Michigan State got a bit of recruiting buzz on Saturday afternoon, even as the football side of the day took a hit with Jordan Hall being ruled out for the Eastern Michigan game.
The Spartans will have to handle EMU without Hall, but they also welcomed one of their biggest remaining 2027 targets to campus. Gideon Gash, the younger brother of Samson and Caleb Gash, is reportedly on campus with several Michigan State 2027 commits.
Corey Robinson of 247Sports spotted Gash on the sidelines and posted a photo of him with the Spartans’ commits.
Michigan State 2027 commits with Detroit Catholic Central Top 100 ATH Gideon Gash ahead of today’s game against Eastern Michigan https://t.co/Yh3G11pFtK pic.twitter.com/J5kVWFxaKd
- Corey Robinson (@C_Robinson247) September 12, 2026
That visit matters. Gash is a four-star athlete committed to Texas Tech, and if Michigan State wants any real shot at flipping him, it needs to sell him on more than just a Saturday stop in East Lansing. The Red Raiders are one of the best teams in college football, so the Spartans are dealing with a major uphill climb.
Still, getting him on campus is a real step forward.
On3 reported earlier in the day that Gash is trimming his list to a few schools, and Michigan State is among them. Texas Tech is there, too, along with Oklahoma. Even with his commitment still in place, that kind of short list gives the Spartans a legitimate opening.
If Saturday goes well and Gash gets time around Michigan State’s 2027 commits, then the Spartans can build on that with a strong season finish and, ideally, a bowl berth, Pat Fitzgerald would have reason to feel good about where things stand with the No. 53 recruit in the nation and No. 2 in-state prospect.
Gideon Gash could be Pat Fitzgerald’s first “big fish”
Fitzgerald has already picked up a couple of notable wins on the recruiting trail. He kept Gideon’s older brother, Samson, in the fold despite pressure from other Power Four programs, and he also landed the nation’s No. 212 overall recruit, Caleb Johnson, over reigning national champion Indiana.
But flipping Gideon from Texas Tech to Michigan State would be on another level entirely. It would give Fitzgerald a major early jolt in his first year and a clear statement on the trail.
That said, the Spartans probably need to get to a bowl game to make that kind of move happen, and that is no small task with Vegas setting the win total at 3.5. National belief in Michigan State is thin right now, but Fitzgerald has a chance to change that by proving the doubters wrong.
If Gash ends up in this class, he would be a huge addition - and potentially the first of many big wins.
In Other News...
Michigan State Faces An Early Confidence Test Before Notre Dame
Michigan State gets a quick chance to steady things at home in its second game of the season, with Eastern Michigan coming to East Lansing on Saturday afternoon for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff on the Big Ten Network. The Spartans opened with a 30-20 win over Toledo, a result that gave them a baseline to build on as they start stacking games before the schedule gets more demanding.
Eastern Michigan arrives at 1-1 after a loss to San Jose State, and the matchup gives Michigan State a useful early read on where it stands heading toward a bigger test against Notre Dame. Spartans Wires staff has already leaned toward a Michigan State win, but this one is less about outside picks than whether the Spartans can show the kind of consistency that makes an early-season confidence boost mean something. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Has One Chance To Silence A Familiar Letdown Fear
Michigan State heads into its matchup with Eastern Michigan carrying a very familiar kind of pressure, the sort that comes with being expected to handle business and looking for a cleaner night than some recent uneasy moments have offered. The conversation around the game has centered on Alessio Milivojevic settling in at quarterback, the staffs approach to keeping the offense steady, and how the Spartans can avoid letting a supposedly manageable opponent linger into the kind of game that creates noise.
Four Detroit News writers all see Michigan State winning, though with different ideas about how comfortable it might look by the final whistle. Eastern Michigan brings a familiar face in quarterback Noah Kim and enough coaching familiarity to make this more than a throwaway September stop, which is part of why the Spartans cannot afford the kind of flat start that fuels old doubts. A decisive performance would quiet some of that letdown fear, even if the larger questions around consistency remain waiting for another week. [Read more 🡒]
Spartans Showed Fight In First Loss But A Bigger Issue Emerged
Michigan States mens soccer team ran into its first setback of the season Friday night, dropping a 3-1 decision to Kansas City at Durwood Soccer Stadium. The Spartans never found the early footing theyd enjoyed in their unbeaten start, as Kansas City controlled the opening stretch and kept Michigan State chasing for much of the match.
Still, the Spartans did get a second-half response, with Luke Spadafora putting them on the board after Oscar Huerta picked up his second assist of the season. The fight was there, but the larger concern was how quickly Michigan State had to play from behind, and that leaves a familiar test ahead when Northwestern comes to East Lansing next. [Read more 🡒]