Spartans Suffer First Massive Blow of 2026 Recruiting Cycle
Michigan State has been recruiting their home territory hard. Naturally, you are going to want your home state's top talent. That is a quick way to send a message and establish a foothold on the recruiting trail.
With bitter in-state rival Michigan seemingly peaking on the recruiting trail with the addition of No. 1 prospect Bryce Underwood and the flood of flips since his commitment in November, the Spartans will have to fight even harder to catch up.
The 2026 class is a chance to aim higher. 2025 was about establishing a presence in the state, making connections and advocating on the Spartans' behalf via hosting camps, visiting camps, schools, and learning the way of Midwest recruiting. It was laying a groundwork for the next class.
Interior offensive lineman Ben Nichols, of Davison, Michigan, is a four-star talent (by most evaluators) and the No. 18 offensive lineman in the class, per 247Sports. He was considered one of the top priorities for Coach Jonathan Smith in the 2026 class.
Nichols was interested in the Spartans and it looked like they had a very good chance until he left them out of his top four in early December. He just committed to Notre Dame, marking Michigan State's first loss of the 2026 cycle.
The 6-foot-5, 315-pound prospect has all of the right stuff to be a major Power Four starter and perhaps play on Sundays if he puts it together on Saturdays.
His coach, Jake Weingartz, compared him to former first-overall pick and NFL All-Pro Jake Long, who had grown up with Weingartz.
"[Nichols'] freshman year, when he started, he was probably 6-foot-4 at that point," Weingartz said."You don't see kids that are that big that are that athletic. My best friend growing up was Jake Long, so Jake's pretty much the same size as Ben, maybe a little bigger. But at Jake's age as a freshman, Ben was as athletic if not more. And I was able to see that as a kid -- being able to see that as an adult, I was like, 'Wow, this kid's going to be the real deal.' Just the way he moves, runs, jumps, goes side-to-side, most kids that are 6-foot-5, 315 pounds can't do that. It's very rare."
Nichols' commitment to Notre Dame is a big defeat. What it does for Michigan State's standing among their in-state talent is yet to be seen.
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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