Michigan State Football Loses Commitment from Promising OT
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Michigan State football took a hit on the recruiting trail on Wednesday, as three-star offensive tackle Quinn Buckey, who had been committed to the Spartans since June, announced that he would be reopening his recruitment.
Buckey is from Bakersfield, Calif., and attends Liberty High School. He is ranked 758th overall in the 2026 class on the Rivals Industry Ranking, which was the eighth-best mark among MSU commits this cycle.
— Quinn Buckey (@Quinnbuckey) November 26, 2025
More on Buckey, 2026 Class Outlook
Recruiting and retaining commitments is going to be really difficult for Michigan State's staff in the final stretch before the early signing period begins on Dec. 3. That's simply because there is no way for the recruits to be certain that head coach Jonathan Smith, and by extension, all of his assistants, will be back with the program next season.
Nobody wants to sign onto a program and then have the head coach immediately depart. The deadline for many of these high school recruits to make sure they have a spot is nearing, and it's hard to fault anybody for looking for other options.
Buckey should definitely have more Power Four interest. He also took official visits to UCLA, Oklahoma State, Cal, Vanderbilt, and Arizona --- though the Bruins, Cowboys, and Golden Bears will have different coaches next season, too. He also has several other P4 offers from schools that he did not visit.
He also has other family connections. Buckey's father, Jeff, played in the NFL, and two of his brothers, Grant and Zach, play for UCLA and Stanford, respectively.
MSU has two other offensive tackle recruits still part of its 2026 class who will join OL coach Jim Michalczik's unit next season, if he's still around to coach the Spartans. One of whom is the Spartans' best recruit overall this cycle, four-star Collin Campbell, who is ranked 217th overall. Michigan State also has the verbal pledge of Tristan Comer, who is slotted at 1,031st in the country.
As for the class as a whole, the current class is OK, but it doesn't really inspire tons of confidence. Without Buckey, MSU's class is ranked 32nd nationally on the 247Sports Composite, which is 10th in the Big Ten. Last year's recruiting class finished all the way down at 57th overall and 16th in the Big Ten. So, despite the 0-8 Big Ten start, Smith and his staff have been recruiting at a higher level, but still just around the middle of the Big Ten.
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A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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