It was October 2008. The financial meltdown was in its early stages, T.I. was ruling the charts with "Live Your Life" and "Whatever You Like", and Max Bullough was the first commit to Michigan State Football for the 2010 class. Since then though, there have been no commitments...until yesterday.
Tony Lippett committed to the Spartans yesterday after recently blowing up at a camp in Pennsylvania where he was "the best wide receiver out there" according to Rivals analyst Mike Farrell. The recruiting video above displays his ability to make defenders miss and explode past the first hit. As good as this sounds, it gets even better when you realize that he doesn't even play wide receiver for his team (Detroit Crockett), he's actually a QB. This would put him definitely in the Keshawn Martin vein of being the go-to player for trick play execution. Here are the relevant stats:
Recruiting Rankings:
- No stars (as of yet) by Rivals, ranked 18th in the state for 2010 by SpartanMag
- Scout: 1 star
- ESPN: Grade of 40 (out of a max of 100)
All the indications seem to be that Lippett came out of nowhere in the past couple weeks, and the recruiting rankings seem to indicate this as well, as the sites that have ranked him have essentially given him placeholder rankings. Look for him to get more stars soon.
Measurables:
- 6'3", anywhere from 165-185 pounds depending on the source
- 40 yard time: 4.53
- Passing Stats: 1620 yards, 14 TDs
- Rushing Stats: 757 yards, 17 TDs
See the previous statement about coming out of nowhere. His height and 40 time would frame him to be a possession-type of receiver at this point, and he does need to gain some weight still to put him in the 200 pound range. He's got plenty of time to do this in the 16 months before the 2010 season starts, so no worries there.
Overall, this commitment echoes the Keshawn Martin commitment from a couple years back: A QB better suited for WR comes out of nowhere to get offers galore. In Lippett's case though, it happened a lot sooner for him than Martin. You're going to hear a lot more information on Lippett in the future, and I expect most of it to be good.
So let's a raise a glass and toast MSU's second commit for the 2010 class. With summer quickly approaching, expect to see more.