3 Early 2025 Recruiting Targets For Michigan State Football
Recruiting never stops in college football, and with the 2024 recruiting cycle coming to a close it’s time to look ahead.
Jonathan Smith and Michigan State’s coaching staff have already established relationships with several highly-talented recruits in the class of 2025, which will be Smith’s first full recruiting cycle as the Spartans’ head coach. He and his staff have the chance to prove they can recruit at a high level with the large pool of resources Michigan State provides.
In the three months Smith has been in East Lansing, we have seen a strong emphasis to recruit the Midwest. Not only does this region have a lot of talent in the 2025 cycle, the state of Michigan has some talented players that could be the backbone of the Spartan’s class.
It starts with the offensive line in four-star Beverly Hills (Mich.) Groves offensive tackle Avery Gach, one of Michigan State’s top targets in the class. At 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds, Gach is considered the No. 215 overall player in the country and the No. 2 ranked player in the state of Michigan, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. MSU offensive line coach Jim Michalczik has already established a relationship with Gach, but is competing against the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, USC and Georgia in this recruiting battle.
The state of Michigan has depth in the trenches, as three-star Paw Paw (Mich.) offensive tackle Darrin Strey is another target for Michalczik. Strey was offered by the Spartans’ previous staff and has yet to formally be re-offered by the new staff. However, that shouldn’t take long, as the 6-foot-7, 285-pound tackle’s tape shows him to be a fluid athlete even at his size. Strey has recently picked up offers from Kentucky, Northwestern, Purdue and Louisville, so the Spartans will have to move fast.
At the skill positions, Smith and his staff have moved quickly on three-star Roseville (Mich.) athlete Desmond Straughton. Playing safety and running back at the high school level, Straughton plays downhill and physical on both sides of the ball. Defensive backs coach Blue Adams has already brought Straughton on a visit to Michigan State, and the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder has built a strong relationship with the new staff. Despite offers from Kentucky, Purdue, West Virginia and Arizona State, the Spartans are in the lead position to land Straughton.
Michigan State has yet to land its first commit in the 2025 class, but one of these local recruits could be the first. In the early stages of this cycle, Smith’s staff has some ground to make up, but can do so quickly with spring and summer visits approaching. With the coaching staff complete and the facility upgrades finished, the Spartans are built to win big recruiting battles in the expanded Big Ten.
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