Can Michigan State Flip Two SEC Defensive Back Commits During Loaded Official Visit Weekend?
This weekend, Michigan State football has one final opportunity to host high school prospects on campus before an NCAA-mandated "dead period" goes into affect on June 27 through July 24.
The Spartans are set to wrap up summer official visit season with a bang, with several high-caliber recruits travelling to East Lansing.
The weekend is headlined by a pair of Top 160 defensive backs currently committed to SEC programs.
Four-star safety Elliot Washington, out of Venice High School (Fla.), has been committed to Alabama since January, but he announced in late May that he would take other official visits this summer. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound prospect visited Penn State on June 10, and was scheduled to visit East Lansing last weekend before a family emergency pushed back his OV to this weekend.
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Washington is listed as the No. 6 safety and No. 109 overall player in the nation in the class of 2023. He's ranked the No. 24 player in talent-rich Florida. He has offers from 28 FBS schools.
Secondaries coach Harlon Barnett has done an excellent job in this recruitment, and Michigan State currently has four crystal ball predictions from 247Sports to flip Washington from the Crimson Tide.
Meanwhile, Long Beach Poly (Calif.) four-star cornerback Daylen Austin will also be making his way to East Lansing this weekend. Ranked the No. 21 corner and No. 157 overall player in the country, Austin committed to LSU this past May, and was back in Baton Rouge last weekend to participate in a high school camp.
However, Austin will get to see Michigan State up close this weekend, where Barnett and defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton will show him what the Spartans' program has to offer. Austin has over 25 offers from various FBS programs, and the Spartans made the four-star corner's 'Top 8' list back in April.
Moving on to uncommitted prospects, Michigan State will welcome four-star offensive tackle Stanton Ramil out of Thompson High School in Alabaster, Ala. At 6-foot-7 and 310 pounds, Ramil already has excellent size for a high school prospect. He's ranked No. 194 overall, the No. 20 OT and the No. 15 player in the state of Alabama.
Just ten days ago, Ramil named Michigan State among his 'Top 8' schools that also included Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Penn State, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Clemson. Ramil narrowed his list from over 30 Division I offers.
Offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic has been hard at work in creating interest in some of the top O-line prospects across the country, and that's what he's done here with Ramil. The four-star OT took official visits to North Carolina (June 9) and Tennessee (June 17) earlier this month.
Michigan State will host one of the top in-state prospects when four-star defensive lineman Jalen Thompson makes his way back to East Lansing this weekend. The Detroit Cass Tech. product has made a few trips to check in on the Spartans, but Michigan State will look to close on this recruitment during this official visit.
Ranked No. 202 overall, No. 30 among D-lineman and No. 2 in the state of Michigan, Thompson currently has five crystal ball picks to Michigan State, including 247Sports national recruiting analyst Allen Trieu.
In February, Thompson included the Spartans in a 'Top 10' list that also featured Pittsburgh, Penn State, Arkansas, Michigan, Kentucky, USC, Cincinnati, Georgia and Vanderbilt.
Thompson has taken official visits to Pittsburgh (June 2), Cincinnati (June 10) and Penn State (June 17) so far this month.
Leading the three-star prospects that Michigan State will host this weekend is Franklin Road Academy offensive tackle Joe Crocker, out of Nashville, Tenn. The 6-foot-6, 310-pounder has garnered 30 FBS offers during his recruitment, which suggest he could be underrated as a three-star recruit.
Crocker is ranked the No. 38 offensive tackle and No. 470 overall player in the country, as well as the No. 15 player in the state of Tennessee. He currently has two crystal ball predictions to Wisconsin, but this recruitment remains pretty open. Crocker visited the Badgers on June 3, and took a trip to Mississippi State on June 10.
Next on the list is current Michigan State commit Eddie Pleasant, a three-star cornerback out of Carrollwood Day (HS) in Tampa, Fla who gave his verbal pledge to the Spartans back on April 17.
Pleasant is ranked No. 748 overall, the No. 69 cornerback and No. 111 in the state of Florida. He'll get a chance to rub shoulder with Michigan State's other visitors this weekend and share why he chose the Spartans.
Wrapping up the list of official visitors is three-star St. Charles Prep offensive tackle Ryan Carretta out of Columbus, Ohio. The 6-foot-5, 310-pounder has received 16 scholarship offers thus far in his recruitment, including five offers from Big Ten schools (Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue, Maryland, Illinois).
Carretta is ranked the No. 88 among offensive tackle and No. 978 overall in the country, as well as the No. 32 player out of Ohio. The Buckeye state native will be making his first visit back to East Lansing since coming up on Sept. 25 to see the Spartans home win over Nebraska.
Official visit season this month has proven fruitful for Michigan State, as the Spartans have added five commitments to the six verbal pledges they had coming into June.
Following the first two weekends of the month, Michigan State landed commitments from four-star cornerback Chance Rucker, four-star wide receiver Demitrius Bell, four-star linebacker Jordan Hall, four-star cornerback Jaylon Braxton and four-star offensive lineman Clay Wedin.
Mel Tucker and his staff are building one of MSU's best recruiting classes in recent memory. The Spartans' 11 verbal pledges, eight of which come from four-star prospects, has Michigan State's 2023 class currently ranked No. 14 in the country.
MSU signed a total of five four-star prospects in the class of 2022, and has not exceeded that number of four-star signees in one class since 2016, when nine four-star prospects pledged to the Spartans. Michigan State has positioning itself to exceed that number in this cycle if momentum continues.
Twitter: @mlounsberry_SI
