Spartan Pupdate is at Sound Mind Sound Body Day 2

The tight end position is an important one in the Michigan State offense and one of the best at Sound Mind Sound Body this weekend was 2015 Clarkston tight end Cole Chewins.

"(This weekend) was great," Chewins said. "Lots of coaches are out here evaluating me and I was getting lots of reps and getting work against the best kids from around the state and even other states."

The 6-foot-7, 210-pound rising junior also was at Michigan State on Wednesday for 7 on 7 camp.

"(Camp) went well," he said. "I went with my school team and we beat AWP, which is considered an elite team. I thought we had a pretty good showing overall."

He also had visited Michigan State previously, including for the spring game and a spring practice, which he said "left a really good impression."

"I really like Michigan State's program and where it's headed," he said. "I usually talk with Coach (Brad) Salem, but I've even been to some of their special teams camps when I was about 10 years old, so i always talked with Coach (Mark) Staten. they've always been really nice to me."

Apart from the Spartans, Chewins has been hearing from Michigan, Tennessee, Georgia Tech and Bowling Green. This weekend, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota also expressed interest.

For now, Chewins is focused on the coming high school season at Clarkston, which could be special.

"We got a lot of big guys," he said. "Our line is going to be big again with (David) Beedle and (Nick) Matich and our running back, Ian Eriksen, he's a great kid and I think we have real good team chemistry.

"I think we have a chance to win some championships."

-- Michigan State has a couple of Canadian players on its roster, and a group from Gridiron Academy drew a lot of attention at SMSB.

Leading the way was 2016 St. Peter's (Ottawa) cornerback Patrice Rene, who picked up an offer Saturday.

"I think this weekend went pretty well for me, it was pretty great," he said. "I picked up my first offer (Saturday), from Akron, and I'm really happy. I think I had a great performance, but there still is room for improvement. I can't be satisfied, I have to keep working."

Akron wasn't alone in taking notice of the 6-foot-1 cornerback, as Michigan State, Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin were among those who talked with Rene.

"They all like what they see in me," he said. "I'm still young and for my age I have that talent and for my size, you don't really see a 6-1 defensive back that often, so that's something they really liked in me."

Rene grew up a fan of a couple of Big Ten schools in particular, but a recent visit brought MSU to the radar.

"As a kid, I always like Michigan and Ohio State because of the rivalry," Rene said, "but we recently visited Michigan State with the quarterback Michael O'Connor. So that really opened my eyes to Michigan State.

"I loved the facilities and Coach (Mark) Dantonio and I met the defensive backs coach, too. So I really started liking Michigan State, too."

Rene will be looking to move to the United States either this year or next to play football. He mentioned current possibilities include Cass Tech, Philadelphia's Imhotep Charter and somewhere in Texas.

-- Another Canadian prospect that visited Michigan State in April, 2017 Lester B. Pearson (Ottawa) DB/RB Jonathan Sutherland, also had a good performance in Southfield.

"My quarterback Michael O'Connor took a visit there, and I went with him," Sutherland said. "So, I got so inside of all of it. It's a nice place. I saw the training facilities and the indoor facilities. It's a really nice place."

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound athlete also was at Sound Mind Sound Body for the second time and enjoyed the experience.

"It went good, lots of kids competing and working for scholarship," he said. "I liked it a lot."

Sutherland camped at both running back and cornerback, showing good skills and quickness at both spots -- but he prefers defense and thinks that is where his college future will lie.

"I really like jamming guys and intercepting the ball and running it back -- it feels good," he said.

More notes and highlights from the second day of the Sound Mind Sound Body camp:

-- Chewins showed good hands and has such a big frame to work with. As he adds more weight, he is going to be a fun player to keep an eye on. He also runs decent routes.

-- As a running back, Sutherland was really shifty and moved his feet quickly -- a strength that translated to his time at defensive back in one-on-ones. He played tight on the wide receiver at the line and wasn't afraid to be physical from the get go. He also was quick, and stuck with the wide receiver in and out of cuts fluidly.

-- 2016 Southfield running back Matt Falcon is a big kid, but rather athletic. He made a couple of nice catches in drills out of the backfield. Already at 6-1, 200 pounds, he could outgrow running back ... maybe.

-- 2015 Fayetteville-Manlius (New York) tight end Tyrone Wheatley Jr. already holds offers from Alabama and Michigan among others and he was fantastic at SMSB.

He is really coordinated at 6-6, 235 pounds and catches the ball well. He was great at a quick change of direction after catching a pass.

-- 2014 Michigan Collegiate athlete Brian Jones put on a show in the defensive back one-on-ones. In four consecutive reps, he made three picks and had a pass breakup. He really jumped routes and made good plays on the ball.

Jones doesn't have any offers, but has received interest from a handful of in-state Division 2 schools.

-- 2015 East Grand Rapids quarterback Mikey Roth isn't the biggest kid at 5-11, but he showed a live arm and keeps his feet moving.

-- 2015 Troy Athens quarterback Alex Mussat followed up a good Friday with an equally good Saturday. The level of accuracy was the same and he put the ball into a tight window on a out route, resulting in the wide receiver coming to the sideline and saying, "That was a great throw. He's a great quarterback."

Bowling Green coaches were showing a lot of interest, and he recently camped there.