What We Know: Andrel Anthony Announcement

With Andrel Anthony set to announce later today, writers covering Michigan State, Penn State and Notre Dame join Wolverine Digest to break down the decision.

@andrel_jr / Twitter

After receiving overtures from Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Notre Damer for quite some time, SI All-American candidate Andrel Anthony is set to make his college decision today at 6 p.m. at East Lansing High School.

Though growing up in Michigan State’s literal back yard, Anthony has recently visited Michigan’s campus, and he spoke favorably about both Penn State and Notre Dame in the leadup to today’s announcement. However, Anthony has a long history with the Spartans program that goes back to the Mark Dantonio era.

Since Mel Tucker has taken over Dantonio’s old post, Michigan State has continued to court the in-state prospect, but his recruitment is set to reach its conclusion in just a few hours. Where will he be headed? Wolverine Digest caught up with Sports Illustrated writers from each of Anthony’s final four schools to break down his decision:

Eric Rutter (Wolverine Digest): Though Michigan already has three wide receiver commitments in the 2021 class, Anthony would give the Wolverines a clear recruiting win over rival Michigan State if he does indeed pick U-M. On Wednesday, Anthony mentioned that he took a trip to Ann Arbor over the weekend to view the campus if he did indeed pick Michigan but also said that his decision has been made for a couple weeks now. That last minute trip to Michigan would not have been necessary if he were content on picking a different school, so I think the Wolverines were able to make a late push for Anthony and will land his commitment later today.

Hondo Carpenter (Spartan Nation): This is a classic example of why Mark Dantonio isn't here right now. I fully expect him to pick Michigan and it is the Spartans fault. He had an offer long before the Spartans. Harbaugh and his staff identified him early while the Spartans slept. He literally lives on the Spartans front porch and loved Michigan State. While they waited, Michigan worked. Recruiting is just like football. If all things are equal, hard work pays off. The Wolverines worked significantly harder than the Spartans. He is a super young man. MSU's new staff craved him, but Dantonio's selfish decision to wait so long to retire put Tucker so far behind the eight-ball that recovering is going to be nearly impossible.

Bryan Driskell (Irish Breakdown): Notre Dame is in an interesting situation at wide receiver. Despite just one committed wideout in the class (Lorenzo Styles Jr.), the staff has been relatively picky at the position. Anthony performed well at Notre Dame’s Irish Invasion camp prior to his junior season, and the Irish staff has stayed on him ever since. Notre Dame certainly did enough to stay in this recruitment, but it doesn’t appear that Anthony was high enough on their list to get the staff to go all out for him. For that reason, I’ll be a bit surprised if he isn’t wearing Maize and Blue in college.

Mark Wogenrich (All Penn State): Penn State has been recruiting pretty well in Michigan this year. In fact, I just did a story about how assistant coach Tim Banks (a Detroit Martin Luther King graduate) is approaching the state. If he stuns the room and commits to Penn State, Anthony would be the Lions’ fifth player in the 2021 class from Michigan. And he would be another strong receiver in the class. That said, Anthony’s probably headed to Michigan, though it would be interesting if Michigan State coach Mel Tucker could close the deal started by the former staff.

Based on these outlooks, the smart money appears to point towards Michigan winning this recruiting battle after a late surge. However, recruiting is a fluid game, so be sure to check Wolverine Digest right after 6 p.m. to see which school Anthony committed to.

Where do you think Anthony winds up? If he picks Michigan, would that be U-M's biggest in-state recruiting victory for this cycle? Let us know!