Michigan State head coach Mel Tucker was at a video conference with reporters Friday when the Michigan High School Athletic Association decided to postpone the fall football season until spring 2021.
Michigan is not only delaying the season due to COVD-19 concerns – more than 10 states have already done the same – but what impact the decision will have on MSUs and Michigan’s in-state recruitment efforts remains to be seen. Four of the Spartans’ 11 commitments in the 2021 class are players in the state, while four of the Wolverines ’21 farms come from Michigan.
Michigan colleges are also targeting dozens of in-state players in multiple classes and may not be able to do in-game evaluations this fall.
“We’ve seen a lot of players play, we have a lot of offers and our offers stand on what we’ve seen players before,” said Tucker of the recruiting state. ‘I do not see that as a problem for us. The players we recruit, they know we want them and we will continue to recruit them. There is a lot of time between now and December and February and those signing periods. That we will continue to work, sell our culture, sell our process and connect with those recruits and connect with those parents. ”
However, national recruitment analyst 247Sports, Allen Trieu, said the postponement is likely to have more of an impact on underclassmen in state. Colleges in Michigan may need more talented talent that plays football in the fall instead of concentrating their efforts on in-state players. With the Big Ten and Mid-American Conference also postponing football, coaching staff will have more time to recruit in what would otherwise be a hectic season.
“In grades ’22 and ’23, I think it will affect the supply of children in state,” Trieu wrote in a message to MLive. “The kids who complete their lessons in these classes will in all likelihood be offered earlier. The good thing for Michigan kids is, in those classes they’ll have time to do that, and I think there might be some camp. be in the fall where they can get images from schools from. “
High school players could choose to move from the state to somewhere likely to play football in the fall, but Trieu said there has been no common trend in other states that have been postponed so far. Although Michigan and Illinois are one of the few Midwestern states to move the season so far.
“It’s obviously a big deal,” Trieu wrote to MLive. “Kids have to deal with possibly losing their seasons. It changes things for kids in every class. I expect kids to explore transfer options, but to Illinois, which moved to Michigan in the spring, not too many transfers have been made. still there. “
Through a program spokesperson, Michigan currently has no response to the MHSAA’s decision, but the team, like many other programs, is really following the high school football landscape closely.
Matt Dudek, director of recruitment for Michigan, tweeted Friday, “Search for all Michigan High School Football boys … bad news today,” he wrote. ” Opportunity comes from opportunity ‘… be sad today and start working tomorrow for that next opportunity! #GoBlue
Eastrelans’s Andrel Anthony, a 2021 three-star receiver committed to Michigan, planned to play his senior season and then sign up in early January. Now if he still chooses this route, it could be almost two years between playing significant downs of football.
“The whole recruitment process since the shutdown of the viruses has completely changed with everything and everything,” Anthony said in a phone interview with MLive Friday. ‘I just need to find out a little more with my parents and my coaches. We’ll see. ”
