Michigan State enjoying big week on recruiting trail

By foxsports
Published

Thiyo Lukusa, a four-star offensive lineman from Traverse City West, verbally committed to Michigan State on Wednesday night, continuing a hot streak for head coach Mark Dantonio's program on the recruiting trail.

Lukusa, the No. 5-ranked offensive guard prospect in the Midwest according to Scout.com, is the fourth player to commit to the Spartans in two days. He followed fellow Michigan native Demetric Vance, a four-star safety from Detroit Cass Tech, and a pair of Ohioans: Akron Hoban three-star athlete Jonah Morris and Columbus DeSales three-star safety Austin Andrews.

The most-recent flurry continues a larger trend over the past month. Lukusa's pledge is the eighth for MSU since Messiah deWeaver, a three-star quarterback from Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne, made his commitment April 23.

Lukusa and Vance, respectively rated No. 256 and 277 in the nation, are the second- and third-highest-rated recruits for Michigan State so far. They trail No. 179 Justin Layne, a receiver from Cleveland Benedictine who committed April 25.

Six of the 11 are from Ohio, a state in which Dantonio grew up and one he has made a priority since landing the head job in East Lansing in 2007. Previously he was head coach at Cincinnati and defensive coordinator at Ohio State.

The flurry of activity has Michigan State up to No. 8 in Scout's national rankings. That is No. 2 in the Big Ten behind Ohio State, which has 15 verbal commitments and is No. 1 in the country at this point.

Though there is a long way to go until signing day in February, Michigan State's 2016 class is shaping up to be by far the best of the Dantonio era. That came just a little more than three months ago when the 2015 class checked in at No. 18. The 2014 class ranked No. 19, and that was Dantonio's first top 20 class.

Overall the Spartans' classes have averaged a national recruiting ranking of 35.8 nationally since Dantonio took over. Their average Big Ten ranking is 4.8 with the highest coming in 2014 when they were No. 2. The 2012 and '15 classes ranked third in the conference.

Photo credit: Scout.com