeat you with an arm-over move.
He's tall, but he can bend his knees in an instant to get low and take on a sudden blocker. That's a plus.
He has the strength to rag-doll a ball carrier. He needs more pop and shock at the line of scrimmage to win in a phone booth, but that will come as his talented frame fills out.
Change of direction? When unblocked on the edge, he can turn the corner nicely when converging on a tailback. He may never turn the corner like Dwight Freeney (who can?), but he has hip and ankle flexibility and could run the hoop quite nicely some day.
He checks a lot of boxes, and he's still maturing, still spreading his talent across three sports. The ceiling of potential is high.
As for Dantonio, Berghorst said he has gotten to know the Michigan State head coach “quite a bit. We have talked on visits a lot and some phone calls and texts. I really like him. I think he’s a top notch guy with an excellent program.”
The day before a Berghorst unofficial visit to Ann Arbor in January, Dantonio stopped by Zeeland East High School to check in with Berghorst. Michigan offered Berghorst the next day. Then Notre Dame offered in February.
Berghorst visited Notre Dame on March 24, then Michigan State on March 31 and again for the spring game.
Notre Dame defensive line coach Mike Elston is the Irish's primary recruiter for Berghorst.
“He (likes) my athleticism, length, size, the way I move and how I play with motor,” Berghorst said of Elston.
But they’ve all had to play catch-up in regard to Michigan State - stemming from the early baseball contacts.
“They came and watched me last season,” Berghorst said of Michigan State baseball coaches. “I hit 89 (mph) three months ago at the Michigan State winter camp. Hopefully that (velocity) goes up.”
And Michigan State coaches - two sets of them, across two sports - are hoping he pursues that endeavor in East Lansing.