How MSU can win the state of Michigan

The 2017 Michigan State football season is just about to start, but the program’s future is being battled among recruiters for next year’s class of freshman.

Rivals released their rankings of the top 25 recruits in each state. For now, the state of Michigan is wide open for the taking, with top recruits being spread throughout the country and some of the state’s best players still undecided. But Michigan State has a chance to rebuild the program in a hurry with a big class of homegrown players.

Among the top 25, both Wisconsin and Michigan have an edge on the Spartans, both schools with three recruits while State has only two. Kentucky is also slightly ahead of MSU with two recruits of their own, but ranking ahead of Michigan State’s.

For now, Michigan State’s lone two commitments are quarterback Theo Day from Dearborn and athlete Davion Williams from Belleville. Day and Williams rank 10 and 20, respectively.

However, the Spartans are considered real contenders to land three more top players in the state – headlined by the top recruit in the state, defensive back Kalon Gervin. Additionally, MSU is considered right in the thick of things for ninth ranked linebacker Kolin Demens and 24th ranked athlete Elijah Collins.

Gervin had initially committed to Notre Dame, but he rescinded his decision in May. Now, MSU is on the short list along with Louisville, Oklahoma, Oregon and Virginia Tech, according to Rivals. Gervin said that even while committed to Notre Dame, he never lost contact with Michigan State, specifically Mark Dantonio and Harlon Barnett.

“It’s all family,” Gervin said to the Detroit News. “They never fell off even when I was committed. Coach Dantonio would hit me up asking how I was doing.”

Gervin said he was surprised when Michigan’s recruiting fell short of expectations.

If Michigan State does find a way to keep the highly rated defensive back in state, or grab Demens and Collins, it would be hard to argue their claim to the state in 2018.