Top 2023 Juco offensive lineman set to visit Michigan State
Michigan State will host 2023 On3 three-star offensive lineman Keyshawn Blackstock of Covington (GA) Coffeyville Community College for an official visit this weekend. Blackstock is ranked the No. 5 overall recruit, and the No. 1 interior offensive lineman by the On3 2023 Juco rankings.
Blackstock was originally scheduled to visit Michigan State on Dec. 3. Instead, Michigan State offensive line coach/run game coordinator Chris Kapilovic travelled to watch Blackstock in the Division 1 NJCAA playoffs. Blackstock and Coffeyville Community College took on Hutchinson CC in the semi-final. Hutchinson won 38-7.
Blackstock played one year at Coffeyville and will head to the NCAA FBS level with three years of eligibility remaining.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound lineman has the flexibility to play across the offensive line and has experience at each position. He arrived at Coffeyville CC in the spring and began working with Cody Oates, the offensive line and assistant head coach. Oates previously spent time as an offensive assistant on the Missouri staff.
“When Keyshawn first got here, he had a lot to learn,” Oates said. “Just from a maturity standpoint an understanding of what it takes to be a college football player. It is quite the step for a kid coming out of high school, to mature as a football standpoint and learning how to play a technical position. Most kids with only high school only have a base knowledge of what goes into playing the position at a high level.”
Oates has an impressive track record of player development, having coached 18 players who moved on to four-year universities and 16 players who signed with Division 1 schools.
“Keyshawn has probably grown as fast as any kid I have had throughout all my years coaching offensive line,” Oates continued. “I knew Keyshawn would be a really good player, that is why I recruited him. I did not know he would be this good this fast. He came along a lot faster than I expected. A lot of that has to do with Keyshawn’s makeup. He has rare intangibles that not every kid has. His competitive nature, how bad he wants to win is remarkable. There are not many kids that have it the same way as he does.”
Oates believes physicality sets Blackstock apart from other recruitable junior college o-linemen. Blackstock also knows how to use his hands effectively independent of his footwork.
“Keyshawn likes to run into other people very hard,” Oates laughed. “He just really enjoys the contact portion of the game. That is becoming harder and harder to find. Other than that, Keyshawn moves his feet and his hands independently of each other better than most kids. If you think of a pass set, as you retreat from the line of scrimmage, but also have the ability to use your hands in a forward motion as your feet move backwards, it is a hard thing to master. He does that naturally very well. He is able to use his hands in pass pro phenomenally well. Not very many people have that god given ability to do what he does.”
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound lineman has the versatility to play across the offensive line, and has experience at each position.
“He has even played some center,” Oates said. “I made him play a lot of center in the spring. I mean he has played guard. He is smart enough to play anything at a pretty high level, just a darn good football player. Each school talks a little different. He knows it doesn’t really matter what position he is recruited as, as long as he is playing and developing into the best player as possible. I think his heart is at tackle. He has had a lot of success there. But he is smart enough to know if someone asks him to play guard to put the best five out there, he will do that because he wants to win games.”
Blackstock is serious about football, possessing a fierce competitive streak.
“Keyshawn is very business,” Oates said. “He keeps to himself. He and our starting center room together and you don’t really hear from them. It is football and school, and they are about their business. I think most of the kids on our team really like Keyshawn off the field. On the field, I don’t know if everyone liked Keyshawn. You will always get the same player whether he is his teammate or not, if you’re lined up across from him he won’t like you.”
Keyshawn has a likeable personality away from football.
“In the locker room he is a funny kid who likes to joke around,” Oates said. “I think the other kids respect his work ethic. I haven’t had very many who are as complete as Keyshawn.”
As for improvement, Blackstock will continue to work on lower-body strength and flexibility.
“I think he needs to continue to develop his lower body strength,” Oates said. “He needs to work on his lower body flexibility. Then I think he needs to continue to grow and change his body. Add some lean mass and continue to add good weight to his body. You have to be able to have the mass in your body to hold up for 14 games.”
Blackstock’s recruitment
“When we went through camp (I knew he would be a big recruit),” Oates said. “In the spring ball, I made him play everything. I didn’t really let him settle in at left tackle. We had another kid who was a good player too at left tackle. That kid went off to UAB in the summer, so Keyshawn slid over full time. As we went through camp, he was going against a defensive lineman with Division 1 offers without being beat. He dominated the first game and took it to another level. In the second game, he did things you don’t normally see, and that is when I knew he was going to blow up.”
As Blackstock continued to perform well, the last step was becoming academically cleared for the next level.
“He just kept playing pretty consistently and the floodgates opened,” Oates said. “Once he was ruled a full qualifier everyone and their brother came and offered. It has been really cool. You like to see good things happen to good people and he has deserved what is coming to him because he is a good kid who worked hard for this.”
After tallying offers from Oregon, TCU, Auburn, Florida, Oklahoma, and others, Blackstock released a Top 12 on Nov. 25;
Michigan State will be his third visit. He was offered by the Spartans in September. Through the recruiting process, Oates has formed a relationship with Kapilovic.
“We have spoken quite a few times,” Oates said. “He was at our game last week. We have talked on the phone, we’ve texted. He has done a very good job with communication during this process. Kap seems like a guy that can relate to anybody. He has been blessed to coach different guys and different backgrounds. I think that is very important. I have learned that you can hold the kids to the same standard, but you can’t coach every kid the same way. It is important for an offensive line coach to know what will make each kid be the best version of themselves and how each kid will learn. In the conversations him and I have had, he sounds like that kind of guy.”
Mel Tucker also visited Coffeyville on Dec. 7. Oates was on the road recruiting for Coffeyville, but Blackstock made sure to fill him in on the visit.
“I think that is always a good thing,” Oates said of Tucker checking in at Coffeyville. “It is always important. I know from my end of things, if I want to get a recruit, I bring the head coach with me. It just makes it a bigger deal. I know Keyshawn enjoyed his visit. We talked as soon as they left. I think it was an important thing to do before he comes up for the visit this weekend.”
Blackstock has taken official visits to Illinois and South Carolina. He originally was scheduled to see Penn State this weekend which is now canceled and replaced with MSU. Florida State is also in the mix for an official visit.
“Nothing else is officially set in stone,” Oates said. “He will technically have two visits left. I don’t know where he is headed yet. It has been pretty crazy. The amount of attention he has had, I think it’s been hard to narrow down. We will see what happens after this visit. I know he is excited about Michigan State this weekend, so we’ll see.”
