EAST LANSING, Mich. — Geoff Martzen technically isn’t Michigan State’s director of player personnel. But he still offers a ton of insight when it comes to recruiting.
This is a guy who got his start as an intern for Alabama’s player personnel department in the early 2010s, when the school was on the cutting edge of recruiting practices. He learned what types of players coaches like Nick Saban, Chris Petersen and Chip Kelly target. And he spent a year doing the same at Colorado as Mel Tucker’s director of player personnel, prior to joining him at MSU as the team’s new Chief of Staff. Long story short: he knows a thing or two about recruiting.
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So even though Michigan State’s 2021 recruiting class isn’t where most fans want it to be — ranked No. 62 nationally with just 12 commits entering Wednesday — Martzen isn’t paying attention to the rankings. There’s a long way to go, and ground to be made up. Ultimately, they’ll judge the class based on the number of top targets signed.
“We have to be the best that we can be in how we brand ourselves. We have to be the best that we can be in how we market ourselves. We have to sign the players that we want to sign,” Martzen said. “I don’t look at it as like, ‘All right, we’re second in the Big Ten in recruiting.’ No. Did we sign the players that we wanted to sign? If that happens, then you’ve signed a good class. If you signed a bunch of players that you didn’t necessarily want to sign when the whole cycle started, then it’s probably not a great class.
“If we do all of those things and become the top in each of those categories, then everything else will take care of itself.”
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the players Michigan State is targeting in recruiting.
WR Andrel Anthony
Three-star | East Lansing, Mich. (East Lansing)
Anthony, a three-star prospect and the No. 1 wide receiver in the state of Michigan, is set to announce his future home this Friday at 6 p.m. ET. With an offer list that includes schools like Wisconsin, Ole Miss, Nebraska and Kentucky, along with a final four of Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame and MSU, Anthony is a coveted recruit. The East Lansing native has long been one of the top receivers on MSU’s board in what’s expected to be a small receiver class.
The new staff’s involvement in Anthony’s recruiting began with an unofficial visit in March. Nobody knew it at the time, but it was one of the few opportunities for Tucker and Co. to invite prospects on campus before COVID-19 recruiting restrictions were put in place. Since then, Anthony’s relationship with the coaching staff has grown stronger and stronger as the months have passed. That visit looms large now, as Anthony has narrowed down his choices and is primed to become a hometown hero of sorts. A commitment to MSU would make him the Spartans’ highest-ranked prospect in their 2021 class — just ahead of his high school teammate and MSU OT commit Ethan Boyd — and give the school some much-needed recruiting momentum. This could, and most likely will, be good news for the Spartans.
🚨 I Will Be Committing @ East Lansing Highschool This Friday The 31st @6 .. Live On @WLNS Channel 6 😉
— Andrel Anthony Jr. (@andrel_jr) July 28, 2020
DL Rayshaun Benny
Four-star | Oak Park, Mich. (Oak Park)
Benny is a four-star, top-20 prospect and one of the top in-state targets Michigan State has pursued. While some sites list him as an offensive lineman, it largely depends on the school’s preference. Michigan State, for example, has recruited Benny as a defensive lineman.
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Like Anthony, Benny was able to check out MSU’s campus for an unofficial visit in March and was able to take in MSU basketball’s win against Ohio State to clinch a share of the Big Ten title. Some of those early visits have kept Michigan State in the thick of some major in-state recruitments, despite having a brand new staff and limited recruiting resources. Benny recently released a top-8 that included Michigan, Penn State, Arizona State, Arkansas, Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee and Michigan State. That’s a stacked list, and it could be difficult to come out on top here, but Michigan State is firmly in the picture as things currently stand.
In gods hands 🙏🏾 @Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/tfIrhh8b5j
— Rayshaun Benny (@rayshaun_benny) July 25, 2020
OL Geno VanDeMark and RB Audric Estime
Four-star | Montvale, N.J. (St. Joseph) & Four-star | Montvale, N.J. (St. Joseph)
If you peruse through the lists of top schools for both VanDeMark and Estime, you’ll find many of the same logos. That’s because these high school teammates and New Jersey natives are considering committing as a package deal. In terms of rankings, VanDeMark and Estime are two of the top realistic targets MSU is pursuing. Both are four-star talents, with VanDeMark checking in at No. 317 overall and Estime at 343. Both prospects are considering Michigan State, Rutgers, Arizona State and Nebraska. I’ve been told that Michigan State is the top school for both as things currently stand. A lot could change between now and their commitment date, including a push from Rutgers — the local program that hired their former high school coach at St. Joseph’s Regional, Auggie Hoffman — to keep these prospects home. But for now, Michigan State is in good shape here. Getting these two onboard could get the class back on track.
DL/OL Ru’Quan Buckley
Three-star | Grand Rapids, Mich. (Godwin Heights)
Buckley, a Grand Rapids native, is another sought after in-state prospect. He’s picked up offers from Florida State, Nebraska, Oregon, Michigan, West Virginia, Kentucky and Arkansas, among others. Where he plays at MSU likely depends on the 2021 positional breakdown around him, but he has the frame at 6-foot-6, 277 pounds, to play either defensive end or offensive tackle. In a perfect world, Benny commits to MSU and plays along the defensive line, while Buckley commits and slides over to offense — giving MSU a pair of “power players,” to steal a term Mark Dantonio used over the years. Still, no matter what happens with Benny, Buckley is a guy you feel good about operating at either spot. As for his top schools, it appears Florida State, Nebraska, Minnesota and Michigan State are among the schools mentioned the most in his recruitment.
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CB Darian “Duce” Chestnut
Four-star | Camden. N.J. (Camden)
Earlier this month, Chestnut, the No. 1 defensive back in New Jersey and No. 325 prospect overall, announced his top schools. It’s an impressive list that includes the likes Miami, Syracuse, Ole Miss, Louisville, Michigan State, Michigan, Kansas and Rutgers — the home-state team. Chestnut took a virtual visit with Michigan State and is looking to do the same with a few other schools before narrowing down his list again. He recently told Rivals that he talks to Tucker every day and loves the new staff. His recruitment could be wrapping up in the near future, considering Chestnut is looking to make a commitment video.
Who tryna make my commitment video👀
— Darian “Duce” Chestnut (@BallgameDuce) July 21, 2020
Fair warning for those of you in the Michigan State 6-foot or bust club: 247Sports lists Chestnut at 5-foot-11.
S Jah’Von Grigsby
Three-star | Baton Rouge, La. (Scotlandville Magnet)
Grigsby feels like a name that’s been discussed for a long time, but there hasn’t been a ton of movement here. The three-star safety took a virtual visit with Michigan State in April and told The Athleticthat MSU coaches see him as a versatile defensive back who can play free safety or nickel in Scottie Hazelton’s defense. Grigsby was originally set to announce his commitment in late June, with Michigan State near the top of his list, but the Louisiana native pushed back his commitment without announcing a new date. He did, however, recently post a fresh list of his top schools.
Blessed 🙏🏾#TOPTEN🔥 pic.twitter.com/eWUkPFsPrn
— Jah’von J3 Grigsby 225 MADE (@jmg5k) July 13, 2020
At this point, Grigsby will likely take his time to make sure he chooses the right program for him. Even as he takes a step back, it seems like Grigsby is familiar enough with the new staff where he’d be comfortable committing without visiting the campus. If that’s the case, it would be a nice recruiting victory for MSU.
LB Mikai Gbayor
Three-star | Irvington, N.J. (Irvington)
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Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Michigan State is targeting a prospect from New Jersey.
It’s really impressive to see the impact MSU has been able to make in this state in just one cycle. It has long been viewed as an underrated recruiting state, one that Rutgers has often failed to take advantage of. Michigan State has too. From 2007-20, the Mark Dantonio era, MSU received commitments from just four New Jersey prospects. However, with two New Jersey kids already committed in this cycle and a few more who could potentially follow, Michigan State could match that in just one year. In Gbayor, the Spartans would be getting an athletic linebacker prospect with the ability to play inside and out. With top linebacker target Jamari Buddin committing to Penn State, MSU could look to turn up the heat with Gbayor. He’s narrowed down his choices to five programs: Nebraska, Ole Miss, West Virginia, Kentucky and Michigan State.
TOP 5💥 #irvingtontuff #cornhuskers #hottytoddy #Gowildcats #GoGreen #Mountaineers @TodderickHunt @AlexBroggi @RivalsFriedman @ryanwpatti @ShawnB_247 @BobbyDeren @DemetricDWarren pic.twitter.com/UXEnHrW6IA
— Mikai Gbayor🗡 (@MGbayor) June 9, 2020
C Michael Myslinski
Three-star | Jacksonville, Fla. (Bishop Kenny)
Myslinski is an interesting prospect. Though he’s ranked the 1,391st-best player in the class, it’s important to provide some content here. In general, centers aren’t highly-rated recruits because it’s not typically an in-demand position. College teams can often take players who were listed as guards coming out of high school and move them inside to center, like what Michigan State did with Nick Samac during his true freshman season last year. Still, Myslinski is ranked as the nation’s 17th-best center, per 247Sports’ composite rankings. Additionally, Myslinski’s father, Tom, has been the Jacksonville Jaguars’ strength and conditioning coordinator for the past six seasons and also spent nine years in the NFL as a player. With this in mind, the younger Myslinski is likely a better player than his rankings would suggest, and an offer list that includes schools like Florida State, Texas, Iowa, Oregon, Louisville, Missouri and Michigan State defends that notion.
Over the past month or so, Myslinski has taken it upon himself, along with his family, to travel across the country and tour the campuses of the top schools on his list. He’s visited the in-state school Florida State. He’s been to Iowa. He’s checked out Texas and made a stop in East Lansing to see Michigan State’s campus earlier this month as well. As part of the recruiting restrictions, coaches and staffers are not allowed to meet up or host players in-person, but they can still check in over the phone if a recruit wants to see things for himself. It seems like Myslinski is nearing a decision, with Michigan State, Iowa and Texas all vying for a commitment. It won’t be the biggest splash, but landing Myslinski could help round out MSU’s 2021 offensive line class.
This is going to be an extremely hard decision
— Michael Myslinski (@MMys1inski) July 17, 2020
CB Steffan Johnson
Three-star | Venice, Fla. (Venice)
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. On July 13, Johnson — a three-star CB from Venice, Fla., committed to Rutgers at the time — received an offer from Michigan State. Johnson plays quarterback for his high school team, but has been recruited as an athlete and is projected to slide over to defense in college. Three days later, on July 16, he tweeted about a “big announcement” coming soon. This past Saturday, he took to Instagram to announce he would be de-committing from Rutgers.
That’s significant news for Michigan State, a school that has been in communication with Johnson as his recruitment began to unfold.
First off I want to thank everyone who has helped me throughout this process especially God, my family and my coaches! Thank you to the entire Rutgers coaching staff for recruiting me I don’t take the opportunity lightly, but after a long talk with my family I’d like to decommit.
— Steffan Johnson (@SteffanJohnson) July 25, 2020
The other component here is Charles Brantley, a three-star cornerback in MSU’s 2021 class. Brantley is a teammate of Johnson’s at Venice. He’s been dropping hints about this and has been in the ear of Johnson ever since he received an offer. When Johnson tweeted that he would be decommiting, Brantley had this to say.
MSU BABY WE LITTY 🟢🤍🤍🟢😉!
— cinco5™️👁🗨 (@cbrantley22) July 25, 2020
Johnson is a name to keep an eye on in the coming weeks with Michigan State potentially looking to complete the flip.
(Top photo of Andrel Anthony: Nick King / Lansing State Journal via USA TODAY Sports)
