Sports: The 1996 Football Recruits Include Marquee Names
Last year, Nick Saban came late to the recruiting wars and still managed a class many analysts rated favorably. This season, his first full recruiting class has, according to the Detroit News, 'sent a clear message that Saban will go after the nation's elite players.' Indeed, the class boasts nine players who made someone's All-American list--Andrew Barkley, Richard Brown, Plaxico Burress, Pete Govens, Sedrick Irvin, Leroy McFadden, Gari Scott, Robaire Smith, and David Sucura.
Irvin, a USA Today first team All American, headlines a group that one sportswriter rated as MSU's best since 1985--the year Andre Rison, John Miller and others became Spartans. 'We expect to get them (nation's top players),' says Saban. 'There's no reason we shouldn't be a Top-25 school every year, and no reason we can't be in the Top 10, if we don't put limitations on ourselves.'
Having enjoyed great success in the National Football League, Saban remains a major draw for top football talent. But Saban credits his assistant coaches for working hard on recruiting and MSU faculty and administrators for making MSU an amenable place for athletes to come. In the near future, as the advent of an academic study center for athletes approaches, the MSU campus will likely become even more attractive to future student-athletes.
1996 FOOTBALL RECRUITS
LB Mike Austin 6'3" 230lb Xenia, OH
RB Andre Barkley* 6'0" 190lb Cincinatti, OH
DL Matt Bonito 6"7" 260lb Lima, OH
DL Ben Bott 6'4" 270lb Theodore, AL
DB Richard Brown 6'0" 186lb W. Hempstead, NY
OT Mike Brzezinski* 6'7" 315lb Etobicoke, ONT
WR Plaxico Burress 6'6" 210lb Virginia Beach, VA
PK Paul Edinger 5'10" 165lb Lakeland, FL
P Roger Fleenor* 6'1" 185lb Phoenix, AZ
DL Pete Govens 6'4" 270lb Concordville, PA
TB Sedrick Irvin 6'0" 210lb Miami, FL
LB Wes Kramer 6'2" 195lb Marine City
WR/DB Jason Klein 6'4" 195lb Sterling Heights
LB Jeremy Manns 6'3" 216lb Kenton, OH
OL Shaun Mason 6'5" 270lb Toledo, OH
RB Leroy McFadden 6'3" 230lb Eden Prarie, MN
RB/DB Aric Morris 5'11 190lb Oak Park
WR Dwayne Payne 6'4" 185lb Washington, DC
TE Kyle Rance 6'6" 220lb Troy
WR Gari Scott 6'1" 180lb Lake Park, FL
DE/LB Robaire Smith 6'5" 248lb Flint/Northern
OL Brian Stephen 6'6" 280lb Xenia, OH
OL Dave Sucura 6'5" 260lb Sterling Heights
RB/DB Shawn Wright 6'2" 215lb Shaker Heights, OH
* These players count as 1995 scholarships:
Barkley, a transfer from North Carolina
Fleenor, a transfer from Pacific, which dropped football
Brzezinki, already enrolled at MSU.