Trieu: Versatile Minnesota athlete Terry Lockett a top Michigan State target
Michigan State hosted Minneapolis Minnehaha Academy senior Terry Lockett for a recruiting visit in June and the Spartans are looking to get him back on campus again for an official visit early in the season.
Lockett is a multi-talented athlete who is a dangerous receiving threat on offense and a cornerback with quickness and man-to-man skills on defense.
Also a very good basketball player, Lockett transferred to SPIRE Institute in Ohio last year and played football at Ashtabula St. John in the fall since SPIRE does not have a football team. Now he has returned to Minnehaha for his senior season and rejoins a team with several Division I football recruits looking to repeat as state champions.
“My first impressions of him were that he was fast, and fast in a football kind of way,” Minnehaha head coach Chris Goodwin said. “He has great football speed, is a smooth runner, has tremendous hands and he will catch anything thrown in his vicinity.”
The Spartans are recruiting Lockett as a wide receiver but cornerback would be a position he could play if needed.
“He would be one of our best corners as well as our best receiver,” Goodwin said. “We have another D1 corner on our team right now and he’s equal to him, as well. I think that's actually not a bad idea by a couple different teams looking at him for defense since he is so athletic. It’s a good fit.”
Lockett said to KSTP in Minneapolis recently he might attend Michigan State’s opener against Tulsa as an official visitor. Those fall visits will help him reach a decision.
“He needs to finish his official visits,” Goodwin said. “He has narrowed it to about four or five teams. He doesn’t have it in rank order, but Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Purdue are there.”
Lockett has family in the state of Michigan, which was part of his initial interest in the Spartans.
He will be balancing recruiting, school, and helping Minnehaha repeat this season. Their team of stars includes quarterback Jalen Suggs, a five-star basketball recruit, linebacker Kaden Johnson, a four-star prospect, and Lockett, who are all senior leaders.
“I think they need stay focused day to day,” Goodwin said. “There is a lot of buzz around our team right now on social media and so forth, so keeping them day to day really grounded. But guys like Jalen, Terry and Kaden, all those guys are very grounded and used to all the media.”
That type of demeanor is part of the reason Goodwin said the school who ends up with Lockett gets a good person as well as player.
“He is well loved by his teammates, quiet, not loud or anything,” he said. “He goes about his business in a workmanlike kind of way. His grades are really good. He can go anywhere.”
Lockett is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 3 overall prospect in Minnesota.
Spartans grab verbal from DeMarzo
It was thought that Hilton Head Island (S.C.) safety/linebacker Cole DeMarzo would end up in the Spartan class after recently receiving an offer from Michigan State, but the thought was that he would wait until a September official visit to do so.
DeMarzo wound up doing it earlier, though, and gave the Spartans their 13th verbal of the 2020 class.
"The Spartans were the right fit for me because of the championship level football and my family ties to the school," Demarzo said to 247Sports’ Steve Wiltfong. "I love the whole coaching staff and the mindset and energy of the defense. Coach Dantonio and Coach Tressel both believe that I can play STAR linebacker or safety."
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound DeMarzo is also an excellent student in the classroom.
He had 70 tackles, 11 pass breakups and two interceptions as a junior.
More information
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.