Four-star running back Harold Joiner reportedly cancels visit to East Lansing this weekend

A plethora of high school football recruits will be visiting Michigan State this weekend for the under-the-lights showdown with Notre Dame. That list of prospects includes quite a few big names, but one name who we will no longer see on the guest list is four-star running back Harold Joiner.

This is devastating news to the Spartan faithful, as Joiner is an absolute difference-maker, and was favoring Sparty earlier this summer.

I have not seen any reasoning as to why Joiner cancelled yet, but one can draw the conclusion that his mind is likely made up at this point in regards to choosing a school — which many believe to be LSU, despite the abundance of running back talent the program already has on its roster and in its 2018 recruiting class.

The Spartans are yet to land a running back in the 2018 class, and with a decent chance that the positional group becomes thin in 2018 with Gerald Holmes graduating and L.J. Scott potentially leaving for the NFL Draft, it is a big position of need for the Spartans.

Scott has not had a a particularly strong start, and if his play continues at this level, I don’t see him entering his name in the draft, but regardless the Spartans would like to add a player there for 2018.

In other, more positive, news, it appears five-star Belleville offensive tackle Devontae Dobbs will be on campus Saturday. Dobbs is a member of the class of 2019, and has had several trips to East Lansing already

Xavier Goldsmith, a two-star cornerback and junior at Cass Technical High School is also slated to join the many recruits heading to Michigan State this weekend as well.

The loss of Joiner this weekend stings, and doesn’t bode well for the Spartans, but there will still be dozens of recruits in attendance, and several big name prospects to impress, such as four-star recruits Kalon Gervin, James Ohonba and Malik Vann, as well as three-stars Elijah Collins and Jackson Cravens.