Trieu: MSU among flood of offers for Pioneer star Simmons
Ann Arbor Pioneer is 5-1 and one win from securing a playoff berth. Standing in Pioneer's way this week is crosstown rival Skyline, and with that looming, Antjuan Simmons is not overly concerned with recruiting at the moment.
It is difficult for him to get away from it though, as he is arguably the hottest prospect in the country, adding 13 offers in the span of two weeks. Notre Dame got it kicked off and Ohio State, Wisconsin, Miami (Fla.) and more soon followed.
On Wednesday morning, Michigan State became the latest school to offer. They have become a program he is very familiar with, taking several visits to East Lansing over the last year, most recently for the Spartans' home win over Oregon.
A versatile running back and hard-hitting linebacker, the door is open for the 6-foot-1, 205-pound Simmons to play either should he come to East Lansing.
"His work ethic is incredible," says Daryl Graham, who trains Simmons at Developing Great Athletes. "When he came to our training, the coaches were like, 'Who is that kid?' And it wasn't his size, it was that everybody noticed his effort. If I said 15 seconds (as a time limit for completing a drill), he would try to make it 14. Even when he was tired, he would try to make that time regardless, and he also showed leadership. Even our older players said, 'Man, this kid is leading,' so he's a natural leader."
Trieu: Nebraska commit Alexander will get close look at UM
Simmons will visit Ohio State this weekend and returning to East Lansing at some point in the relatively near future is a strong possibility. For now, though, he will continue to focus on Pioneer football first, although that is not likely to stop the flood of offers.
"He's playing everything by ear, and the main thing he is focusing on is the season and taking his team to a state title," Graham says. "After that is done, we can sit down and go from there."
Four-star Florida OL looks to visit
Michigan State might still add another offensive lineman to its 2016 class, and one prospect who may be more of a serious possibility than previously thought is massive Fort Pierce (Fla.) Central product Stewart Reese (6-6, 333 pounds).
"Florida State, Nebraska, Georgia, and probably Michigan State," he told Scout's Corey Bender. "I was looking at UCLA and I'm going to have to take a trip out there to see if their school is anything I'd consider."
Reese has done some research on the Spartans and it was the classroom portion that stood out.
"I looked up the academic part of their program and it's real good," Reese said. "I like their program."
Hill visits again
Ohio State commit George Hill, a senior running back from Hubbard (Ohio) High, was at Michigan State for his second visit of the season last Saturday when the Spartans took down Purdue.
He had a chance to see former teammate LJ Scott earn Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors after rushing for 146 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
"LJ keeps trying to get me to switch to Michigan State, but I'm 100 percent committed to Ohio State," Hill said to Scout's Bill Greene. "It's good to see him because we are such good friends and he's doing so well there as a freshman. It was a good choice for him."
Hill added that he will visit Ohio State two more times this season, including their Nov. 21 clash with the Spartans.
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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.