Michigan State 4-star WR commit Nick Marsh ready to 'stick it out' with the Spartans

Michigan State’s 2024 recruiting class has taken a major hit following the firing of head coach Mel Tucker earlier this fall. The Spartans’ pledge list currently features just eight prospects with National Signing Day less than three weeks away.

Last weekend, MSU announced the hiring of Jonathan Smith to be the new skipper in East Lansing. Trying to re-build the Spartans’ class will be one of the many tasks Smith takes on as he attempts to bring the Big Ten program back into consistent relevance.

One of, if not the top priority for Smith on the recruiting front is keeping River Rouge (Mich.) four-star wide receiver Nick Marsh committed. Marsh, the No. 115 prospect and No. 21 WR in the 2024 cycle — per the On3 Industry Ranking — is the lone blue-chipper currently pledged to MSU.

He took visits to Colorado and Georgia Tech following the firing of Tucker, but never backed off his commitment to the Spartans. Now, in a recent interview with ‘This is Sparta MSU’, Marsh seems closer to locking in his pledge.

“I want to look forward to what he’s bringing to the table, what type of coach he is, what can he bring to the table for Spartan Nation,” Marsh said of MSU’s hiring of Smith. “I was committed to the Spartans since July and they’ve been going through a lot of changes throughout that time, so with this new hire with the head football coach, I just want to see where it goes.”

Marsh is a priority for Smith and Michigan State

Since being introduced as head coach almost a week ago, Smith has been in contact with Marsh. While the relationship between the two is still new, Smith’s message to Marsh is clear.

“Yes, i’ve heard from Coach Smith,” Marsh said. “We just had a phone call, he was trying to get to know me personally, said he may be coming up this Friday to see me, have that one-on-one in-person, so just looking forward to getting to know him better.”

…He was just telling me that I was a priority and he really wanted me on his team…he was willing to do anything to keep me, so that was the main message I got from that.”

Marsh is now looking to set up another official visit with Michigan State. He’s already made upwards of six trips to East Lansing, including an OV back in the summer.

Other visits ‘didn’t feel the same’ for Marsh

Colorado had all of the momentum in the world earlier this fall, as the Buffaloes got off to a fast start in the 2023 season. Marsh visited Boulder at the beginning of October amidst the hype that was building around Deion Sanders’ program. He also took an official visit to Georgia Tech at the end of October.

Despite other options arising, nothing felt the same for Marsh. All signs continued to point to Michigan State.

“Going on other college visits, it just didn’t feel the same as being at MSU. I also brought a couple of friends up the other day and they were like ‘Nick, we realize why you like MSU so much. It feels like a brotherhood, a family.’ Being able to come up there and feel like that, I never got that experience from any other school,” Marsh said.

He had scheduled a return visit to Colorado in December, but opted to cancel as he didn’t get what he was looking for the first time around. A lack of communication hindered the Buffaloes’ chances in the long run.

“I went up there on an unofficial earlier this fall…I was thinking this was going to be one of the best experiences of my life, but everyone was just a little Hollywood,” Marsh said. “As far as like, communication, getting personal, there wasn’t too much of that … I wasn’t able to formally meet the receivers coach there, wasn’t formally able to meet Deion Sanders or any of the other staff, I was talking to the recruiting director the whole time. At this point, I was looking for a school that was going to make me a priority, and if that wasn’t the case, then I wasn’t too interested.”

Consistency paying off for Michigan State

Despite the amount of changes that have taken place at MSU over the past couple of months, the staff continued to show consistency in their recruitment of Marsh. As National Signing Day approaches, Smith and the Spartans now find themselves in a good spot to retain their top commitment in the 2024 cycle.

“Got some good news from the new head coach at Michigan State and was like, you know, I want to stick it out with these guys, because they’ve shown the most love, they’ve stayed the most consistent with their communication, why should I go choose another school that’s not doing the same,” Marsh said.

Marsh has an On3 NIL Valuation of $117K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.