MSU Offers Scholarship to 3-Star DL Mays Pese

Michigan State football coach Jonathan Smith is doing an admirable job on the recruiting trail.

Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith talks the media on the first national signing day for college / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA

Michigan State football has extended a scholarship to another three-star athlete.

This time, it was defensive lineman Mays Pese from Santa Barbara, California. Pese was in East Lansing for Junior Day on Saturday and picked up the offer while in town.

The offer to Pese marks another from MSU and Coach Smith to a talented mid-level player in the 2025 class. Coach Smith and the Spartans continue taking a level-headed approach to recruiting. Each offer the Spartans have made shows that Coach Smith has a clear and concise short -- and long-term -- plan for the program.

Pese is ranked as the 116th-best defensive lineman in the 2025 class. He announced on Saturday that he had received a scholarship offer from the Spartans, posting his offer on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

“God is good, God is great!! Pese wrote. "Had a great Junior Day here at Michigan State. I am so blessed to announce I have been offered to play as a Spartan.”

MSU will have plenty of competition for Pese’s service, as it is one of over 10 schools that have extended scholarships to Pese. Other schools include San Jose State, Oregon State, Nevada, UNLV and Washington State, among others. None of those schools are that much better than MSU, if at all, and few have the football history MSU does, which could be enough to entice Pese. 

The two- and three-star athletes on MSU’s wish list have the unique opportunity to gain valuable playing time that they likely would not be able to get at a bigger school. Some players would prefer to go to a bigger school with a better football team in hopes of getting playing time later in their collegiate careers.

Other athletes understand that while MSU may not compete for a championship soon, getting playing time earlier in their career benefits the player more than riding the bench on a better team. 

As MSU begins revamping the roster of a once formidable program, they will have to find ways to recruit mid-level players like Pese successfully. The 6’2, nearly 300-pound defensive lineman has the size and potential to be a foundational piece for Coach Smith and the Spartans.

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