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Yet another Orchard Lake St. Mary’s football player has committed to Michigan State.
Antonio Johnson, who helped St. Mary’s win its Division 2 MHSAA state championship in November, announced his commitment to the Spartans via social media Friday afternoon.
247Sports’ composite ranks Johnson as a three-star recruit, the 16th best in the state of Michigan and 73rd interior offensive lineman in the country.
Weighing in at 6-foot-4 and 285 pounds, Johnson joins three teammates in the Spartans’ recruiting class: tight end Jayden Savoury and linebacker DJ White, who were part of an 11-player early signing day class Dec. 4, as well as wide receiver commit Bryson Williams, who is expected to sign with the team at the regular signing period Feb. 5.
Johnson’s commitment comes as Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith turns his recruiting efforts closer to home. At the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association’s coaches clinic, Smith said he planned to recruit more in-state players over the coming weeks. Johnson appears to be a success story of that strategy.
Michigan State’s freshman class includes two other offensive linemen — the 6-foot-4, 280-pound Drew Nichols of Murrieta, Calif., and 6-foot-6, 285-pound Justin Bell of Macomb Dakota. Bell was a mid-year enrollee who is already on campus.
Those freshmen will probably factor in longer term with the Spartans, who used the transfer portal extensively to build up next season’s offensive line.
Smith and offensive line coach Jim Michalczik recruited one of the highest-rated linemen in the Football Championship Subdivision in tackle Conner Moore (Montana State). They also earned the pledges of Luka Vincic (Oregon State), Matt Gulbin (Wake Forest) and Caleb Carter (Western Carolina).
“We need to create more competition in that room,” Smith said Jan. 17. “We feel really good about what we landed there.”
With Johnson in the fold, Michigan State continues to add to that room, as well as its pipeline from one of the state’s top programs.