Commitment Spotlight: Three-Star Offensive Tackle Dimitri Douglas

The 2018 Michigan State football recruiting class continues to fill in nicely. The latest recruit to give a verbal commitment to the Spartans is Saline offensive tackle, Dimitri Douglas.

Douglas is the ninth prospect to join Michigan State’s 2018 recruiting class. He is the first offensive lineman in the class, and just the third in-state recruit.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Dimitri, and he is the next prospect to be featured in our Commitment Spotlight series here on The Only Colors blog.

Michigan State was the first Power 5 conference team to offer Douglas a scholarship, however, that is not the only reason why he chose Michigan State over a variety of Mid-American Conference and Ivy League schools that also offered him.

“The thing that drew me to Michigan State was the culture that was instilled in the program,” Douglas said.

Currently, Douglas is a three-star prospect. He is ranked as the No. 135 tackle in the 2018 class by 247Sports, and the No. 40 overall player in the state of Michigan in the website’s composite rankings.

Meanwhile, Scout.com ranks him as the No. 94 offensive tackle in the entire 2018 class, the No. 17 tackle in the Midwest and as the fifth-best at his position in Michigan.

Douglas is a 6-foot-4-inch, 290-pound, brute who not only will bring tenacity and strength to campus once he arrives in East Lansing, but also a strong work ethic.

“I bring a high motor and I am extremely aggressive,” Douglas said. “And I am an extremely hard worker (as well).”

I was curious what kind of player Douglas was. What his style of play was, what he thought his strengths were and what he likes to do on the gridiron.

Needless to say, he has both the willingness and ability to be a mauling run-blocker and a strong pass protector.

“I like putting my hand in the dirt and run blocking, but I'm probably strongest in pass protection,” Douglas said.

As mentioned earlier, Douglas was the ninth commitment for the 2018 class thus far. He joins tight end Trenton Gillison, defensive backs Xavier Henderson, Michael Dowell, Davion Williams and Christian Jackson, linebackers Jeslord Boateng and Edward Warinner and quarterback Theo Day.

Douglas is looking forward to getting to know his future teammates better and thinks this class, though flying under the radar a bit, will be a strong one for the Spartans.

“The day I committed, all of the other commits were sure to contact me,” Douglas said. “I think this class has a lot of overlooked players and will have a lot of surprises!”

Of course, this has been an offseason full of attrition, controversy and question marks for the Spartans. And last season’s on-the-field results were disappointing, to say the least, as well. But much like the other recruits I’ve spoken to, that does not hinder Douglas’ outlook for the future.

“I think the program will bounce back in a big way and we will prove a lot of doubters wrong,” he said.

In addition to starting to get to know his teammates, he has also been building relationships with the Michigan State coaching staff. Particularly, head coach Mark Dantonio and coach Mark Staten, who was newly promoted to assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator. Staten was previously MSU’s offensive line coach, starting in 2011.

Douglas told me that he has developed a great relationship with Coach Staten and Coach Dantonio for “a few months now.”

While Douglas is certainly excited to become a Spartan next year, he knows he must focus on the present, which means preparing for his upcoming senior season at Saline High School.

When Douglas announced his commitment to Michigan State, he said he wanted to thank God, his family, teammates, coaches and trainer, and the entire Saline community.

Now it is time to give back to his community, and he has a lofty goal for 2017.

“The community of Saline has given me so many opportunities and support for many years and I would have not made it to this point without them,” Douglas said. “I think it's time to bring my city its first state championship. Me and the whole team owe it to them.”

It seems that Michigan State has added yet another standup person to its 2018 recruiting class – a trait the Spartans can no longer afford to overlook when recruiting. I love what I am seeing from it so far.

If you want to catch up on previous articles in our Commitment Spotlight series, here they are:

• Four-star tight end, Trenton Gillison
• Three-star defensive back, Mike Dowell

Dimitri Douglas junior year highlight video (courtesy of his Hudl account):