Victory 4 MSU

August is finally here and we’re less than a month away from the kickoff of the 2008 Spartan football season. Fall camp starts soon, and you can smell the anticipation in the air. This week was all good news for the Spartans: the football team got another commitment from an elite prospect for the ‘09 class; Dantonio is getting some national attention for his recruiting success; two former Spartans have signed to play professionally; a new coach has joined the football team; and a few other tidbits about the upcoming football and basketball seasons are included in this week’s Spartan Roundup. So sit back, relax and enjoy being a Spartan while catching up on the latest…

Spartans Land Elite Lineman

Mark Dantonio got his 14th verbal commitment for 2009 on Monday when offensive lineman David Barrent switched his commitment from Iowa to Michigan State. Barrent had committed to the Hawkeyes before the current “situation” in Iowa had surfaced to the public. The turmoil in that program prompted David to seek more stable ground, and he found it in East Lansing. It was widely reported that MSU had always been his second choice after the Hawkeyes, so the choice of school comes as no surprise.

Barrent is regarded as the top player in Iowa for his class. He has a 4-star rating from Rivals and stands at a whopping 6′8 and 290 lbs. He is considered the #2 pass blocker and the #7 offensive tackle in the nation by scouting services. This elite prospect has the potential to be an anchor on the Spartan’s offensive line, possibly by 2010. His commitment brings the number of 4-star prospects in the ‘09 class to eight, joining four 3-star and two 2-star commits. Dantonio has said he will take anywhere from 16 to 19 players in this class, so 2-5 more prospects may join this class before it is finished.

Two Former Spartans Now Pros

This week two former Spartan athletes signed deals to play in the pros. Jonal Saint-Dic signed a two-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday after he had originally been released prior to training camp when he first joined the Chiefs organization. Also on Thursday, Drew Neitzel signed a one-year contract to play with the Artland Dragons in Germany. Neitzel chose to sign overseas for the guaranteed salary and to prepare to make another push for the NBA next year. I wish them both good luck, they each deserve a chance to compete at the highest level. Hopefully Drew can come back the the USA next year and showcase his skills in the NBA.

Football Team Adds Speed Coach

There’s a new name on the Spartan football team’s coaching roster. Randy Gillon will be serving a double role in the Spartan’s athletic program as both an assistant coach on the track team and as the first-ever speed coach for the football team. He began working with players in late May and will continue to do so for the summer and again in February and March. Gillon will work with players on strengthening certain muscle groups, performing stretches and proper technique to increase overall speed on the field. His addition to the team marks a new era in the program as it moves into the state-of-the-art Skandalaris Football Center just completed on campus. Dantonio calls the facility “phenomenal”. This new resource will have benefits for the team on the field and on the recruiting trail.

Dantonio and MSU get National Recognition

The Spartans received some positive national press on Thursday. USA Today did a story on Mark Dantonio’s success in the 2009 recruiting class. This class is really going to be something special.

From USA Today:

There’s another recruiting beast brewing in the Big Ten.

Sure, traditional powers like Ohio State and Michigan are still going to get their share of blue-chip players and end up near the top of the team recruiting rankings come signing day. But the recruiting job Mark Dantonio is doing at Michigan State is impressive.

Link: USA Today

A few other bits of info this week: The Spartan men’s basketball team will open this year’s Old Spice Classic against the Maryland Terrapins on Thursday November 27th. The tournament features an eight team lineup including Tennessee, Georgetown and Gonzaga. The games take place over a 3-day period and will be broadcast on ESPN 2 or ESPN U.

Single-game football tickets are now on sale for the 2008 season. All games except Notre Dame and Ohio State are available for $46 per ticket. If you didn’t get season tickets, this is your chance to get to some games this year! Let’s fill up Spartan Stadium and cheer for the Green and White! You can get your tickets by clicking here: Tickets

Finally, the Big Ten Network (which is finally coming to Comcast on the 15th of this month) has announced that it will be stopping by all 11 Big-10 teams for an inside look at fall practices. Michigan State practice will be shown August 19th at 9pm in a 90 minute special, and a separate half-hour preview of the 2008 Spartans will be shown August 24th at 6:30pm.

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading!

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Tags: David Barrent, Drew Neitzel, Jonal St. Dic, Randy Gillon

This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 6:47 pm and is filed under Spartan Roundup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.