3 MSU Targets Who Have Recently Gone Off the Board
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Michigan State is casting a wide net in its quest to fill its 2027 recruiting class.
Momentum has picked up in recent days. Linebackers coach Max Bullough quickly brought in a pair of prospects after the first week of official visits. 3-star prospect Matthew Brady committed on Wednesday, and 3-star recruit Henry Sakalas committed on Thursday. There have been a few misses recently, though.
DL Reinaldo Perez
Indiana is going to be the thorn in the side for two players here. The Spartans hosted 4-star prospect Reinaldo Perez on an official visit last weekend, but it wasn't enough to put MSU above Indiana's newfound prestige under Curt Cignetti. Perez visited Indiana in mid-April and also took a look at Stanford before announcing his verbal commitment to the Hoosiers on Wednesday.
He's currently ranked 296th overall, 36th among defensive linemen, and 11th among Ohioans on the 247Sports Composite. Perez was one of the top recruits on the board for the Spartans in 2027, but they'll have to look elsewhere on the interior defensive line.
EDGE Myles Smith
Letting an elite in-state prospect also hurts. In addition to missing out on Perez, Michigan State also missed out on EDGE Myles Smith to IU. Smith committed to the Hoosiers last Thursday, May 28. It seemed like there wasn't enough mutual interest for MSU to have a shot -- Smith had seemingly already canceled his official visit with the Spartans for one with Oklahoma -- but it still hurts to miss out on him for a conference rival with whom Michigan State has a trophy game.
Smith is ranked 246th overall, 23rd among EDGE rushers, and seventh among those in Michigan. With him off the board, there are no other uncommitted EDGEs left out of the 39 in-state prospects ranked on the Rivals Industry Rankings.
LB Rome Ewell
The recent string of linebacker commits definitely mitigates the damage, but before those commitments, MSU had missed out on linebacker Rome Ewell. He committed to Houston on Monday, effectively canceling his previously scheduled official visit to East Lansing for June 19-21.
Ewell is a 3-star recruit ranked a bit outside the top 1,000. He's from Texas, though. It's not necessarily a pipeline state for the Spartans, but it's certainly one Michigan State would want to be involved in, given all the elite talent there. Ewell could've been an interesting get for MSU and Pat Fitzgerald in the beginning months of his tenure, but now the Spartans should be pretty set on recruiting linebackers for a while.
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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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