Michigan State has been recruiting Berrien Springs, Mich., lineman Phillip Paea longer than any school, and hosted him for another visit on Sunday.

“There was a basketball game and I just went up there with a couple teammates,” Paea said. “The atmosphere, you can definitely tell when it is game day up in East Lansing. All the students are involved and it is electrifying. I had never been inside the basketball (arena), and my first time walking in there I was amazed.”

The 6-foot-4, 277-pound Paea is now a hotly pursued prospect with a dozen scholarship offers to his name, but Michigan State found out about the three-star lineman by recruiting one of his teammates.

“I actually started off a relationship with them really young – my freshman year, actually,” Paea said. “My former teammate, Nick Padla, is playing up there now and I went up with him for a couple games so I got to build an early relationship with the coaches.”

When Paea was in East Lansing this past weekend he met up with Padla and spent part of the junior day with his former teammate.

“He came to the game and me, him and (offensive line coach) Mark Staten were just sitting, watching the basketball game and talking,” Paea said.

“(Padla) has been telling me if I commit to there, the coaches are going to take care of you. They are going to not only help you on the football field, but also off the field. They make it more of a team atmosphere where the guys look after each other. He said when he was a freshman he could talk to all the seniors and it was no problem.”

Michigan State was the second school to offer Paea back on Feb. 11. His first offer came from BYU last fall and he now holds several offers from schools out west, including Arizona, Oregon and USC. All of Paea’s extended family lives primarily in California.

“Definitely the fact of having family out west is a lot more appealing than just being out here by myself,” Paea said. “But, also I am just going to look at what college is best for me whether that is around here or out west. I am just going to keep my options open and check out every school possible.”

That effort will continue with several visits planned over the next two months. He will travel to Illinois in March and is spending part of his spring break at USC in early April. His current plans conclude with a trip to Oregon April 28-30.

“We’ll be out there for the April 30th spring game,” Paea said. “I’m going to fly out there with my mom and coaches, just make sure I get a good feeling of how it is out there. I want to talk to Coach (Brady) Hoke, get to know him more and build a better relationship with him.”

Paea is ranked as the No. 13 offensive guard in the 2017 class, but he could also project to defensive tackle in college and is being recruited for that position as well.