EXCLUSIVE: The Moment Spartans Football Target Elevated His Game
It happened when four-star Shahn Alston didn't have those stars on his recruiting profile. The moment he showed that he was more than the best player on the field. The moment he showed he was special. Long before Michigan State offered him or, at the very least, had eyes on him.
A Harvey High School product, Alston is the No. 9 running back in the 2026 class, per 247Sports. He is one of the elite prospects the Spartans are targeting in the state of Ohio's deep and talented junior class.
Alston's father and running backs coach at Harvey, Rahshahn, spoke to me recently about the moment he knew his son wasn't just a cut above the rest. He was beyond it.
It happened as Alston was entering his freshman campaign.
"One of the things I would always tell him is in order to be great, you gotta put in the work that requires you to be great," Rahshahn said. "I would drill that into him all the time, all the time. My wife, she would get frustrated at me, like 'Hey man, enough. He's just a kid.' And [Shahn] would never do some of the things that I expected him to do to be what he said what he wanted to be. Because he's always said 'Hey, I want to be on the national stage' when it comes to football.
"Going into his freshman year, I asked the wife, said, 'Hey where's Shahn at?' She said 'He's down at the park.' I said what is he doing at the park? She said 'He asked if he could go down to work out.' From that day on, it seemed like he just took on this whole different personality and it has taken off from there. I mean, he works out twice a day, whether it's running or lifting weights, doing calisthenics, stretching, stuff like that. He just started taking initiative on his own. He hasn't looked back and for me, as a dad, I'm like, 'Oh man, yeah, yes, it's about time!' Because this is the stuff I have been preaching to him all these years, and the fact that I don't have to say a word to him about anything related to football, it's like, 'Yes, he gets it now.'"
That freshman season, Alston rushed for 675 yards and 15 touchdowns, averaging nearly nine yards per carry. On defense, he also had five sacks, two interceptions, and four forced fumbles.
Last season, Alston rushed for over 1,000 yards and he had another 15 rushing touchdown performance. He averaged 8.1 yards per carry.
The elite mix of talent and work ethic should make him a top priority for just about every program that he comes across.
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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