Spartan Fans, Don't Sleep on the 3-Star Recruit
Michigan State secured its third 2025 commit on Sunday in three-star linebacker Di'Mari Malone. Malone joins three-star quarterback Leo Hannan and three-star linebacker DJ White.
Michigan State hopes to secure other 2025 targets such as three-star athlete Desmond Straughton, three-star tight end Jayden Savoury and three-star offensive lineman Drew Nichols, to name a few. Those three players have also shown interest in Michigan State.
247Sports is at the top of the recruiting industry. The site explains a three-star recruit and what goes into the grade:
"When it comes to the three-stars, this is where a bulk of college football players will be ranked ... a prospect with a grade of an 89 can be a really, really good college football player and potentially even an NFL Draft pick. The same goes for an 88 or an 87. We always get asked why isn't this prospect a four-star? Well, if we made everyone a four-star, then the question would quickly become, why isn't this prospect a five-star? At some point you have to draw a line in the sand and take your calculated shots, and I think we are as equipped as anyone when it comes to having a grasp on the class nationally."
It is key to look at the player grade, rather than the amount of stars, too.
247Sports' highest possible grade is 110 -- it has never been reached. Baltimore Ravens All-Pro Jadeveon Clowney is the highest-graded player in the site's history with a 105.
The four-star rating spans the grade range 90 to 97.
247Sports says that an 89 graded three-star "should be valued as much as a four-star 90, and opinions are likely split as to whether or not that prospect should have a fourth star ... These are prospects with redeeming qualities that we think can get drafted or work their way into an NFL camp ... multi-year starters and impact players at the Power Four level."
88 grades project as "multi-year starters at the Power Four level and potential difference-makers with NFL upside." An 87 grade, per 247Sports, has long-term potential to be an impact player as well.
Hannan has an 89 grade, White has an 87. Malone's grade -- 88.
Highly graded three-star recruits -- such as Michigan State's three 2025 commits, have plenty of potential. It is also worth noting that these are grades given to 17- and 18-year-olds with plenty of maturity and development to go. Some boom, some bust.
One of the greatest players in recent memory for the Spartans, Thorpe Award-winning cornerback Darqueze Dennard, was a three-star recruit.
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MICHAEL FRANCE