It hasn't happened a lot in the Dantonio era at Michigan State, but a highly-touted recruit recommitted from another Big Ten school to join the Spartans. Craig Evans, a 6'3", 305 lb. defensive tackle form Sun Valley, Wisconsin committed to the Spartans today, tweeting this:
As you all may have heard I'm no longer a badger and no it's not about the academics just the best decision for me ....
— solo_dolo (@craigevans18) February 4, 2014
And if your a fan of me be a fan of me despite wherever I go and with tht being said I have officially committed to MSU #GoGreenGoWhite
— solo_dolo (@craigevans18) February 4, 2014
WARNING: don't read some of the replies to those tweets unless you want to see humanity at its meanest, part two trillion.
Evans is a big add for the 2014 MSU Football recruiting class. Let's take a look at how he rates among the recruiting services.
- 24/7 Sports: 4 stars, grade of 92, #18 DT, #2 in Wisconsin
- Scout: 4 stars, #16 DT
- Rivals: 4 stars, 188th in the nation, #11 DT, #1 in Wisconsin
- ESPN: 4 stars, grade of 80, #34 DT, #2 in Wisconsin
- 24/7 Composite ranking: 4 stars, grade of 0.9116, 220th in the nation, #20 DT, #2 in Wisconsin
As the rankings show, Evans was fairly clearly one of the top two players in Wisconsin this past season, and to nab him from another top team just shows that the momentum from the Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl win is still present. White had decommited from Wisconsin once before after his initial commitment in September 2012, but reaffirmed his then pledge to the Badgers in March of last year.
And as the video at the top of the page shows, he has some speed. He was once timed at 4.8 in the 40-yard dash, and even though the 40 isn't the best barometer of football speed, any human being 300+ pounds running that quickly is something to be feared.
After lagging behind some of the other classes in the Big Ten earlier in the season, the Spartans' 2014 class looks like it will end strong, and could get stronger depending on what Jamarco Jones and Malik McDowell do in the next couple days. Some of us wondered if MSU would get a Rose Bowl bump in recruiting, and it looks like we're seeing it now. Welcome aboard, Craig.