Early Enrollees Make the Best of a Challenging Semester
4/20/2020 4:59:00 PM | Football
By Eric Bach
For MSUSpartans.com
For Michigan State's seven new freshmen early enrollees – cornerback Angelo Grose, linebacker Cal Haladay, linebacker Devin Hightower, defensive end Kyle King, kicker Jack Olsen, safety Darius Snow and offensive lineman Justin Stevens – it was already going to be challenging stepping on to a new campus this past January.
They left high school and their friends early, were adapting to a more demanding college course load, and had to get up at the crack of dawn for winter conditioning and lifts with a bunch of guys they've only just met. They also had to adjust to a coaching staff change a month after they arrived on campus.
And that was all before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled spring football in March and April, pushed everybody off campus and moved classes online. These last three months have been nothing short of eventful for Michigan State football's early enrollees in the 2020 recruiting class.
"It's been kind of crazy, but we're doing good," said Cal Haladay, who arrived in East Lansing as the No. 1 inside linebacker recruit from Pennsylvania, according to ESPN and 247Sports. "We're really close as a group, they put us all together in the dorms, so before we had to leave, we hung out constantly. We'd go to lifts together, eat together, play video games together. It was good to have those other guys around."
The decision to enroll at MSU early has been in place for a long time, happening during their junior year of high school.
"It was definitely a hard decision to leave early, leave my friends, but for me it just made so much more sense both academically and from a football perspective to come here early," said linebacker Devin Hightower, who was named the Ohio Prep Sportswriters (OPSWA) Division 2 Defensive Player of the Year while playing at Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, Ohio. "Coach (Mike) Tressel really said that it was going to be the best of both worlds for me to come early though. I had to take summer classes after my junior year to have enough credits to leave early, but I'm glad I did."
The early enrollees arrived on campus on Jan. 5, and then after two months in East Lansing, went home in mid-March after the Big Ten suspended all team activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That means an uncertain future for all football activities moving forward.
For Kyle King, an all-state defensive end from New Palestine, Indiana, the time on campus with the team was valuable.
"The transition in the beginning was super smooth," King said. "The academic advisors kind of walk you through your first week and get you used to the college lifestyle. It's just a lot to do still with going to tutors, getting used to making yourself a schedule. I thought college life was going to be a little scarier, but it was smooth."
Michigan State was King's dream school. When former Coach Mark Dantonio offered him a scholarship and the chance to enroll early, he knew he couldn't pass it up. Even if that meant having an awkward conversation with his high school basketball coach.
"My basketball coach is also my counselor, so he was the one I had to meet with to make sure I could actually leave early for MSU," King said. "So that obviously meant I wouldn't be playing basketball. Me and my friend Max (Hook, an early enrollee safety at Toledo) were both starters on the basketball team, and we had to go in together and tell him we weren't playing. He was super cool about it, which was really nice, but I'm sure from a basketball perspective he was kind of disappointed."
New head coach Mel Tucker's staff wasn't completely set until late February, so the early enrollees did not have very much in-person time with the new staff before everyone was sent home. But they're still excited for the future.
"Coach Tucker is a great coach and he's got a lot of history in both in the NFL and college," Hightower said. "He's just trying to get us better."
The coaching staff has still been holding Zoom meetings to stay connected with the players while everyone is self-isolating. There's been a ton of film study and "mental reps," but there's no real substitution for physical reps on the field.
"The coaching staff has been really great," Haladay said. "I still feel like we're really connected as a team. We have our group chat and guys will send the home workouts they're doing and stuff like that. It's a big group effort to still make this time productive."
"We're getting tons of mental reps on Zoom and on film which is great, but for me I learn best while actually doing it and developing some muscle memory," King said. "We're doing our best to stay engaged in football though."
Having an enthusiastic new coaching staff helps that process.
"They really make you want to get excited and get hype with them," King said. "I feel like I'm still ahead of the game. We're just making the best of it."
For MSUSpartans.com
For Michigan State's seven new freshmen early enrollees – cornerback Angelo Grose, linebacker Cal Haladay, linebacker Devin Hightower, defensive end Kyle King, kicker Jack Olsen, safety Darius Snow and offensive lineman Justin Stevens – it was already going to be challenging stepping on to a new campus this past January.
They left high school and their friends early, were adapting to a more demanding college course load, and had to get up at the crack of dawn for winter conditioning and lifts with a bunch of guys they've only just met. They also had to adjust to a coaching staff change a month after they arrived on campus.
And that was all before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled spring football in March and April, pushed everybody off campus and moved classes online. These last three months have been nothing short of eventful for Michigan State football's early enrollees in the 2020 recruiting class.
"It's been kind of crazy, but we're doing good," said Cal Haladay, who arrived in East Lansing as the No. 1 inside linebacker recruit from Pennsylvania, according to ESPN and 247Sports. "We're really close as a group, they put us all together in the dorms, so before we had to leave, we hung out constantly. We'd go to lifts together, eat together, play video games together. It was good to have those other guys around."
The decision to enroll at MSU early has been in place for a long time, happening during their junior year of high school.
"It was definitely a hard decision to leave early, leave my friends, but for me it just made so much more sense both academically and from a football perspective to come here early," said linebacker Devin Hightower, who was named the Ohio Prep Sportswriters (OPSWA) Division 2 Defensive Player of the Year while playing at Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, Ohio. "Coach (Mike) Tressel really said that it was going to be the best of both worlds for me to come early though. I had to take summer classes after my junior year to have enough credits to leave early, but I'm glad I did."
The early enrollees arrived on campus on Jan. 5, and then after two months in East Lansing, went home in mid-March after the Big Ten suspended all team activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That means an uncertain future for all football activities moving forward.
For Kyle King, an all-state defensive end from New Palestine, Indiana, the time on campus with the team was valuable.
"The transition in the beginning was super smooth," King said. "The academic advisors kind of walk you through your first week and get you used to the college lifestyle. It's just a lot to do still with going to tutors, getting used to making yourself a schedule. I thought college life was going to be a little scarier, but it was smooth."
Michigan State was King's dream school. When former Coach Mark Dantonio offered him a scholarship and the chance to enroll early, he knew he couldn't pass it up. Even if that meant having an awkward conversation with his high school basketball coach.
"My basketball coach is also my counselor, so he was the one I had to meet with to make sure I could actually leave early for MSU," King said. "So that obviously meant I wouldn't be playing basketball. Me and my friend Max (Hook, an early enrollee safety at Toledo) were both starters on the basketball team, and we had to go in together and tell him we weren't playing. He was super cool about it, which was really nice, but I'm sure from a basketball perspective he was kind of disappointed."
New head coach Mel Tucker's staff wasn't completely set until late February, so the early enrollees did not have very much in-person time with the new staff before everyone was sent home. But they're still excited for the future.
"Coach Tucker is a great coach and he's got a lot of history in both in the NFL and college," Hightower said. "He's just trying to get us better."
The coaching staff has still been holding Zoom meetings to stay connected with the players while everyone is self-isolating. There's been a ton of film study and "mental reps," but there's no real substitution for physical reps on the field.
"The coaching staff has been really great," Haladay said. "I still feel like we're really connected as a team. We have our group chat and guys will send the home workouts they're doing and stuff like that. It's a big group effort to still make this time productive."
"We're getting tons of mental reps on Zoom and on film which is great, but for me I learn best while actually doing it and developing some muscle memory," King said. "We're doing our best to stay engaged in football though."
Having an enthusiastic new coaching staff helps that process.
"They really make you want to get excited and get hype with them," King said. "I feel like I'm still ahead of the game. We're just making the best of it."
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