MSU Making Headway With Illinois LB Following Official Visit

The Spartans are inching closer to a commitment after a visit from this recruit.

Michigan State's co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Max Bullough instructs players during spring football practice on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Michigan State just wrapped up its first wave of official visits of the summer.

At least one prospect has seemed to be pretty receptive. MSU hasn't gained any commitments, but the Spartans did get one prediction. Greg Smith of Rivals submitted a prediction with 65% confidence on Monday for Michigan State to land the commitment of 3-star Catholic Central (Ill.) linebacker Matthew Brady. He was one of more than a dozen prospects the team had on campus this past weekend.

Fast Facts on Brady

Class of 2027 linebacker Matthew Brady poses with Michigan State head coach Pat Fitzgerald during Brady's official visit to MSU. | Matthew Brady via Twitter/X

Brady was offered by the Spartans back in late April. He had been in the sights of the program's new coaching staff longer than that, though. Brady unofficially visited Michigan State back in March and tweeted that there was "no fake juice" during MSU's practice that began a little after 6 a.m.

The Rivals Industry Rankings currently place Brady at 1,107th overall in the class of 2027. He's also 105th among linebackers and 38th among those from Illinois. Central Catholic High School is in Bloomington, central Illinois, and is a relatively short drive from Champaign.

Class of 2027 LB Matthew Brady on his official visit to Michigan State. | MSU Football/Matthew Brady on Twitter/X

That makes Illinois a program competing with the Spartans for Brady's recruitment. He has an official visit scheduled with Illinois for June 19-21. Brady will also take visits to Nebraska (June 5-7) and Minnesota (June 12-14). He has other Power Four offers from Northwestern, Virginia Tech, and Wisconsin.

The hope is that the "wow" factor of being Brady's first official visit will last through those other three visits he's going on. It should be an intriguing recruiting battle, since all the teams Brady has taken officials from thus far are from the Big Ten. Illinois is a state every Big Ten team wants some control over, after all.

More on 2027 Outlook for Linebacker

Max Bullough, Michigan State football's co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, celebrates after a MSU score against USC during the second half on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Michigan State and linebackers coach Max Bullough have yet to add somebody at the position to their 2027 class. Going off Rivals' Recruiting Prediction Machine, Brady seems to be the person at the spot MSU is in the best position for.

The Spartans are working on others, though. Jason Killop of On3/Rivals reported recently that four-star Notre Dame commit Amarri Irvin was on campus this past weekend for a visit as well. Irvin is a legacy recruit, as the son of former MSU running back Sedrick Irvin. Bullough was one of the people who recruited Amarri to Notre Dame, which creates an interesting dynamic moving forward in that recruitment.

Sep 7, 2024; College Park, Maryland, USA; A detailed view of Michigan State Spartans helmet on the field before the game against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium. | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images