Four-star athlete Dillon Tatum commits to Michigan State football’s 2022 class

The Michigan State Spartans have landed the fifth verbal commitment from a four-star prospect in the 2022 class, and the 20th in the class overall. Mel Tucker and his staff have received a verbal commitment from four-star athlete Dillon Tatum, who had whittled his top-two choices in recent weeks down to Michigan State and Michigan.

Tatum visited the East Lansing campus for an unofficial visit on March 8, 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the country, and then again for another unofficial visit April 24, 2021 for the Spartans’ 2021 spring game. Tatum announced on Twitter on Sept. 23 that he would announce his commitment on Wednesday.

Tatum, out of West Bloomfield High School in West Bloomfield, Michigan, checks in at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds. He is ranked as the No. 13 athlete in the 2022 class and No. 5 prospect in Michigan, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Rivals also ranks Tatum as a four-star recruit, and lists him as the No. 17 athlete in the country.

He is expected to play defensive back for the Spartans, possibly at safety or nickelback. He is a two-way star on offense and defense for the Lakers, as he also plays running back, and is on the special teams unit as a kick returner as well. Additionally, Tatum is ranked as the No. 265 prospect overall, per 247Sports.

Tatum is the fifth four-star prospect that Michigan State has gotten a verbal commitment from in the past few months, joining quarterback Katin Houser, athlete Jaden Mangham, wide receiver Antonio Gates Jr., and defensive tackle Alex Van Sumeren. The Spartans also now have verbal commitments from four of the top-10 prospects in the state of Michigan in the 2022 class thus far, and six of the top-25.

In addition to Michigan State and Michigan, Tatum had scholarship offers from a number of other Big Ten and national programs. Fellow Big Ten programs such as Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio State, Purdue, Penn State, Indiana, Maryland, and Wisconsin all offered Tatum. National programs such as Miami (FL), Ole Miss, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Florida, Boston College, Arizona State, West Virginia, USC, Texas A&M, Syracuse, Georgia, Baylor, Notre Dame, and many others also reached out to Tatum with a scholarship offer.

Tatum joins Jaden Mangham, Malik Spencer, Shannon Blair, Ade Willie, and potentially Tre Holloman (if the MSU point guard commit chooses to also pursue football) in the defensive backfield for Michigan State’s 2022 group.

Michigan State’s 2022 recruiting class is now at 20 commits (counting Holloman, as both 247Sports and Rivals currently do), and currently ranks in the top-20 nationally, according to both 247Sports and Rivals.