Michigan State has one fewer signee in its 2017 football recruiting class than it thought it would going into today. Nobody decommited, but Donovan Winter, a three-star defensive end, couldn’t sign with the school today because he was in jail.
Winter was arrested Monday night and charged with burglary and larceny of a firearm. He was still in jail the morning of signing day, according to the Orlando Sentinel, and the paper reported that he is no longer a student at Bishop Moore High School. Nobody in the media knew Winter wouldn’t be signing until the morning of signing day, either. Bishop Moore’s coach simply told the Sentinel this morning, “No, he’s not signing. Long story.”
Given that Winter is no longer in high school, his future with the Spartans, and in college football, is (at best) up in the air.
Donovan is a considerable loss for the Michigan State program on the field. Despite being just a three-star recruit, he had an impressive offer list that included Michigan and Tennessee. Ironically, in a year when in-state rival has dominated recruiting, the Detroit News said that MSU is “counting character more than stars.” Oops.
This has been another segment in the crazy world that is college football recruiting.
