4-star LB Jeremiah Beasley to visit MSU, as Spartans battle Michigan for key in-stater

Michigan State led in this recruitment early, but the Wolverines have made a strong surge in recent months...

There's no doubt that Michigan State and Michigan are eager to do battle again on the football field this fall, but the two programs are in a recruiting fight for one of the top 2024 in-state high school prospects as well.

Four-star Belleville (Mich.) linebacker Jeremiah Beasley, the No. 6 player in the state of Michigan and the No. 264 overall prospect in the 2024 class, is being pursue by both the Spartans and Wolverines as he nears his collegiate decision.

Michigan State appeared to be in the lead early in this recruitment, as the Spartans picked up 'crystal ball' predictions from the majority of the Spartan Tailgate staff (a 247Sports affiliate) a little over a year ago. However, the Wolverines are now trending for the 6-foot-1, 210-pounder.

In the last month and a half, Michigan has received five 'crystal ball' predictions in its favor for Beasley, while Spartan Tailgate's Justin Thind, Corey Robinson and Stephen Brooks are each holding on to their MSU predictions for now.

With a little over a month until his June 29th decision day, Beasley will take four official visits next month to help him find his eventual home.

Michigan State will have the opportunity to make a final pitch to the one-time Spartan lean over the weekend of June 2. Linebackers coach/defensive coordinator Scottie Hazelton and special teams coordinator Ross Els are both in on this recruitment, and you can bet that head coach Mel Tucker will be heavily involved in Beasley's official visit as well.

Four-star LB Jeremiah Beasley (@JBeasley_2024) locks in Michigan State official visit for the first week of June…

“I just want to see what else they have to offer. They can’t offer you everything with an unofficial..”
(On3+): https://t.co/P4LIU9pTvd @TheSpartanMag pic.twitter.com/LBvF6nQYGU

— Jason Killop (@KillopOn3) May 15, 2023

Michigan State has long prioritized in-state prospects, and that has continued under Tucker over the past four years. The Spartans have strong ties to Belleville, and have landed several players from what is one of the better in-state high school football programs.

Still, the current favorite to land Beasley remains the Wolverines. However, Michigan already has three linebackers committed to its 2024 recruiting class — four-star Mason Curtis, high three-star Cole Sullivan and low three-star Zack Ludwig. The Wolverines are also a 'Top 3' option for Top 100 linebacker prospect Aaron Chiles (No. 75 overall). Will Michigan really take four linebackers in its 2024 class?

The Wolverines may be willing to make room for a prospect of Beasley's caliber. The Belleville native has garnered 26 scholarship offers including Penn State, Tennessee, Florida and others.

Following his visit to Michigan State, Beasley also has officials scheduled for Illinois (June 9), Michigan (June 16) and Missouri (June 23). It would be a disappointing result to see the four-star linebacker wearing colors other than the Green and White after the position MSU's coaching staff had the Spartans in earlier in this recruitment. Tucker, Hazelton and Ross need to knock that June 2 visit out of the park and give Beasley every reason to come to choose Michigan State late next month.