Michigan State coach Mel Tucker unbothered by negative recruiting, but won't engage in it
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State’s 2024 recruiting campaign is hitting high gear this weekend with at least 17 prospects expected to be on campus for a junior day, including eight with Spartan scholarship offers.
The Spartan coaching staff will be selling various aspects of the program, including the continued construction of the Tom Izzo Football Building.
But there will be no negative recruiting against other universities and programs. Mel Tucker says that’s not his style. Other programs may engage in negative recruiting toward Michigan State, but Tucker says that only helps the Spartans.
“Some of the negative recruiting that we get out there actually helps push players to us,” Tucker said. “It turns off the parents. They know us. We are selling our program and what we have. They appreciate that.”
Most of the negative recruiting takes place in the final days and hours prior to the outset of the initial signing period in December. Tucker says Michigan State smilingly withstood negative recruiting in late November and early December as the Spartans signed a class which ranks No. 22 in the On3 Consensus and was No. 3 in the Big Ten in terms of blue chip percentage (percentage of four- and five- star recruits) at 60 percent.
“When it gets down to the nitty-gritty and it starts to wind down and it gets pretty intense, then the negative recruiting comes out, and it turns people off,” Tucker said. “They (parents) say, ‘Hey, I know these guys. Why are you saying these things? It’s not true.’
“It really helps us. It’s still all about relationships.”
Tucker wasn’t surprised by negative recruiting at the end of the most recent recruiting cycle.
“That’s just typical coaches, they start reaching for straws,” Tucker said. “They say, ‘You don’t want to go there because of blah blah blah blah.’
“We had one kid that said, ‘You know, I was talking to their head coach, just having the normal deal, everything was going.’
“And I think the coach started to feel like he might not be getting traction and he starts bad-mouthing Michigan State.
“The (parents) said, ‘You know, that’s funny because when we asked Mel Tucker about you, he had nothing but great things to say about you as a coach and your program and how you have won everywhere.’ They just kind of scratched them off and said we’re not doing that.”
Tucker will get back to positive recruiting this weekend.
“I’m just selling Michigan State,” he said. “I’m in the Big Ten, Power Five, we have 638,000 living alumni across the world. I mean we have alums who own NBA teams. Why would I be talking about somebody else’s program? I mean there is just too much here. It’s crazy.”
Will there be any negative recruiting from Michigan State this weekend, this spring, summer or into next fall about rival coaches who have been testing the NFL waters for the past two years? No.
“I tell our coaches, don’t do that,” Tucker said.
