The day Mel Tucker was hired as Michigan State’s new football coach, basketball coach Tom Izzo was one of the university officials who introduced him on stage.
Now nearly a year later, the two coaches teamed up to help land the same recruit.
Keon Coleman, a 2021 three-star wide receiver from Opelousas Catholic School in Louisiana, signed with the Spartans on Wednesday. He is a scholarship football signee who also intends on playing basketball at Michigan State.
“I love guys that play multiple sports,” Tucker said on Wednesday. “If you can play two sports at the Power Five level, you’re a heck of an athlete and those are the type of guys that we’re looking for.”
Coleman, 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds, is listed as the No. 62 wide receiver and No. 378 player overall in the 2021 class, according to 247Sports Composite rankings. He had more than 40 offers and in December listed Michigan State among his top nine schools, along with Texas, USC, Ole Miss and others.
Michigan State signed 18 players during the early period in December but no receivers. Coleman was the lone player to sign with the Spartans on Wednesday – the first day of the traditional signing period.
“Keon is a very special player,” Tucker said. “He’s tall, he’s long, he has a very good build for a receiver. Very smooth and athletic, strong release off the ball. He gets open with speed, quickness, size, instincts and awareness. He has the athletic ability to out-jump defenders for the ball, he has outstanding ball skills, very natural and confident hands. He has a wide catch radius, very friendly to the quarterback. He’s very effortless in his pass routes and his ability to go and attack the football. He can run the entire route tree, he can play inside or outside. His upside is through the roof.”
In addition to being a high-level football recruit, Coleman also reported scholarship offers in basketball, including from Virginia Tech, Louisiana and Jackson State. The guard is averaging more than 30 points per game this season and scored 63 in a game in January. Coleman’s goal is to play two sports in college and that’s where Izzo stepped in to help bring him to East Lansing.
“Tom was very instrumental,” Tucker said. “He’s very instrumental and we have a history of two-sport athletes, we have a history of football players also playing basketball so that really helped.”
Rayshaun Benny’s flip to Michigan a significant loss for Michigan State
Tucker was a graduate assistant at Michigan State when Lorenzo Guess, now the program’s associate head strength and conditioning coach, played football and basketball. Deon Curry, a wide receiver and guard, was the last to play both for the Spartans and closed his basketball career in the 2006-07 season. Others have come since then with the hope of suiting up for both teams, including Khari Willis, who also had Division I basketball offers. Willis never played basketball for the Spartans but became a starting safety, was picked in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft and just wrapped up a standout second season with the Colts.
It’s obviously difficult to play multiple sports in college but Tucker believes Coleman has the talent to pull it off and that was a key part of his recruitment.
“It was very important,” Tucker said. “You go on YouTube or go on Twitter and check out some of his basketball highlights, you can see why. He’s a legitimate basketball player. He can really light it up out there and he’s a two-sport athlete. There’s not a whole bunch of those guys out there that can do it at the Power Five level but he’s certainly a player that can do that.”
There’s overlap between the football and basketball schedules that needs to be addressed but those challenges can be overcome. Sophomore Adam Berghorst is pulling double duty as a tight end and pitcher for the Spartans and deals with a pair of sports that have conflicting obligations.
“It’s just all about communication, getting out the calendar, mapping things out and the key is to make sure that the player never gets caught in the middle,” Tucker said. “We want to make sure that the player, or the student-athlete, doesn’t feel conflicted. Our programs have to work together as a team and do what’s best for the student-athlete. I’m really excited about it. I think it’s going to be great.”
Michigan State’s pursuit of Coleman was complicated by a few factors. The program has very limited history recruiting Louisiana and lists only five all-time lettermen from the state but Tucker’s staff has ties there. Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson and running backs coach William Peagler both worked at schools in Louisiana and graduate assistant Cordae Hankton in a New Orleans native who coached high school there after serving as a police officer in the city for five years. Another hurdle to landing Coleman came when he committed to Kansas in July before decommitting in October.
“We’ve never gotten off Keon,” Tucker said. “Even when he committed to Kansas, we wished him well but asked him if it was OK for us to continue to recruit him. He said that it was and we stayed in constant communication and it was a relentless effort to continue to put our best foot forward and continue to recruit him. And at the end of the day, he felt like this was the best place for him.”
Related Michigan State football stories:
Michigan State TE Matt Dotson returning for another season while outlook for others is unclear
Former Michigan State LB Luke Fulton transfers to Kentucky
Oak Park 4-star DT Rayshaun Benny decommits from MSU, signs with Michigan
How Alabama LB Carson Casteel went from staying close to home to signing with Michigan State
Article From & Read More ( Mel Tucker and Tom Izzo team up to land two-sport star Keon Coleman with upside ‘through the roof’ - MLive.com )https://ift.tt/39L7u5e
Sport
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Mel Tucker and Tom Izzo team up to land two-sport star Keon Coleman with upside ‘through the roof’ - MLive.com"
Post a Comment