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Dantonio gives '09 recruiting class 'A' grade

By Cash Kruth (Last updated: 02/05/09 12:06am)

When MSU football head coach Mark Dantonio tells his players their hard work will pay off, he can point to MSU’s 2009 recruiting class as a prime example.

Dantonio

On Wednesday’s National Signing Day, the first day high school football seniors can sign a National Letter of Intent, the Spartans officially added 23 student-athletes to the football program for the 2009 season. Dantonio, who graded last year’s recruiting class “between a B and B-,” left no doubt what he thought about this year’s latest group of players.

“When you do your work, I guess you get the grade you were supposed to get. You get an A, and I’m grading this class as an A,” Dantonio said Wednesday in a press conference at Skandalaris Football Center.

“I say that because of the quality of player and the quality of academic students we have here, which will reflect in graduation rates down the line.”

MSU’s class — which includes seven players who earned All-America honors from various scouting services — is ranked as high as No. 15 in the nation by recruiting Web site Rivals.com. The Spartans signed 10 four-star recruits in the class and picked up seven of the top-10 ranked players in Michigan.

During a day in which dozens of high school athletes reneged their verbal commitments and jumped from one school to another, the Spartans managed to hang on to all 23 players who had verbally committed. Of those 23 verbals, Dantonio said 16 came before or by September 2008 — nearly five months prior to National Signing Day.

“None of our committed players visited another football team, and none of our committed players waffled at all,” Dantonio said while talking about linebacker Chris Norman (Detroit), one of MSU’s first verbal commitments.

“They all stayed strong, and that’s a commitment to not only this university but to their high schools, the people they represent back home, and it’s a statement on the relationship and the trust we built here.”

Three members of the 2009 class — defensive end Corey Freeman and wide receivers Donald Spencer and Patrick White — already have embraced their new home by enrolling in classes at MSU this spring, while other members of the class have been in regular contact with one another.

Future MSU offensive lineman David Barrent (West Des Moines, Iowa), who Rivals ranked as the No. 1 player in Iowa and the ninth-best offensive tackle in the nation, said he exchanged text messages with offensive lineman Nate Klatt (Clinton, Ohio) and quarterback Andrew Maxwell (Midland, Mich.) Wednesday after each signed his Letter of Intent.

Barrent, who originally verbally committed to Iowa before deciding on MSU, said he believes this class can live up to Dantonio’s “A” grade and help land even more talented recruiting classes in the future.

“Coach Dantonio’s done a great job recruiting,” Barrent said. “With my class, we obviously have talent, we just need to go in and put the work in, and we have unlimited potential.”

Barrent said of Dantonio: “He’s done a great job with our class, but it’s only the beginning and he’s going to strive to get even better recruiting classes.”

Originally Published: 02/04/09 11:39am