The Michigan State football program hosted a large contingent of recruits on campus on Thursday, March 28, including a group of prospects from the Rising Stars Academy, and others.
After finishing up their visits, Spartans Illustrated caught up with several prospects who were in East Lansing to get their reactions to their visits (in no particular order).
"I liked the new facilities and the opportunity to see some players I know at practice like Dillon Tatum, Antonio Gates Jr, and Nick Marsh. I also had time to talk with Coach (Blue) Adams and Coach (Keith) Bhonapha."
Vitti was offered by Michigan State's previous regime. The four-star athlete noted that while he's still getting to know the new Michigan State staff and will continue to do so, the schools that are showing him the most attention on a consistent basis are Wisconsin, Penn State, Tennessee, Kansas, Purdue and Boston College. As of press time, he'll be focusing primarily on those schools.
"Michigan State is going toward a great position. Their practices were very high intensity with lots of hustle, and there is a clear difference from this year and last year."
Flowers has offers from Wisconsin, Arizona State, Indiana, Iowa State, Kansas, Miami (FL.), Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and several others.
"It was great! I thought that practice was really competitive and guys were out there getting better. with Coach Smith, the program is in great hands for sure."
Charles currently has scholarship offers from Toledo, Ball State and Western Illinois.
"It was really good! We got the chance to go to practice and watch Coach (Brian) Wozniak coach up the boys. I really enjoyed what I got to see from him and the rest of the staff."
Watkins has seen his recruitment pick up heavily as of late, and has 15 total scholarship offers as of now, including Penn State, Pittsburgh, Arizona State, Illinois, Kansas, Louisville, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Purdue and others.
"I had great lengthy conversations with multiple coaches on the staff. I got to sit on coach KB's (Keith Bhonapha's) meeting with the running backs and it was cool to see how they install plays and how they will develop on the field."
Noah Sanders is the son of NFL legend Barry Sanders and the brother of Michigan State men's basketball player Nick Sanders. However, he is looking to create his own path and currently has offers from Toledo, Bowling Green and Western Kentucky.
"The practice was really competitive, which I loved, and I got to meet Coach (Brian) Wozniak, which was really cool and can start building a relationship (with him)."
Like Watkins, Keyes is another 2026 in-state tight end who has seen his recruitment gain a lot of steam as of late. He currently has eight scholarship offers, including Arizona State, Central Michigan, Illinois, Iowa State, Kent State, Marshall, Pittsburgh and Purdue.
"Michigan State was awesome! I had a great time watching practice. One thing I noticed during practice was how smooth, fast, and efficient the transitions were from period to period. This also included traveling outside to the outdoor facility."
Harris is teammates with Keyes at Saline High School and has eight scholarship offers as of press time: Ball State, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Indiana, Louisville, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Purdue.
"It was good. I like the new staff. I really like what the new staff and Coach Smith are doing with the program."
The Plymouth offensive tackle currently has offers from Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Louisville, Massachusetts and Miami (OH).
"I had a great time at MSU (on Thursday). It’s my second time coming up to East Lansing, but this time I got to see practice and see the guys fly around and compete. It was great. I got a chance to talk with O-lineman Kristian Phillips and QB Aidan Chiles, and they were taking to me about all things MSU. MSU is a place that I feel comfortable."
The 6-foot-8, 350-pound offensive tackle recently transfered to West Bloomfield High School in Michigan after previously playing at DePaul Catholic in New Jersey. He has scholarship offers from Boston College, Florida Atlantic, Marshall and Pittsburgh.
"It was amazing, per usual. The facilities were top notch and the weight room is easily one of the best in the country. The focus and competition was great during the practice, but what separates them from other schools is the sportsmanship they had for each other, which gains them a lot of respect from me, personally."
The in-state running back out of Dexter has seven scholarship offers as of now: Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Kent State, Ball State, Marshall and Appalachian State.
"It was great. The facilities were incredible. The practice was super high intensity. The players and coaches were showing a lot of love! I talked to Coach (Blue) Adams and Coach (Demetrice) Martin and both had very honest genuine conversations . Got to talk scheme, too, which was cool!"
The Northville athlete recently received an offer from Kent State.
"Everyone on the staff was very kind and welcoming. And watching Michigan State's high intensity practice really showed me that I would love to be competing at a school like MSU. Overall, I'd say the visit went great. I introduced myself to Coach Joe Rossi, the defensive coordinator/linebacker coach. The conversation was great! and he seem's like an amazing coach!"
Allos has offers from Kent State and Wayne State.
"For me it felt very high tech and very unique with the new facilities and all that! I also liked the Spartan uniforms that lit up! I got to talk to the offensive line coach (Jim Michalczik) and the assistant offensive line coach (Jacob Lail) and a few players! The conversations went really well!"
Bellinger is working toward his first offer, but has been making a lot of visits with the rising stars group.
"(The visit to Michigan State) was good. The new additions to facilities are really nice."
The three-star defensive end out of University of Detroit Jesuit High School has eight scholarship offers to his name right now: Bowling Green, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Louisville, Miami (OH), Toledo, Troy and Western Michigan.
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