The Only Colors: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
New Blog: The Nova Blog for Villanova Fans!

Recruit Marcus Rush Flies by Night to Michigan State for 11th Commit

UPDATE: I've included an e-mail from one of Marcus's (supposed, but I think the info's good) relatives in the FanPosts section.

 

It's shaped up to be a pretty busy Sunday here at The Only Colors.  First comes the shout-out from The Quad, and next is the commitment from Defensive End Marcus Rush from Cincinnati Moeller; you may remember Cincinnati Moeller from previous recruiting efforts, Greg Jones came from there.  Rush becomes the 11th commitment to Michigan State's 2010 class. Rankings, measurables, depth chart analysis, and Geddy Lee puns can all be found after the jump.

Star-divide

As always, the recruiting rankings come first:

RANKINGS

  • RIVALS: 3*, #46 overall in Ohio
  • SCOUT: 3*, #77 DE in the nation
  • ESPN: Grade of 78

Another recruit for Michigan State, another player that appers to have solid, but not spectacular rankings.  Even though Rivals and Scout have him in the low three-star range, the ESPN grade of 78 is around where most of the Spartans' non-Gholston/Boisture recruits have been.  His other offers were from Michigan, Nebraska, Minnesota, Virginia, and Kansas among others.

MEASURABLES

6'3", 225 lbs.

4.6 40 time

Bench Max - 325 lbs.

3.4 GPA

Rush has all the measurables of an OLB at this point, but in two more years one can easily see why he's being recruited for defensive end.  He has the frame to put on 30-40 more pounds and assuming that none of the 4.6ish (40 times not down to the hundredths of a second always make me a bit skeptical, there's a distinct difference between 4.61 and 4.69) speed is lost, his transformation to a pass-rusher seems all but assured.

The commitment of Marcus Rush did come out of the blue.  Cincinnati.com had him visiting Michigan as of two weeks ago and said that he would be visiting Boston College before school started.   Let the speculation begin about what happened in between the Michigan visit (supposed, there's some hubbub that he didn't make it to Ann Arbor) and today's commitment,  but Rush's head coach had an inkling he might commit to MSU:

He's either going to commit to Michigan, Virginia or Michigan State.

There's not really a whole lot of flavor in that quote, but the point came across loud and clear.  Whether he did or didn't make it to Michigan, it's obvious for one reason or another that he cooled on them, and between Virginia and State, he chose State. 

Rush most likely becomes the second defensive end (I don't think he'll end up at LB) in the 2010 class, and should fill up the class at that spot (Ed. Note - forgot about C.J. Olaniyan.  If he commits, that'll be three DEs in the class, and then it will definitely be full - Pete).  When Rush arrives in 2010, he'll be competing for playing time behind (all class designations respective to 2010) senior Colin Neely, another converted LB-to-DE in junior David Rolf, redshirt sophomore Tyler Hoover, and redshirt junior walk-on Johnathan Strayhorn.  Current freshman Denzel Drone might also be a factor, and he'll have to contend with the other DE in his class, the much lauded WIlliam Gholston.

Despite all the depth I just listed, the chance to make an immediate impact on the two-deep at defensive end is more available than other positions on the team.  For example, Rolf's listed as one of the co-starters at DE, and the current roster lists him at 6'4" and 228 lbs.  That is very light for a DE in today's college football, and if Rush puts on a good amount of weight in a year, he should have the chance to earn some playing time as a freshman.

Another good recruit for MSU, even if there was no Distant Early Warning.  Sorry, I wasn't going to make it through this preview without one Rush-related pun.

0 recs  |  Comment 7 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

That would be 4 DEs
Rush most likely becomes the second defensive end (I don’t think he’ll end up at LB) in the 2010 class, and should fill up the class at that spot (Ed. Note – forgot about C.J. Olaniyan. If he commits, that’ll be three DEs in the class, and then it will definitely be full – Pete).

We have Gholston and Taylor Calero as current DEs signed on. If Rush is a DE, that’s three. Meaning CJO would be 4. Since I don’t think we’ll take 4 DE’s this year and we are still on CJO afaik, I think we can reasonably guess the staff is looking at him as a LB.

Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

by Seer on Aug 2, 2009 7:49 PM CDT reply actions   0 recs

Forgot about Calero

That makes 3 DEs right now, 4 if Olaniyan commits. Someone’s either moving to DT or OLB to get some playing time.

Of course, if one or two get playing time in 2010 and someone else redshirts, that could stagger the classes pretty well.

Co-Manager: The Only Colors

by Pete Rossman on Aug 2, 2009 7:57 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Thats what I was saying 4 hours ago

When my first time to get on the front page got snaked from me :P

"There are no next times when you're competing for big things." - Tom Izzo
Go Spartans

by msufan23 on Aug 2, 2009 10:41 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Just keep on keeping on.

Everyone that posts here have normal jobs for the most part. If you post something that happens during the workday, we’ll promote you to the front.

Co-Manager: The Only Colors

by Pete Rossman on Aug 2, 2009 11:09 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

To be...

…the doomcrier, (there’s probably a Rush song to reference somewhere in the catalogue, but I don’t really know their stuff beyond disliking “Tom Sawyer” and liking “Limelight”) but Rush could be Nick Hill to Olaynian’s Austin White, the lower-ranked guy we signed because we knew we weren’t getting the higher-ranked guy. (Not that there’s any proof that happened with Hill and White, some have said White wasn’t being recruited to MSU as an RB, but to play D.)

But welcome Mr. Rush and here’s to hoping he becomes a consistent source for bad puns from Big Ten Tonight anchors in a few years.

It doesn’t seem unlikely that someone in the DE carousel could switch to LB.

by witless chum on Aug 3, 2009 7:54 AM CDT reply actions   0 recs

FWIW

Hill is now the higher ranked prospect.

Light a man a fire, he'll stay warm for a day.
Light a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

by Seer on Aug 3, 2009 8:46 AM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

This is nothing like that. Once Whites older brother got in the fight and kicked off the team we cooled on him. CJO is still being heavly recruited by MSU and lists us as one of his top schools. Also DE is a much bigger need then RB.

"There are no next times when you're competing for big things." - Tom Izzo
Go Spartans

by msufan23 on Aug 3, 2009 3:29 PM CDT up reply actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

The SBNation blog covering the Michigan State Spartan football and basketball teams.
Start posting about the Spartans »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

Connect_with_facebook

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recent FanPosts

Small
Hockey Preview: CCHA Quarterfinals
Picture_7_small
MSU School of Decade Video
Small
Chris allen suspended for Friday's game
State_small
MOVing up the Ranks
Small
Pairwise Update: CCHA Early-Round Edition
Picture_7_small
Rosters from past teams?
State_small
What Happened?
Small
Hockey Rooting Interests: Feb 26-27
Accordion_small
Efficiency by half
State_small
Crying Foul

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

SBNation.com Recent Stories

Duke students cheer prior to Duke's matchup with North Carolina in an NCAA college basketball game in Durham, N.C., Saturday, March 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Bracketology FAIL: How The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee Botched The Field

Iowa coach Todd Lickliter calls to his team from the sidelines in the first half against Illinois in an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010, in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/Heather Coit)

Report: Iowa To Part Ways With Basketball Coach Todd Lickliter

Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz directs his team during the second half of an NCAA National Invitation Tournament Tip-off second round college basketball game against Duke in Durham, N.C., Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009. Duke won 101-59. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Charlotte Fires Coach Bobby Lutz Following 49ers' Late-Season Meltdown

More from SBNation.com >


Managers

Onlycolors-lg_small KJ@theonlycolors

Sbnation2_small Pete Rossman

Woodward_small LVS

Editors

Square_sun_small Steve Hendershot

Oldspartan_small Rob Visconti

Official Partner of CBS Sports