2027 three-star Detroit safety/athlete Don Spillers III commits to Michigan State

It was a contested recruitment, but Michigan State is keeping 2027 three-star Detroit safety/athlete Don Spillers III in the Great Lakes State, as he announced his commitment to the Spartans on Monday.

MSU has pursued the Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School (Detroit, Michigan) standout for quite some time. The Spartans originally offered him a scholarship in June of 2025 as a wide receiver under then-head coach Jonathan Smith and wide receivers coach Courtney Hawkins after an impressive performance at Michigan State's 7-on-7 event.

Following the transition from Smith (who was fired after the 2025 season) to Pat Fitzgerald now running the program in 2026, Michigan State quickly re-offered Spillers in December of 2025 and he remained a priority for the Spartans. However, MSU started recruiting him on the defensive side of the ball as a safety under Fitzgerald, defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, safeties coach James Adams and the rest of the staff. Of note, Fitzgerald retained Hawkins on his 2026 staff and Spillers remains close with the wide receivers coach as well.

Spillers took his official visit to Michigan State during the weekend of May 29 through May 31, and he has taken several unofficial visits to East Lansing throughout his recruitment as well. He also took an official visit to Illinois during the weekend of June 5 through June 7. Spillers was originally planning to officially visit Louisville as well, but ultimately opted not to take that trip.

Sources tell Spartans Illustrated that Spillers returned to Michigan State for an unofficial visit on June 12. He was also in East Lansing on June 14 while MSU hosted a 7-on-7 event. Spillers committed to the Spartans shortly after those trips.

The Fighting Illini were considered the Spartans' biggest threat. Illinois and head coach Bret Bielema were recruiting Spillers as a wide receiver, but it was his relationship with defensive backs coach Corey Parker, a fellow Detroit native, that was driving things for the Illini. However, Spillers has even stronger bonds with the MSU coaches and has decided to pledge to the Spartans.

In addition to Michigan State, Illinois and Louisville, Spillers earned scholarship offers from Michigan, Maryland, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Southern Mississippi, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Toledo, Bowling Green, Miami (OH), Ohio, Massachusetts and others.

Spillers ranks as the No. 881 prospect overall, No. 63 athlete and No. 14 recruit in the state of Michigan in the 2027 class, according to the  247Sports Composite rankings.

Meanwhile, according to the Rivals/On3 Industry rankings, Spillers ranks as the No. 1,044 prospect nationally, No. 139 wide receiver and No. 19 player in Michigan in the 2027 cycle.

At 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds, Spillers is a versatile athlete who could have played on either side of the ball at the college level. However, as mentioned, Spillers is expected to line up in the defensive backfield for the Spartans as a safety.

With Spillers now committed, MSU's 2027 recruiting class currently includes 15 total scholarship pledges. Spillers teams up with fellow three-star prospect Ty'ire Clark as the two safeties in the group.

The Spartans also have 2027 commitments from four-star offensive lineman Caleb Johnson, four-star defensive end Ohimai Ozolu, three-star offensive tackle Jack Carlson, three-star interior offensive lineman Grant Adloff, three-star wide receiver Zach Forbish, three-star EDGE Lawrence Kanneh, three-star EDGE/defensive lineman Jack Schuler, three-star cornerback Cordaro Parham, three-star linebacker Henry Sakalas, three-star linebacker Matthew Brady, three-star quarterback Eli Stumpf and three-star running back Savior Owens.

Additionally, Michigan State has a commitment from preferred walk-on wide receiver Brendan Fitzgerald. He is the son of MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald.