Michigan State Football Offers In-State 3 Star Running Back at Spartan Dawg Con

Spartan Dawg Con is underway in East Lansing, and head coach Jonathan Smith offers a 3-star in-state running back to join the Michigan State Spartans football family.

Michigan State's head coach Jonathan Smith walks to the sideline during the Spring Showcase on Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA

Michigan State football had their fourth annual Spartan Dawg Con this weekend and hosted lots of recruits. On Saturday July 27th, 2026 three star running back Izaiah Wright had just received an offer from Jonathan Smith and Michigan State. 

Wright is a three star recruit, from Oscar A. Carlson high school in Rockwood Michigan. Wright is also ranked 35th among all running backs in the class of 2026 and the 12th best player in the state of Michigan.

Wright has a total of 12 offers from other power four schools including Cincinnati, Indiana, Tennessee, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, and West Virginia, as well as other lower level schools like Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Toledo, and Miami of Ohio. 

In his sophomore season at Oscar A. Carlson, Wright had 2,129 all-purpose yards with 1,965 being rushing yards and also had 31 touchdowns.

Running backs coach Keith Bhonapha would most likely use him in very specific situations in his first two years. Since Wright is a bigger back being listed at 5 '10 and 207 pounds, Wright would be a great ground and pound back in third and short situations.  

Jonathan Smith had high praise for Bhonapha when he was named the running backs coach back in December. 

“Keith Bhonapha is an experienced, proven coach who has been a part of championship teams and has developed some very productive running backs that have gone on to the NFL," said Smith. "I have been on three different coaching staffs with Keith and I am very impressed with his football knowledge and expertise. He fully understands what we're trying to accomplish on the offensive side of the ball, and also has extensive experience coaching special teams."

Getting Wright would be great for Jonathan Smith, Keith Bhonapha, and the entire MSU coaching staff. As I said before, Wright most likely won't be a guy who could play right away as he would most likely be used in specific situations. However with a redshirt year and growing with the running back coaching staff, Wright could be a player who can help the Spartans in the long run with competing in the Big Ten.

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