Curt Cignetti just gave college football another reminder that the old rules don’t always hold. Indiana landed five-star wide receiver Monshun Sales on Friday afternoon, pulling in the nation’s No. 8 overall recruit and the No. 1-rated commit in Indiana history over Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, Texas, and others.
That kind of win matters well beyond Bloomington. For Michigan State fans, it should land as a loud message: if Indiana can do this, there is no excuse for a program with Michigan State’s history to think small.
Sales is from Indianapolis, so yes, the home-state pull helped. But that doesn’t shrink the size of the commitment.
He had his pick of the sport’s biggest brands and still chose the Hoosiers. Indiana, a program recently listed as the No. 54 program in the history of college football, is suddenly stacking the kind of recruiting and results that used to feel out of reach.
That’s what makes the comparison so pointed. Before Cignetti’s 27-2 stretch, Indiana had only two seasons in school history with more than eight wins, and neither reached double digits. Now the Hoosiers have won a national title and just landed their highest-ranked recruit ever.
Michigan State has seen a version of this before. When Mark Dantonio had the program rolling, he was taking top in-state talent like Lawrence Thomas, Malik McDowell, and William Gholston away from Michigan and keeping elite players home. The difference now is that Indiana has shown how quickly a program can build an identity, get buy-in, and start winning at a level nobody expected.
Maybe NIL helps. Maybe it takes more money to land elite players now than it did then.
But Cignetti’s formula was bigger than that: establish the culture fast, get the roster aligned, and keep pushing until the results follow. That’s the blueprint.
And that’s why Michigan State fans have reason to look at Indiana and think about what should be possible in East Lansing. The idea that only Michigan, Ohio State, and USC can reach that kind of ceiling doesn’t hold up when Indiana is landing five-stars and winning national titles.
Pat Fitzgerald has the juice to get the program back on track. That’s the belief here, and it’s hard to argue with the broader lesson Indiana just delivered: if the Hoosiers can do it, Michigan State should be able to do it too.
In Other News...
Jaxon Kohlers Next Move Just Got More Complicated For Michigan State
Jaxon Kohlers summer keeps giving Michigan State fans a reason to keep one eye on the roster and the other on the pro path. The former Spartan got a solid run with the Utah Jazz in NBA Summer League, coming off the bench and scoring nine points in a game that showed he can hold his own against NBA-level competition while still leaving his long-term plans very much in motion.
For Michigan State, the intrigue is bigger than one good night in July. Kohlers future still has multiple possible directions, and the next step could shape whether the Spartans are even part of the conversation if he decides to keep playing college basketball. For now, the only certainty is that his stock is still active, and his decision is going to matter well beyond Las Vegas. [Read more 🡒]
The 5 Returning Spartans Who Matter Most After MSUs Roster Reset
Michigan States football roster has been reshaped in a hurry, with 45 players leaving through the transfer portal and 32 newcomers arriving to fill the gaps. In a reset that dramatic, the Spartans are leaning on a small group of returners to provide some continuity, and that makes players like receiver Chrishon McCray, offensive lineman Conner Moore, defensive tackle Ben Roberts, linebacker Jordan Hall and quarterback Alessio Milivojevic especially important as the program tries to settle into a new look.
McCrays path back to East Lansing was not straightforward, but his presence gives the offense a needed known commodity. Moores value goes beyond where he lines up, Roberts remains a key piece inside when he is available, Hall brings both production and leadership, and Milivojevic is the one who can help steady the most important position on the field. In a year when so much has changed, those five are the returners who can make the biggest difference in whether the Spartans feel rebuilt or merely reassembled. [Read more 🡒]