Bad News Piling Up For Spartans' Bitter Rival Michigan
The Michigan State Spartans have had a successful summer on the recruiting trail. Head coach Jonathan Smith has been actively targeting the state and the Midwest and maintaining his West Coast pipeline from Oregon State.
The Spartans' 16 commits from the 2025 class fit the prototype for what Smith wants in East Lansing. All have the tools and traits the new Spartans staff desire.
According to a recent report from MLive, the Spartans' bitter in-state rival, Michigan, took a big hit on the recruiting trail. Wide receiver Philip Wright was a July commit and not even committed a full month before he decommitted on Sunday, per The Michigan Insider.
"Wright, the No. 430 overall prospect and No. 68 receiver nationally, per the 247Sports Composite rankings, had been Michigan’s most recent commitment, announcing his college decision on July 13," MLive's Ryan Zuke wrote. "The 5-foot-11, 175-pound speedster chose the Wolverines over 14 other reported offers, including other finalists Georgia and Louisiana State. LSU has a long history of keeping top receivers in the state and are now the reported leader to land Wright, who took unofficial visits to Ann Arbor and Baton Rouge last weekend.
"Wright, who also stars in track and field, has been a rapid riser on the recruiting trail and has climbed 90 spots in the national rankings since his commitment to Michigan. The Wolverines now have one receiver this cycle and 15 commits overall."
The recruiting loss is just another piece of bad news for the Wolverines.
Recently, three Associated Press sources familiar with the NCAA's notice of allegations against the Maize and Blue told The Washington Post that head coach Sherrone Moore is facing allegations in regard to the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal.
"Two of the people said Moore has been accused of deleting text-message exchanges with Connor Stalions -- the former low-level recruiting staffer who coordinated an off-campus, advance-scouting operation -- around the time the investigation was opened," The Washington Post wrote. "That allegation was included in a draft of the NCAA’s notice to Michigan. One of the people said the NCAA has recommended a Level 2 violation for Moore -- Level 1 is the most serious -- and that messages between Moore and Stalions were recovered and that the coach provided them to the NCAA."
Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.
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MICHAEL FRANCE