Michigan State Snags 4-Star Wide Receiver Aaron Burbridge and 3-Star Safety

The Michigan State Spartans have quietly been putting together a solid recruiting class. Their arch rival Michigan Wolverines have been making the biggest splashes this offseason, but the Spartans managed to steer a top prospect away from the Wolverines last Thursday.

Four-star wide receiver Aaron Burbridge (Farmington Hills, MI), who is the No. 134 overall prospect and No. 2 ranked player in the state of Michigan according to Rivals.com, gave a verbal commitment to Mark Dantonio and his staff. Burbridge chose the Spartans over his other finalist Michigan.

The timing of Burbridge's decision came as a surprise to his head coach John Herrington.

"He didn't really mention anything in particular (about being close to committing)," the Harrison head coach told Jim Comparoni of SpartanMag.com. "He is a pretty quiet, humble kid. I'm just glad that he called me; he doesn't usually say much."

The 6'1" and 175-pound receiver has elite speed, which has been timed electronically at 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash, but needs a lot of work academically in order to be eligible to play for Michigan State in 2012.

"Committing is not the big thing, it's getting his grades," Herrington said. "If he can get the grades, it would be awesome. He got two A's in summer school so that'll help but he has a long way to go."

The Harrison High School star receiver's decision likely came down to academics. 

Michigan is an extremely rigorous school academically (Michigan State is tough as well, but not quite as much as Michigan) and if he is struggling to keep up with high school work he would likely be in deep trouble at Michigan.

Regardless, it is a big pickup for the Spartans, but now fans will have to wait and see whether or not Burbridge can fulfill his obligations as a student and not just an athlete.

Shortly after Burbrdige's commitment on Thursday, 3-star safety Jermaine Edmonson (Canton, OH) told Matt Dorsey of SpartanMag.com he too will be playing for Michigan State in 2012.

"Yes I committed to Michigan State," Edmonson said. "I talked with my coach and then I sat down with my dad and we went over all the pluses and minuses of each school and Michigan State came out on top. I just really liked everything about the school."

The McKinley High School standout chose the Spartans over Nebraska and Louisville and will join his current teammate Se'von Pittman (Canton, OH) in East Lansing next season.

"Yes, he was real excited for me," Edmonson said. "He was proud of my decision and we talked about how we are going to do great things at Michigan State."

The Spartans now have 13 commitments in their 2012 recruiting class, which was recently ranked No. 19 in the Rivals.com team rankings.

Zach Dirlam is a Big Ten Columnist for the new website Sports at Work. Check out his blog, Dirlam’s Dirty Dugout Sports Blog, which features this story along with other articles and video reports on the major sports. You can also follow his blog on Twitter, @DirtyDugoutBlog, which will provide you with the latest updates about what will be posted on the blog!