Michigan State recruiting notebook: The latest in Spartans recruiting
Just when Michigan State loses an athletic edge rusher, another arrives on campus.
On Friday, Spartans coach Mark Dantonio announced that
freshman defensive end Lashawn Paulino-Bell would transfer. Having arrived at Michigan State on the mend from a debilitating personal watercraft accident, Paulino-Bell did not play in 2017. He was then suspended for the Holiday Bowl and not even allowed to travel.
Paulino-Bell’s departure comes shortly after former defensive ends coach Mark Snyder left to take the
same position at Florida State. Snyder recruited Paulino-Bell out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and coached him during his short tenure with the Spartans, making his decision to transfer not entirely surprising.
The news came right in the middle of
Habakkuk Baldonado‘s travel to Michigan State for his official visit. The Clearwater (Fla.) Academy International defensive end, who originally hails from Italy, and his mother
plan to spend the weekend on campus.
Baldonado has come on late in the process, considering he arrived in Florida in July and has played for a school with an enrollment of approximately 250 students from kindergarten to 12th grade. But eventually schools found out about him, and he now holds offers from Central Florida, Cincinnati, Illinois, Nebraska, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, among others.
Michigan State has not yet offered, but the Spartans paid Baldonado two visits in the last week. First, offensive line coach Mark Staten met with him. And on Wednesday, assistant defensive backs coach Jesse Johnson checked in.
Michigan State has three defensive linemen signed to its 2018 class: 3-star Chaminade (West Hills, Calif.) defensive end Parks Gissinger and 3-star Olentangy (Lewis Center, Ohio) twins Jacob and Zach Slade.
The Spartans hosted 3-star Bolingbrook (Ill.) defensive tackle Dashaun Mallory for an official visit last weekend, and after Baldonado takes his official visit, they plan to bring in 3-star Rome (Ga.) defensive end Jamarcus Chatman on Jan. 26.