Football Recruiting: Several Big-Time Michigan State Targets On Campus This Weekend

Official visits continue for Michigan State Football, as the Spartans host 11 high school recruits this weekend, including a handful four-star prospects.

It's a big weekend for Mel Tucker and his coaching staffs. Michigan State could land multiple commitments over the next few weeks from this weekend's crop of visitors if things go well. While the entirety of the Spartans' coaching staff will be hard at work, it's an especially important couple of days for offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Scottie Hazelton, and wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins.

Michigan State has a trio of four-star linebackers on campus this weekend, headlined by Kristopher Jones out of Fairfax (Va.) High School. The 6-foot-2, 220-pounder is considered the No. 124 overall player and No. 11 linebacker prospect in the Class of 2024 by 247Sports' Composite rankings.

Florida and Georgia are firmly in the mix for Jones, so this will be a tough recruiting battle for the Spartans to win. Jones used an official visit on the Gators last weekend, and will take an OV to Athens, Ga. next weekend to check out the Bulldogs. The Virginia native's official visit to East Lansing will take place from June 11-13.

The two other four-star linebackers visiting MSU are Valley Village (Calif.) Campbell Hall's Kamar Mothudi (No. 218 overall) and Belleville (Mich.)'s Jeremiah Beasley (No. 322).

Mothudi will be a tough pull out of the West Coast. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder has 14 offers which include perceived leaders Oregon, Utah and Washington. Beasley, meanwhile, is down to a final three which include the Spartans, in-state rival Michigan and Missouri. The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Beasley will visit the Wolverines and Tigers over the next two weekends before announcing his commitment on June 29.

One of the weekend's most important visitors is , four-star Mukwonago (Wisc.) offensive tackle Nathan Roy, is down to a 'Top 3' of Michigan State, Minnesota and UCLA. The 6-foot-5, 275-pounder is considered the No. 187 overall player and No. 16 offensive tackle prospect in the Class of 2024.

Roy took an official visit to UCLA on May 12, and will visit Minnesota next weekend before making his college decision public on June 20th. Roy's visit to East Lansing allows Kapilovic to give one final face-to-face pitch to the talented Midwest native to try to convince Roy to don the Green and White.

The last of five four-star prospects visiting Michigan State is Tampa (Fla.) Carrollwood Day running back Anthony Carrie. The Spartans have done a good job quickly making up ground in this recruitment. Carrie took an unofficial visit to MSU earlier this spring, before scheduling an OV for this weekend. The 6-foot, 185-pounder is also heavily considering North Carolina and Oklahoma, with an official visit scheduled for the Tar Heels next weekend.

Michigan State is involved in an interesting recruitment for three-star Dayton (Ohio) Centerville safety Reggie Powers, who is currently visiting East Lansing. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder is considered a strong Ohio State lean, but the Buckeyes aren't pushing hard for his services at this time. That's opened the door for the Spartans in a 'Top 5' that also includes Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Northwestern. Powers is ranked No. 580 overall and the No. 57 safety prospect in the class.

A trio of three-star wide receivers are also on campus at MSU — Syair Torrence from Syracuse (N.Y), Javarius Green from Shelby (N.C.) and Tra'Mar Harris from Cincinnati (Ohio).

Torrence decommitted from the hometown Orangemen back on May 6, and the Spartans have been pushing hard to flip him. The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder will take an official visit to Syracuse next weekend before making a final decision. Torrence is ranked No. 643 overall players in the country.

Green has been something of a late bloomer, but his recruitment is really starting to take off. The 5-foot-10, 190-pounder has 20 offers, including one from Alabama just four days ago. Green will take an OV to North Carolina on June 23, and the Tar Heels and Crimson Tide appear to be Michigan State's top competition the the nation's No. 738 prospect.

Harris is a more local battle for the Spartans. Ranked No. 783 overall, the 6-foot-2 and 180-pound wide receiver is also considering Purdue and Indiana, with official visits lined up for those schools over the next two weekends. Michigan State appears to be in the lead here, with Harris set to announce a commitment on June 30.

Finally, the final East Lansing visitor this weekend is Tampa (Fla.) Bay Tech athlete Camren Campbell, whom Michigan State is recruiting as a defensive back. The 6-foot-1, 175-pounder is not ranked by any of the major recruiting services, and did not receive his first scholarship offer until Spartans' secondary coach Harlon Barnett extended one back in April. Since receiving an MSU offer, Campbell has gotten 11 more which include Ole Miss, Boston College, Kansas, Louisville, Minnesota and others. The Florida native took an OV to Boston College last weekend, but the Spartans being the first FBS program to offer Campbell holds a lot of weight in this recruitment.

June 2-4 Weekend Update

Michigan State expected seven four-star visitors on campus last weekend to kick off football officials, but that number shrank by two. Four-star ATH Brauntae Johnson out of North Side High School in Fort Wayne, Ind. wound up cancelling his visit to East Lansing, essentially eliminating the Spartans for contention in his recruitment. Notre Dame appears to be the favorite for Johnson as of now.

Additionally, four-star CB Marcellus Barnes Jr. was also absent last weekend after expecting to visit. Unlike Johnson, however, Michigan State is still working on getting Barnes, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., up to East Lansing for an official visit later this month.

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