Michigan State football is wasting no time making an impression under new head coach Pat Fitzgerald. This weekend marked the program’s first junior day of his tenure, and the early returns are already looking promising-especially when it comes to one intriguing prospect out of the Midwest.
Savior Owens, a 2027 running back from Massillon Washington High School in Ohio, made the trip to East Lansing for an unofficial visit. And according to reports, the Spartans may have taken a significant step forward in his recruitment. A crystal ball prediction has now been placed in favor of Michigan State landing Owens-a sign that momentum is clearly building.
Owens checks in at 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds, and while he’s still flying under the radar with no current rankings on major recruiting sites, he’s coming out of one of Ohio’s premier high school programs. Massillon Washington has long been a factory for tough, high-IQ players, and Owens fits that mold. He’s a physical back with a compact frame, and his offer sheet-while still developing-already includes schools like Wisconsin, UConn, Toledo, and a handful of MAC programs.
The driving force behind Michigan State’s pursuit? New running backs coach Devon Spalding.
Spalding recruited Owens during his time at Wisconsin and has clearly picked up right where he left off in East Lansing. That kind of continuity matters in a recruitment like this, especially when a player is still in the early stages of the process.
Owens’ familiarity with Spalding’s approach and vision for how he’d be used in the offense could end up being a major factor.
While it’s still early in the 2027 cycle, this is exactly the kind of battle Michigan State needs to be winning if they want to reestablish themselves as a Big Ten force. Owens may not have the stars next to his name just yet, but the Spartans are betting on his upside-and they’re doing it with a staff that’s clearly hitting the ground running.