Michigan State adds three-star 2021 tight end Jake Renda

The Michigan State Spartans football program picked up its 12th verbal commitment of the 2021 recruiting cycle, and first since May 8. Three-star tight end Jake Renda made the Fourth of July pledge to MSU last night.

Renda is set to play his senior year at IMG Academy in Florida, but previously played at Notre Dame High School in New Jersey, where he also played quarterback.

The 6-foot-5, 230-pound prospect is considered as the No. 75 tight end in the nation by 247Sports, although he does not currently rank in the Composite.

Renda becomes the second tight end commit for the Spartans in the 2021 class, joining three-star tight end Kameron Allen (Forney, Texas). He is also the second commit with ties to New Jersey, alongside offensive lineman Kevin Wigenton.

Renda’s national recruitment has been gaining steam as of late. Michigan State just offered Renda on June 23. He had additional scholarship offers from Arizona, North Carolina State, Boston College, Central Michigan, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Old Dominion and others.

Michigan State had a strong recruiting month in April, but has since struggled. Prior to Renda, MSU did not gain any new verbal commitments in nearly two months, lost the commitment of cornerback Gabe Nealy (who recently committed to South Florida), and is still yet to land any four-star recruits (per the 247Sports Composite) or higher. The Spartans’ 2021 class currently ranks 58th nationally and just 12th in the Big Ten. Hopefully recruiting efforts pick back up following Renda’s announcement.

Check out Renda’s highlights below (the majority of which are at the quarterback position):

In other tight end news, longtime target Mitchell Evans also included Michigan State in his top-10, which he posted last night. Evans is a much-higher ranked prospect, as the No. 20 tight end in the nation. What’s interesting is that MSU is only expected to take two tight ends this class. Could Mel Tucker, Ted Gilmore and company add another one? Of note, Rivals lists Renda as an “Athlete,” and as mentioned, he is a former quarterback. However, MSU seems to have recruited him as a tight end.