ESPN Midwest recruiting Blog

Posted by Bill Kurelic

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio certainly hopes to reap the fruits of his team's 23-7 win over Notre Dame on the recruiting trail.

Some of the Spartans' top targets attending the game included Detroit-Cass Tech teammates defensive lineman William Campbell and quarterback/athlete Thomas Gordon and St. Mary's (Orchard Lake, Mich.) tight end Dion Sims.

Some top juniors were at the game too, including defensive end William Gholston and defensive tackle Jonathan Hankins (Detroit/Southeastern). Hankins is the only one of those five prospects not currently holding a scholarship offer from Michigan State, and it may be just a matter of time until he also receives an offer from Dantonio.

Running back Edwin Baker (Oak Park, Mich.), wide receiver Bennie Fowler (Detroit, Mich./Country Day) and wide receiver Donald Spencer (Ypsilanti, Mich.) were among the Spartans' verbal commitments to attend the game.

"I liked the fans and the student section," Sims said afterwards. "Being in the middle of the field before the game was pretty cool."

Sims has been out of action since St. Mary's first game when he strained the MCL in his right knee.

"I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday," Sims said. "We'll see how it goes. I'm hoping to play this weekend, and if not, the following weekend."

Sims is considering: Ohio State, Georgia, Tennessee, Miami, UCLA, Michigan and Michigan State for football, and a number of schools for basketball including Iowa, Penn State and Michigan State.

Prior to attending the game, Gholston would not rule out a commitment to the Spartans before returning home. He liked what he saw in East Lansing Saturday and was impressed with the Michigan State defense but wants to continue looking at schools.

He plans to attend the Wisconsin at Michigan game Saturday and will likely attend the Penn State at Wisconsin game on Oct. 11. Ohio State, Illinois and Clemson are other schools on Gholston's list.

Midwest Notes
Minneapolis-Washburn tight end Ra'Shede Hageman had three official visits scheduled. He was going to Minnesota this past weekend when the Gophers hosted Florida Atlantic, then Wisconsin Oct. 4 when the Badgers play Ohio State, and Ohio State Oct. 11 when the Buckeyes play Purdue. However the first of those scheduled trips did not happen.

"The visit to Minnesota got rescheduled," Hageman said. "But I still went to the game. Coach (Derek) Lewis wanted to reschedule my (official) visit because he wants me to see all the recruits coming in from Texas and Florida. They couldn't make it because of the hurricane."

The 6-foot-6, 252-pound Hagemen watched as the Gophers remained undefeated with a 37-3 victory over Florida Atlantic.

"I saw the new Gophers," Hageman said. "They're 4-0. They blew them out. All the new recruits that have come in have been great. And the tight ends caught a couple balls."

Hageman would not say the Gophers are his clear leader, but they have the edge.

"I'm giving the Gophers a head start because I'm from here," Hageman said. "But I still want to take my visits. I still want to take a trip down to Florida too."

Hageman said his official visit to Minnesota will now be Nov. 8 when the Gophers play Michigan.

"I'll decide (on a college) in December after I take my visits," Hageman said.

The Gophers did not cancel all of the prospects from Florida scheduled to make an official visit to Minnesota over the weekend. Miami-Gulliver Prep defensive back Artice Kellam made his visit and liked what he saw. Kellam, however, did not commit to the Gophers and plans to take at least one more official visit before selecting a college. He will visit Ole Miss in October.