Michigan State's success got it on Madden Sanker's radar.
The Spartans went from 2-5 in 2020 to 11-2 in 2021. That drastic turnaround earned Michigan State and head coach Mel Tucker a place among Sanker's top schools.
The Spartans got the first crack at hosting Sanker for an official visit when he came to East Lansing last weekend. Rivals caught up with Sanker to go in-depth on the experience.
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On what questions he wanted answered heading into the OV: "We went up there before, got a lot of stuff answered. This time, we were looking for a lot of the players’ inputs and just stuff like life after football and what happens if you get injured and all that stuff. They were able to answer all those questions."
On which players he spent time with and what their message was: Geno (VanDeMark, offensive lineman), a kid named Ethan (Boyd, offensive lineman), and another guy named Brandon (Baldwin, offensive lineman). First, they were talking about how much they loved Coach Kap (Chris Kapilovic, offensive line coach/run game coordinator). They talked about how he was the greatest coach in college football and that’s the main reason they came to that school. Then they were talking about all the stuff they do on campus and how it’s a really busy place and how you’re never not going to find something to do, so that was good. They were all talking about life after football, all the degrees they let you get and things like that."
On feeling a Big 10 football-type environment on campus: "Oh definitely. You can tell they want to pound the football down your throat and I love that."
On Kapilovic: "He’s a really good guy. You can tell that he loves football and he loves to coach it. I think he’s one of the best college football offensive line coaches in the business right now. You can tell he knows how to recruit the guys he’s going after right now. You can also tell he knows how to develop. He can take three and zero star guys and turn them into NFL products."
On what makes Kapilovic a great coach: "He’s got really good energy. He can keep that going for a long time. He’s a great teacher. Me and him looked over some film. He just opened my eyes to a whole bunch of new things, new techniques and stuff like that."
On Mel Tucker: "We talked a lot. He’s a really good coach. You can tell that he’s a winner, so he’s going to win. You’re not going to go into the program and just be a four-win team. He’s going to make sure that you guys have double-digit wins, competing for that Big Ten championship year in and year out. I love that about him. I know he’s going to win and have that program on the run for a national championship."
On Michigan State selling that it's a program on the rise: "Yeah, they definitely showed that a lot. They showed a lot of their things from last season. They went from a 2-5 team in the Covid year to a double-digit win team, I think they had 11 wins and won their bowl game. It just shows what Coach Tuck has done since he got there."
On the most fun or unique thing on the visit: "Probably going to Coach Tuck’s house. He’s got an awesome house. He’s got a pool table, a golf simulator, a huge house, a basketball court in his house. That was probably one of the most cool things we did."
UP NEXT: The next three weekends will see Sanker take official visits to Arkansas, Louisville, and Miami.
Rivals Reaction
It's too early to call favorites in Sanker's recruitment. All four schools receiving official visits have a quality shot at landing the Rivals100 prospect. Georgia is also still heavily involved, although due to his proximity to campus it might be an unofficial visit to Athens. A commitment before the season is Sanker's hope, but this battle could very well extend into the fall.
