EXCLUSIVE: MSU 2025 DL Target Brad Fitzgibbon on Decision Date

The three-star defensive lineman spoke to Spartan Nation about his "soft" top three and when he will come to a final decision.

Oct 12, 2019; Madison, WI, USA; Michigan State Spartans logo on footballs during warmups prior to / Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The Michigan State Spartans are recruiting the Midwest hard to establish the goal head coach Jonathan Smith made for the Green and White in his introductory press conference back in November -- establish the Spartans as a pre-eminent landing spot for the Midwest's best.

A big target in the 2025 class for the Spartans is Illinois defensive lineman Brad Fitzgibbon. Fitzgibbon is rated as a three-star recruit per 247Sports' composite rankings. He is the No. 23 player in the state and the No. 80 defensive lineman nationally.

Fitzgibbon told Spartan Nation he was going to make his decision by the end of June at the latest. His reasoning was simple -- he didn't want the pressure of making a decision to affect his final season of football at Marist High School.

"It's going to be less stress for me," Fitzgibbon said. "It's good for my mind, I'm going to play better, I'm going to focus on the good times I'll have my senior year [rather] than focusing on my future that isn't even a year away yet, so, you know, personally for me, I feel like getting it out of the way helps me and but also helps the people around me in that I give my full attention to my teammates, and my coaches that are currently coaching me rather than the ones that are going to coach me later. Granted, I'm not going to ignore my future coach that I'm going to commit to, but I just want to give my full attention and full understanding and skill and strength all to my senior season."

Fitzgibbon gave Spartan Nation exclusive insight into a "soft" top three teams, with no definitive order:

Michigan State, Iowa and Kansas.

Fitzgibbon wanted to make it known he is still open and looking at all potential offers and schools interested in him.

Fitzgibbon is scheduled to officially visit Michigan State on May 31. He will visit Kansas on June 7th. His last visit will be Iowa, on June 21. Iowa was a more recent offer -- it offered him barely two weeks ago on May 9.

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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