Spartans land four-star LB Chase Kline
Chadron, Ohio four-star linebacker Chase Kline performed at a very high level this off-season and earned several new offers. On Tuesday he picked one of those schools and gave his commitment.
“I chose Michigan State,” Kline reported. “It came down to Michigan State and Purdue. I loved both universities and thought both coaches were great, but I felt at home more at Michigan State and I felt they would give me a little more opportunity.”
Since they offered him last month, Michigan State has been clear with Kline that they see him as an early contributor in their defense even though they have other linebackers committed in this class.
“Right now they have me fitting in as the ‘Money’ linebacker,” Kline said. “It’s their blitzer, their playmaker. They say I have the ability to line up on the edge and move me around a lot, which their Money linebacker does.”
Of Michigan State’s 14 commitments in the 2018 class, nine are from the state of Ohio. Kline spoke with several of those commitments, including linebacker commits Jeslord Boateng and Edward Warinner, leading up to his own decision on Tuesday.
“It was awesome to kind of relate with those guys a little bit,” Kline said. “Not a lot of school’s (commits) are willing to come out and recruit you at their position group. It shows kind of the character of they guys they recruit that the Michigan State coaches told them, ‘Chase could play your position,’ and they still recruited me. I felt very honored and these are really good, down-to-earth kids who want to win.”
Regarding the non-football aspects of his decision, Kline felt very comfortable on Michigan State’s East Lansing campus.
“It felt not too big,” Kline said. “I’m not a big city guy – don’t want to live in the city – and it felt like more of a non-urban set up. Everything was walkable and I really liked that about it.”
The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Kline is ranked as the No. 23 outside linebacker in the 2018 class. He earned position MVP honors at the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by adidas in May.