Lewis, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound safety from Indianapolis’ Ben Davis High School, is ranked as one of the nation’s top 250 prospects, according to recruiting Web site Rivals.com, and also is rated as the 15th best safety and No. 5 prospect in the state of Indiana.

Lewis spent much of his senior season on the sideline after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) Oct. 9. The State News caught up with Lewis to check in on his rehab and find out why he chose MSU.

The State News When did you tear your ACL and exactly what happened on the play?

Isaiah Lewis It was just a regular season game and I was going up the field to make a play and just got hit and fell on it weird and went down.

SN What are you working on now, and what’s your timetable?

IL (On Thursday) I’ll be four weeks out of surgery; I had surgery Nov. 4. I’m off crutches and I’m walking around doing my rehab and working on getting the motion back in my leg and getting it ready to go. After that, I’ll be able to start strengthening my leg.

SN What would you say your strengths are as a football player?

IL My aggressive style is one of my strengths, and how I play with a lot of speed. Say, if there’s a big guy coming down the field or another star player, if he’s coming down the field I wouldn’t be scared to go and hit him. I can play football, size doesn’t mean everything. I think I’m a playmaker and a leader for my team on the field.

SN What are some things you need to work on?

IL Right now, I’m just focusing on getting my knee healthy and getting back.

By the time I get back, I’ll have to work on my football strength, my (defensive back) skills and just getting my strength back to where it was, and better.

SN Why MSU?

IL When I first came up there I just liked the coaches and felt like we really connected.

The players around there seemed like family and they treated me well. I liked the campus, and also their engineering program, and I guess that’s what I liked about Michigan State.

SN What are your individual and team goals?

IL One of my goals is I want my team to go to a bowl game. Watching bowl games on TV, it just seems like a good experience.

I want to be one of those guys who go down to a bowl game, help their team win and get one of these rings. Because at my high school I never won a state championship and I’ve never gotten a ring, so I’m going to try to get one when I go to college.