EXCLUSIVE: Spartans 2025 DL Target Brad Fitzgibbon Discusses Recent Selection to U.S. Army All-American Bowl

Three-star defensive lineman Brad Fitzgibbon is a top target for Jonathan Smith. Fitzgibbon was selected as a U.S. Army All-American -- he told Spartan Nation what that honor meant to him.

Jan 5, 2019; San Antonio, TX, USA; West wide receiver Puka Nacua (12) looks on during U.S. Army / Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

The Michigan State Spartans, in their mission to mine the Midwest's best talent, have found themselves in the running for defensive lineman Brad Fitzgibbon, a three-star 2025 recruit Marist High School prospect.

On Monday, the Chicago native announced that he has been selected to play in the prestigious US Army All-American Bowl. Fitzgibbon knew something big was coming -- renowned high school recruiting analyst Tom Lemming told him to expect an important phone call.

The call was from Joe Ray, national recruiting director for the US Army Bowl. Fitzgibbon said he thought the call was going to be an invite to one of the Army National Combines.

Fitzgibbon guessed wrong.

"[Ray] calls me, and he's like, 'We want to select you for the Army All-American Bowl,'" Fitzgibbon told Spartan Nation. "I was like, 'You sure?' Not that I don't think I'm good enough to play, but it's something that, as a kid watching that game, like, you never really expected to ever get selected to it. It was really awesome, it made me really happy, and it made me happy that all the work I put in really did pay off and I'm happy that it was recognized.

"It's just something you never dream of happening, you always dreamed of going to it. So it was really exciting to be able to have this opportunity to go down to compete."

Fitzgibbon is a three-star recruit, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He is the No. 23 player in Illinois and the No. 80 defensive lineman in the 2025 class.

Fitzgibbon does not put any stock into the amount of stars he has on a recruiting page.

"I think the US Army Bowl is definitely greater validation than how many stars you have ... the guys that select you [for the game] have seen everyone across the country you know, compete in games and camps and all that stuff, so, just knowing that I was hand selected rather than going on a website and looking at who has the most stars, is truly an honor," he said.

The US Army All-American Bowl has featured some of the premier talent that would find success at the college and pro levels -- Quenton Nelson, Nick Chubb, Tre'Davious White, Marshon Lattimore, Mark Andrews and Jonathan Allen are only a few alums currently leading prolific NFL careers.

Fitzgibbon stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs 280 pounds -- and he says he's still growing.

Fitzgibbon released a "soft" top three for the first time on Monday -- Michigan State, Iowa and Kansas. He said he does not have the three ranked, and he is still considering all of the schools interested in him.

Ftizgibbon will visit Michigan State on May 31, Kansas on June 7 and Iowa on June 21.

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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