BREAKING: Rivals250 S Darius Snow commits to Michigan State

After a return to East Lansing for an official visit, Darius Snow furthered his family’s legacy. The Rivals250 prospect committed to Michigan State over TCU, Arkansas and Notre Dame on Wednesday.

Snow, a four-star safety from Hebron (Texas) High School, is the highest-rated commitment in the Spartans’ 2020 recruiting class. A year ago, Coach Mark Dantonio signed a trio of Rivals250 prospects and has now added one more to his current class -- and a ranked recruit from the state of Texas.

The Spartans have traditionally done good work recruiting the Midwest and, in particular, the home state of Michigan, but have not dipped into the Lone Star State when they signed three-star wide receiver Darrell Stewart out of Houston in 2015. Stewart is the only Texas prospect to sign with the Spartans over the past decade along with Jamare Mills, a tight end that took the junior college route instead.

Besides the obvious get out of Texas, Michigan State’s 2020 recruiting class lacked luster early on the recruiting cycle. A year ago, Dantonio’s class was highlighted by Rivals100 athlete Julian Barnett and Rivals250 offensive linemen Devontae Dobbs and Spencer Brown. The addition of Snow into the Spartans’ class looms large as a top-150 prospect who is also a top-10 safety for 2020.

The 6-foot-2, 212-pounder is a Michigan State legacy. His father, Eric Snow, played hoops collegiately in East Lansing before a career in the NBA. The athleticism carried over to the next generation, as Snow is an enforcer in the secondary. He’s a bigger safety who relies on a high football IQ to diagnose plays quickly and put himself in a lot of good positions to make clutch plays. He possesses excellent short-area quickness and is equally as effective against the run, where he’s a stout tackler and can deliver big hits in the open field and to pass-catchers trying to make grabs over the middle.

The Snow Storm does not hesitate to lower his shoulder and run receivers or running backs. He’s versatile enough to play center field or in the box, and could certainly grow into an outside linebacker in the Big Ten. Regardless, Snow can cover a ton of ground in a short period of time and fill multiple roles for Michigan State.

Snow released his official visit destinations last month and included Michigan State in addition to Arkansas, TCU and Notre Dame. He mentioned LSU and Alabama as possibilities for a fifth official visit.

The four-star was at The Hill to open April after a hard-fought push from the Arkansas coaching staff. However, momentum never truly materialized there. Snow made the return visit to Michigan State the following weekend, a campus he has frequented for over the years, but spent time looking at different aspects of the university besides football, which eventually put the Spartans in the driver’s seat to land a commitment.

It’s unclear whether the Rivals250 safety will still head to TCU or Notre Dame for official visits as originally planned. He was not supposed to go anywhere until the fall regardless. He was anxious to see Notre Dame host USC in the fall -- and still may -- and he has been to TCU’s campus numerous times in the before.

Michigan State had established itself as the favorite for Snow this spring. An early commitment was a bit unexpected, but hardly surprising given his longstanding connections to the university,