BREAKING: MSU's Top 2026 Football Target Has Big News

The Michigan State Spartans consider 2026 four-star offensive lineman Gregory Patrick a top priority. He might be No. 1 on their recruiting board, as a matter of fact; he checks all of the boxes -- legacy, blue-chip, tough, gritty, and an in-state recruit.

Patrick will be unofficially visiting East Lansing this weekend, per a report from SpartanMag's Jason Killop.

This is huge, as the competition for Patrick is gearing up. In-state rival Michigan is pressing hard to get the Portage Northern standout, and Notre Dame and Penn State don't seem too far behind. All three of those programs are big-time powers sporting massive NIL collectives.

For Michigan State to land Patrick, it would mean several things:

1. It can compete with the big dogs in recruiting, no matter the recent success of their competitor or the size of its NIL wallet.

2. Head coach Jonathan Smith is making leaps with in-state recruits and legacy recruits, two pipelines damaged by late-stage Mark Dantonio and the entirety of the Mel Tucker tenure.

3. It would stick it to in-state rival Michigan, their No. 1 competition for the home territory.

Patrick's father, Joseph, played for the Spartans in the late 1990s.

Patrick is the No. 173 overall recruit in the 2026 class, per 247Sports Composite, and they have him rated as the No. 16 offensive tackle prospect.

He is the second-highest ranked recruit in the state for 2026, behind Detroit Cass Tech star C.J. Sadler, a Top 100 player in the country and a human highlight reel on both sides of the ball.

The unofficial visit's suddenness could be a very good sign for the Spartans and their relationship with Patrick. He is set for an official on the weekend of June 6.

When Michigan State Spartans On SI spoke to Patrick last summer after an unofficial visit to East Lansing, he highlighted how huge it was to see things behind the scenes.

"I watched [the team] do [organized team activities] and kind of hung out and talked to them for a while," Patrick said. "I talked to some of the players, I'd say I've developed a pretty good relationship with a lot of the players, I'd say Cooper Terpstra, I actually played against him, he's a walk-on at Michigan State. I played against him when he was at West Ottawa. So we kind of talked a little bit. [Andrew] Dennis, those kind of guys I know pretty well.

"Each player is like, holding each other accountable, you know, they're each coaching each other up. It's not just Coach M. So that's like, one thing that stood out to me. Another thing that stood out to me was just like, how a family, friendly environment it is that Coach M has developed in the offensive line's culture, especially how tight all those guys are."

Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.

Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation Page on Facebook Spartan Nation WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our vibrant community group Go Green Go White as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.