Michigan State and Coach Jonathan Smith are continuing a busy June with more scholarship offers to talented players nationwide.
In his first offseason in East Lansing, Coach Smith has done an admirable job finding talent nationwide that the Spartans had a realistic chance of signing. Smith and his coaching staff focused on the defensive line with two of their latest scholarship offers.
The Spartans recently offered a scholarship to a talented edge rusher from North Carolina. Smith has continued using the recruiting trail to bolster the Spartans’ roster along the offensive and defensive lines. Some of the most talented players he has offered scholarships to have been on Michigan State’s respective lines.
Michigan State football has extended Donovan Darden of Havelock, North Carolina.
Darden recently announced the scholarship offer from Michigan State on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Extremely blessed after a great talk to have received an offer from Michigan State University,” Darden said.
According to 247Sports, Darden is a three-star defensive end in the 2025 recruiting class. He is ranked as the 43rd-best edge rusher in the 2025 class and the 16th-best player from North Carolina. Darden would undoubtedly be a welcomed addition to the Spartans’ defensive line.
Michigan State joins a list of formidable football programs nationwide that have offered Darden a scholarship. These include NC State, Illinois, South Carolina, Pitt, Missouri, West Virginia and Boston College, among others. Coach Smith and the Spartans arguably have one of the best situations of all those schools. Darden will have a lot to consider when deciding on what school he will attend.
However, NC State would give Darden a chance to stay in his home state, and South Carolina would provide Darden an opportunity to stay close to home and against better competition. Still, Michigan State could give Darden more playing time sooner than any of the schools, which may be a selling point for Darden. Smith and his coaching staff will have a realistic shot at Darden, but they must find a way to stand out against the many other schools offering a scholarship to the talented defensive lineman.
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EZEKIEL TREZEVANT
Ezekiel is a former Sports Editor from the Western Herald and former Atlanta Falcons beat writer.
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