Trieu: MSU gets jump on UM, others for Khalid Kareem
The recruiting contact period opened Thursday, but Michigan State got ahead of some of the schools headed in to see Farmington Hills Harrison junior defensive end Khalid Kareem and offered him a scholarship on Wednesday night.
After adding offers from Michigan and Indiana on Thursday, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Kareem now has 21 offers to his name, but sees the Spartans as an important one.
"It's a really good offer," he said. "It's an in-state school I've watched growing up, so it's a great feeling and a blessing."
Kareem's first offers came from Bowling Green and Northwestern in the fall, and since then, his recruitment has snowballed quickly. Schools like Oregon, Penn State, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Louisville and Miami (Fla.) are now on his list.
He has familiarity with Michigan State, not only because of growing up inside state lines, but also because he camped last summer and worked with the staff -- specifically, defensive line coach Ron Burton.
"He really teaches the defensive line techniques, how to get off the ball and intensity," Kareem said. "He really gets after his players and I like that."
Currently without any teams in the lead, Kareem will visit Pittsburgh this weekend, then Ohio State, which has not offered, the weekend after.
He says he does not have a decision date in mind.
Kareem was an All-Metro North selection this season after registering 18 sacks for the Hawks.
Two uncommitted prospects in town
Several committed players will take their official visits to Michigan State this weekend, and they will have two undecided prospects to work on as Columbus (Ohio) Walnut Ridge linebacker Anthony McKee and Taylorsville (Utah) defensive end Mufi Hunt will be in town.
McKee (6-2, 195 pounds) visited the Spartans earlier in the fall and told Scout he may visit Wisconsin next weekend, but whether or not he does that will depend on how this weekend's trip to East Lansing goes.
According to Scout's Doug Kimmel, Hunt, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound edge rusher, has only just started hearing from the Spartans, but quickly set up a visit. He has additional offers from Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and much of the Pac-12. Because of a two-year LDS mission, if Hunt were to commit to Michigan State, he likely would not count toward the class of 2015, but rather 2017.
More information
Allen Trieu began covering the state of Michigan for Scout.com in 2005 and began managing the entire Midwest in 2009. He has been featured on the Big Ten Network on its annual Signing Day Show. His Michigan and Michigan State recruiting columns appear weekly at detroitnews.com.