BREAKING: Spartans Land BYU LB Moa From Portal
Michigan State has made another big defensive addition from the transfer portal.
On Monday, former four-star BYU linebacker Aisea Moa committed to the Michigan State Spartans, as reported by On3's Jason Killop. Moa and his family (including high four-star offer Salesi) visited East Lansing on Jan. 3, per Killop.
Moa, a former blue-chip recruit, is 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds with the ability to play the rush end position or linebacker. The Spartans return Wayne Matthews III, Darius Snow, and Jordan Hall in 2025, but they wanted to bolster the corps nonetheless with a plethora of young talent also waiting in the wings.
With Moa, the Spartans have another rotational piece in the linebacker room with a chance to be an impact player. Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi made it very clear that his linebackers are to be big, athletic, and able to cover.
Mao seems to fit that bill.
"I think a portion of it's leadership, but from a physical standpoint, you gotta have guys that are comfortable in space," Rossi said in the fall. "You wouldn't even think that I would say that to start with the Mike, but you know, the Mike ends up out of the box all of the time in three-by-one formations, and so the guy has got to be physical and he's got to be able to stop the run, all those things, I got it. You know, if you're getting recruited as a Mike, you gotta have that skillset but you gotta be comfortable in coverage. Doesn't mean you're playing man-to-man on people all the time, but it just means you got to be able to go out there play in space and function. So I think that that's something that's going to be big for us in terms of that position."
As mentioned, Moa is dynamic enough to play rush end coach Chad Wilt's edge rusher. The position is an answer to modern offenses and it gives Rossi and interesting wrinkle to work with in his hybrid 4-3 defense. Moa's ability in coverage could give him something we saw lacking in Khris Bhogle.
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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