Spartan Pupdate is California loving

Michigan State has just one player on its roster from California, but the Spartans are looking to the west coast for recruits this year.

Upland (Calif.) athlete Jeffery Farrar received a visit and an offer from Michigan State last week and is looking to dig deeper into the MSU program.

"I really am just learning more about the Spartans," Farrar said. "I downloaded the app, football and school, and I've just been reading and learning more about the school itself."

Wide receiver coach Terry Samuel visited Farrar, who said Samuel was a "good guy and a nice coach."

Farrar said he started hearing from Samuel a couple of weeks before he came to Upland to see him.

"Right now, they are just getting to know me better," Farrar said. "We talked about a building a relationship with me and they came out early in the spring to see me to start building that stronger relationship."

Coaches are one of the most important things to Farrar in his recruitment.

"A dedicated coaching staff that is stable and staying together," he said. "You can't build a program without stable coaches. I also look for a good football program and school and a place that I can enjoy and get a good degree from."

Farrar said a visit would have to wait until official visit season, as it is a long trip to take. He also said he is just letting the process play out and that "every school is about the same" as he explores his offers and options.

-- The Spartans recently moved tight end Derek Hoebing to offensive tackle, and that could be the same plan they have for Middletown (Ohio) tight end Chance Sorrell if they offer a scholarship.

"(MSU) is recruiting me as a tight end and really after my redshirt year, if I don't gain weight, they would keep me as a tight end," Sorrell told me. "If I get up to 290 or so, they would move me inside to be a big athletic tackle."

As is, Sorrell stands 6-foot-6, 250 pounds, something the staff wanted to see for themselves.

"Coach (Harlon) Barnett came before the spring and Coach (Mark) Staten visited during the spring and saw me in person," Sorrell said.

Staten liked what he saw, telling Sorrell that he could see him putting on the necessary weight to move to offensive tackle.

"He said I'd be a very athletic tackle at MSU," Sorrell said. "He also said I'm a no-risk player because of my grades and they like my character."

Sorrell hasn't been up to a game at Spartan Stadium, but he did see the Spartans win in overtime at Wisconsin last year and one thing stood out above the rest.

"My dad and I look through the roster and MSU had a tight end that was about 6-7, 285," Sorrell said, referencing Hoebing. "That was the biggest tight end we've seen."

Sorrell camped at Michigan State last summer as a tight end and plans to come up this year as an offensive lineman.

He said the top schools that have offered him are Vanderbilt, Boston College, Cincinnati, West Virginia and Louisville. He also is hearing from Ohio State, Nebraska, Tennessee and Northwestern.

-- Michigan State has been looking more and more to Georgia under Mark Dantonio and a possible recruit could be South Cobb defensive end Justin Jones, who Michigan State unexpectedly visited during the spring.

"Coach Dave Warner stopped by," Jones told me. "I had never heard from him before and he didn't say too much since I was in an assembly."

Jones, who described himself as a pass-rush focused defensive end, said he doesn't know a lot about MSU.

"I know they have a rivalry with Michigan," Jones said. "I saw them play Georgia. They had a few sacks and made some good plays."

While Jones does not have an offer form MSU, he holds interest in the Spartans.

"I definitely want to find out more and visit," he said. "I am working to get in touch with Coach Warner."

Jones said the visit probably will come this summer and he wants to make a decision before his senior season.