Michigan State Offers Elite 2026 LB
Michigan State's defense under Joe Rossi loves its linebackers. Thus far in the 2024 season, the standout defensive players have been the linebackers. Jordan Turner, Cal Haladay, Wayne Matthews III -- they have all been exceptional.
Rossi landed two linebackers in the 2025 class, Di'Mari Malone and DJ White, and he is looking to carry that momentum into the 2026 class. The Spartans have offered a bevy of linebackers so far and the most recent is Karsten Busch of St. Xavier.
Busch is 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds. He has a frame ready for major Division I college football. In Rossi's defense, he has the size to put on more and play rush end for Chad Wilt. We have seen this in several targets that play linebacker at the high school level but might be used as a rush end by Rossi.
Like any coach, Rossi has a prototypical linebacker. His scale varies. He said as much back in August:
"Long, athletic, and smart. That's what we look for and that's a sliding scale, OK. And what I mean by that -- if a guy's 6-foot and runs 4.4, that's cool. But if you're going to be a low 4.8, you better be 6-foot-3 and a half. So my point is -- it slides, but the ideal thing, if I'm just giving you three, it's length, it's athleticism, and it's intelligence. Not necessarily in that order."
Busch has 10 offers. Along with the Spartans, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Minnesota, Louisville, Purdue, Wisconsin and West Virginia are among the schools interested. 247Sports lists Busch as most interested in Kentucky so far.
The Spartans have offered 13 linebackers in the 2026 class so far. The "scale" for Rossi has varied.
Linebackers as big as Cincere Johnson (listed by some as an edge rusher), a four-star at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, and Samu Moala (6-foot-4, 225 pounds), as well as those on the smaller side like Colsen Gatten (6-foot-1, 215 pounds) and Andre Parker (5-foot-11, 190 pounds).
Rossi has found success with both blue-chip prospects and those that are high three-stars and average three-stars. Rossi is a respected defensive mind and he was one of the big reasons the Spartans landed Brady Pretzlaff, a star of the 2024 class.
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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