Trieu: Family connections reign for MSU targets

By Allen Trieu
Special to The Detroit News
Dallas Fincher

Michigan State prepares to come out of the recruiting dead period (which ends July 24th and then there is a quiet period until July 31st) with 15 commitments in their 2019 class which puts that group in good position heading into August.

With that, Spartan fans can continue familiarizing themselves with the next crop, the 2020 class. Here are a few names to know.

All in the family

Michigan State just received a commitment in their 2019 class from Tate Hallock, whose father Ty played for the Spartans.

In the 2020 class, there are several targets who have fathers longtime followers of the green and white should be familiar with.

Muhsin Muhammad III of Charlotte (NC) Myers Park is the son of former Spartan wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, who was a star in East Lansing before a long NFL career. The younger Muhammad is a 6-foot, 180-pound receiver himself who is rated a four-star prospect by 247Sports. He currently holds eight offers, including Michigan State. NC State, North Carolina and Tennessee are among his other opportunities. He has not set an exact date yet, but has mentioned looking to visit Michigan State with his father in the fall.

More: Mark Dantonio's top under-the-radar recruits at Michigan State

Carrollton (Texas) Hebron safety Darius Snow is the son of former Spartan hoops star Eric Snow and the nephew of All-America linebacker Percy Snow. At 6-foot, 216 pounds, he is already ranked as a top three safety prospect in the country by the 247Sports Composite, which averages rankings across several recruiting sites. His offer list reflects that as Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Georgia, Texas, Notre Dame and more have offered. He has visited Michigan State and the Spartans are a top contender here, but he also visited Alabama, Georgia and Notre Dame last month and has mentioned returning to South Bend for their home opener.

East Kentwood (Mich.) junior offensive lineman Dallas Fincher is the son of former Spartan offensive lineman Marc Fincher. Dallas is a 6-foot-4, 270-pound prospect establishing himself as one of the state’s best. The Spartans were one of his first major offers, extending that opportunity in April. Since then, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan have all offered as well. He did say at the time of his offer that Michigan State was a school he grew up dreaming of playing for and that he has a great relationship with offensive line coach and area recruiter Mark Staten.

In-state focus

In addition to Fincher, Michigan State has also offered several other homegrown class of 2020 players from around the state of Michigan.

They include Oak Park offensive lineman Justin Rogers, West Bloomfield safety Makari Paige, Detroit King wide receiver Rashawn Williams and wide receiver/defensive back Lemuel Neely-Watley, and Port Huron Northen defensive end Braiden McGregor.

As the staff continues to evaluate more players throughout their junior seasons and into next year’s spring and summer months, more offers could be extended.

Other names to know include two younger brothers of 2019 Spartan commits. Flint Carman Ainsworth quarterback Dustin Fletcher is the younger brother of defensive end commit Michael Fletcher, and Walled Lake Western defensive back C.J. Brown is the younger brother of offensive tackle commit Spencer Brown.

More information

Muhsin Muhammad III profile

Dallas Fincher profile

Darius Snow profile

Allen Trieu covers Midwest football recruiting for 247Sports. He has been featured on the Big Ten Network on its annual Signing Day Show. His Michigan and Michigan State recruiting columns appear weekly at detroitnews.com.