Fans of Michigan State football and followers of recruiting may remember the name Cassius Peat. On Thursday, Peat announced that he will be making a second tour of duty with the Spartans and enroll at the school this summer.
@247Sports Breaking News: Cassius Peat @cassiuspeat is transferring back to Michigan State https://t.co/lKWgZoXUh3 @Spartans247 pic.twitter.com/5rNAnO7oe7
— Sean Scherer (@SeanScherer247) March 2, 2017
Peat as some may recall was a former 3-star outside linebacker from Tempe, Arizona. He signed his national letter of intent to play at Michigan State back in February of 2015. As most collegiate players do (particularly at MSU), Peat redshirted his freshman season.
Come summer of 2016, it seemed he would find his way into the fold for the Spartans on a regular basis. However, due to some “personal business,” Peat decided to return home to Arizona and was granted his release by head coach Mark Dantonio before the season began.
Peat reportedly committed hard to UCLA in September of 2016 and made an official visit to the school later that year in December, but never signed his NLI to play there. Instead, he opted to play at Pima Community College in his home state of Arizona. Peat reaffirmed his decision to return to East Lansing and says he’s always considered it a good home for him.
“Yup, I’m enrolling at Michigan State this summer,” Peat said. “I’m planning to enroll there for summer session one.”
“I always felt like I was a part of it even though I went home for a family reason because my coaches kept in contact with me and so did my teammates,” Peat said. “So I’ve always felt like I was in the program.”
“It wasn’t really me telling them, they’ve known,” Peat said. “I’ve been talking to them about it since November.”
Because Peat played the 2016 season at the JuCo level, he will be eligible to play immediately in 2017 and is a part of Michigan State’s Class of 2017 commits. He must sign his national letter of intent by April 1.
According to 247Sports, Peat is listed as a top-10 player at the strong-side defensive end position among JuCo talents making the jump to Division I in 2017. The 6-foot-3, 260-pound Peat is also listed as a top-15 JuCo player from the state of Arizona.
