Hard to judge a kid whose only other offer was from Indiana. I expect Dantonio to clean up on these types of kids in Michigan.
As for Norman, as hard as it may be for even Sparties to believe, some kids are just going to want to play at MSU. If Dantonio can catch more kids like Hoover and Norman, and if he can have success with the Burrells and Spencers, he just might be onto something. But he is gonna have to be one HELL of a good coach, and to be honest, nobody knows just yet how good he is.
Winning breeds confidence. Losing breeds reality.
Burrell Was great his junior year....Norman was not...The one time I saw Ypsi last year, the WR's were not a factor at all...On top of that, Ypsi plays very,very weak competition.....With that said, I hope he turns out to be a good player...I dont see him anywhere near Burrell or Mark Dell...Originally Posted by bball11
Could MSU be in line for some more momentum in this year's recruiting battle? Word is beginning to leak out that Edwin Baker is very close to committing to Sparty, and might have done it on Junior Day, but Dantonio told him to hold off till Baker's father could be there. Also, that QB Andrew Maxwell is a "silent committ". If projections, and those committs hold, MSU has four 4*'s in the bag already. Not bad.
I think you mean Spencer. Norman had 6 B10 offers pre-Junior days. I'm guessing he's pretty good.
Holy balls. That'd be HUGE. Texas and Georgia offered that kid already. He should be top 50. I'm guessing 1 Rivals100, 1 Rivals250, 1 plain 4 star, and a high 3 star if we get all them.
Why couldn't Dantonio do this last year? Sweet.
He came in late, and had a bunch of other shit to do. Sound familiar?
oops, sorry. Your right
From the Sparty side of Scout:
EAST LANSING - Michigan State's coaching staff has already begun turning their attention to the bumper 2009 crop of talent in the state of Michigan landing Scout.com's early #6 player Chris Norman, a big, strong productive player with 97 tackles as a junior.
GSN in concert with MichiganVarsity.com, takes a look at the top players in the state of Michigan and which ones Michigan State is likely to target.
10 Zach Matthias, OT, 6-foot-6, 305-pounds, Hemlock.
Offensive linemen don't usually draw headlines but Matthias is an unusal target who's drawing interest from major colleges across the nation, according to Hemlock coach Adam Clark.
"Currently Michigan is coming at him the heaviest," Clark reported, "Michigan State is there as well, along with Iowa, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Duke, Georgia Tech, Alabama, UConn, Illinois, Indiana and we have recently received inquiries from as far south as Florida, Florida State, and Clemson."
With Michigan being the leader, MSU must get in on this franchise tackle who could lead MSU to the Rose Bowl appearance Mark Dantonio point toward.
9. Teric Jones, RB, 5-foot-10, 195-pounds, Detroit Cass Tech.
One of a group of the top running backs in the state, Jones really emerged with a standout performance in the US Army All American Bowl Combine. After posting a 4.37-40 in San Antonio, Jones may have the most upside of any back in the group. That kind of talent will bring tons of suitors. He has already been offered by Michigan, but is getting interest from Michigan State, Alabama, Penn State, Iowa, Central Florida and Notre Dame. He says he's faster than UM commit Boubacar Cissoko. Now that's fast.
8. Hersey Jackson, RB, 6-foot-1, 215, Allendale.
Jackson is a more physical power back in the mold of former MSU back Jehuu Caulcrick. Jackson likes the Spartans and seems to be leaning towards staying in-state. “Wisconsin is sending me stuff. I’m getting letters from Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Indiana, and some stuff from Ohio State,” Jackson told IrishEyes.com.
A serious student, Jackson says academics is extremly important to him, another factor is how much they're committed to running the ball. “I went to Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State for one-day camps this summer. I like how they all run their programs, and the way they have their players in their weight program in the summer.”
7. Reid Fragel, TE, 6-foot-7, 255-pounds Grosse Pointe South.
Fragel likes Michigan State, but has visited Notre Dame four times and is receiving strong interest from the Irish. He visited Notre Dame with teammate Jimmy Saros and said he was "blown away" by the history and atmsophere of the place. Fragel has offers from Cincinnati and Miami (OH) but lists Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa and Purdue as his favorites.
6. Chris Norman, LB, 6-foot-2, 220-pounds, Detroit Rennaisance.
Give Michigan State a ton of credit for getting an early commitment from one of the top players in State, but their work isn't over. Early commitments continue to get phone calls from other colleges right up to signing day and it appears that new Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez is among those who doesn't view a commitment as binding until the LOI comes in. Still, Norman told GSN he intends to stay strong and that he is truly committed to State. We hope that's the case because he could give MSU the kind of Percy Snow type linebacker they crave.
5. James Jackson, WR, 5-foot-11, 170-pounds, Grand Ledge.
One of the true speed burners of the 2009 class, Jackson is a true playmaker, a game breaker who can turn on the jets and turn a routine slant or dig route into a home run. But even more impressive, Jackson turns down most interview requests because he just wants to be part of the team said his coach Matt Bird. "He doesn’t want to separate himself from the rest of the team,” Bird told GoBlueWolverine.com.
“He always wants to put the team first. They’ve asked for him to do radio interviews and he declines, he’s just a very humble kid.” Already holding a UM offer, Jackson is one of the few juniors with a four-star rating and rising.
4. Dion Sims, WR/TE, 6-foot-5, 230-pounds, Orchard Lake St. Mary.
Michigan State has the inside track on this versatile wide receiver, tight end and big time basketball prospect. Some may liken him to former Spartan and current Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Matt Trannon, but Sims is a better player than that.
One of the top small forwards in the state, he's being recruited by coach Tom Izzo. "I want to try to do both in college and use my abilities to the fullest," says Sims who claims offers from Miami, FL, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Iowa. One has to believe if an Izzo/Dantonio combination would be too much for Sims to turn away from.
3. Edwin Baker, RB, 5-foot-11, 210-pounds, Oak Park.
It's no wonder Baker is listed as one of the top three prospects in the state. He rushed for 1,295 yards as a junior while splitting time with senior Joevall Hoseay one of the top 25 backs in the state a season ago.
Still Baker, who compares himself to former Florida and Cowboys standout Emmett Smith says he wants to get the process over with early so he can concentrate on his senior season. “I hear from Michigan, Michigan State, Florida… all kind of schools,” Baker said. “I really haven’t gotten any offers yet though. Maybe because I’m young.” Don't worry, it won't be too long before the top schools in the state begin offering as Baker will be atop everyone's radar.
2. Larry Caper, RB, 6-foot, 215-pounds, Battle Creek Central.
Caper, a four-star Scout.com junior is the back that the in-state schools will have to fend off interest from the big out of town schools like USC (Ronald Johnson, Nick Perry) and Alabama (Mark Ingram, Jr.) that come into the state and routinely poach the top players.
Caper admits interest in Notre Dame and USC and attended their contest in South Bend last season. Teams love Caper because of his combination of elusiveness, soft hands out of the backfield, toughness, ability to block and run between the tackles. Caper's father says USC, Michigan, Alabama and severl other schools are flooding his home with mail, so the offers will no doubt come soon. Can MSU keep this talented star from getting out of the state? Stay tuned.
1. William Campbell, DT/OT, 6-foot-5, 320-pounds, Detroit Cass Tech.
Campbell moved into the #1 spot after a dominating performance at the Army Junior Combine and figures to help spring teammate Teric Jones to a huge year and make Cass a threat for the state championship. Campbell committed to Michigan and even after the coaching change appears solid. If so, it's the rest of the conferences loss as this young man appears on track to play not only collegiately, but at the professional level.
Others of note: #14, QB Andrew Maxwell of Midland.
Maxwell has been linked to Michigan State but hasn't gone on the record as making any kind of commitment but his arm strength and pocket presence can't be denied. Maxwell help lead the Chemics to a state championship appearance only to be denied by Nick Perry and Co. Still, Maxwell has a style similar to Brian Hoyer, a strong arm, the ability to run a little but needs work on his accuracy.
Michigan State's coaching staff has made recruiting the state of Michigan a priority and with this kind of talent ahead in 2009, it would appear that was a good decision.
Will the relationships that coach Dantonio and his staff forged over the last two years
END
It's creeping onto Scout that Baker is green. I think that is a solid solid pickup. Capers hadn't been graded out very well by the Scout guys who went to one of the combines he was in; said he was bulked up and slow. Sounds to me like Capers is thinking Irish, though.
That leaves Jones to UM, and hopefully James Jakcson as well. Those two seem to be a better fit for the Spread.
Note:
On Sims, as I just perused the Scout Top 100 juniors, Sims didn't list MSU, but Fowler here says that Sims likes MSU best. As usual, The Izzo is dangling a possible basketball roster spot to an MSU football prospect. Gee, that must have been something Jud Heatchote never considered doing!
Even odder is that Sims is from Orchard Lake St Mary, which has traditionally been a pipeline to UM.
Rivals lists Sims as the #29 prospect in the country, with UM, MSU, OSU, Iowa, and Purdue listed as teams he has interest in. Fowler appears to be more up to date with his article than both, especially with the offers he details.
I'm guessing that right now Sims is Dantonio's to lose.
Last edited by Zip Goshboots; 02-25-2008 at 05:59 PM.
Caper has been quoted as saying that MSU is 'at the top of his list'.
But MSU Rivals guys are thinking only 1 RB this year. WTF? 2 top 100 RB's want to go to State, and you want to turn one down? He better not.
And Fragel better come to State, ND had an amazing group of TE's this year, including a very rare 5 star TE.
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