EXCLUSIVE: Michigan State 2025 Target Brad Fitzgibbon and the Value of Honesty

The three-star defensive lineman is taking the recruiting process at his own pace -- and the key is honesty.

Nov 24, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; A Michigan State Spartans helmet sits on a bench during the / David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports

Marist High School defensive lineman Brad Fitzgibbon is a top 2025 target for Michigan State. He has spoken to Spartan Nation about his recent US Army All-American Bowl selection, his strengths as a player and more.

But perhaps the defining characteristic Spartan Nation has learned about the three-star recruit is his core value of honesty. Time and again Fitzgibbon mentioned the word, or its synonyms, to Spartan Nation. Fitzgibbon, like all recruits, is looking for which school will be the best fit for his future.

He wants honesty from the schools who are interested in him -- or seem to be.

"You gotta figure out whether your offer is committable [or not] first," Fitzgibbon told Spartan Nation. "That's like, one of the questions I always ask, is whether my offer's going to be committable or not. So I'll have a pretty good understanding of what's real, what's fake -- whether I'll be able to commit right away or they're gonna tell me, 'No, you gotta wait.' I'm keeping it very honest with them, and kinda like, 'I wanna commit by the end of June.' That's been like a point of focus for me -- letting them know that I'm on a shorter timeline than some people, but also I still have a lot of time for my recruitment, so I feel like going in person, going down and shaking the coach's hand telling them face to face that you're going to commit to their school -- that's important."

Fitzgibbon offered an explanation for the difference between a "committable" and a "non-committable" offer. He said that some teams will offer a player they are interested in -- but if the player were to hypothetically commit on the spot, the team could be hesitant and possibly favor another player. Fitzgibbon is careful with his recruiting process -- he is communicative with schools about the validity of their offers.

"More likely, if it's not a committable offer, [coaches] aren't going to tell you that," Fitzgibbon said. "They're just going to tell you that you have an offer. It's up to the player to decide whether it is committable or not -- and that's why you have to ask the hard questions [as a recruit]."

Fitzgibbon told Spartan Nation that he asked Jonathan Smith to his face if his offer was committable.

Smith said yes.

For Fitzgibbon, clarity and being in the know is essential to the process. Fitzgibbon said he has been keeping tabs on the schools that are most interested -- schools that don't lose contact after they extend an offer. In a past interview with Fitzgibbon, he mentioned the sentiment of wanting to go to a school that wants him back.

Fitzgibbon reiterated that idea during this latest interview. He said it doesn't matter how prestigious the program is or not -- what matters is how they treat him and if their interest is genuine.

Fitzgibbon feels the interest from the Spartans. He said he is in contact with them "about three times a week."

"[The Spartans] have been really good about this whole process," Fitzgibbon said.

Fitzgibbon's recruiting values guide his actions. He practiced what he preached when Arizona State came calling. He was originally scheduled to visit the Sun Devils on April 26 -- but he knew in his gut the school was not a place he saw himself attending.

"I told them up front, I was like, 'I don't think Arizona State is going to be a contender in my top schools' ... because it's too far. I want to stay close to my family, because family is important to me," Fitzgibbon said. "Arizona State is too far for my older grandparents, aunts and uncles to make it down. I want them to come to my games, because they supported me through high school, I feel like it would be unfair for them to have to travel so far just to see me play. It's one of those things that you can't do anything about it, and [Arizona State] was super awesome about it, and they appreciated my honesty, so that was really nice ... All the coaches there were super sincere about it and awesome about it. Best of luck to them."

Michigan State is among Fitzgibbon's "soft" top three teams -- Iowa and Kansas. Of the three teams, the Hawkeyes and Spartans are geographically closest.

Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.

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