One of Michigan State football’s top commitments for 2021 has decided to wait on making it official.
Oak Park defensive tackle Rayshaun Benny told the Free Press on Saturday he will not sign Wednesday during college football’s early signing period. However, he said he still plans to become a Spartan in February and join coach Mel Tucker’s program next summer.
“Yeah, I’m solid on Michigan State still,” Benny said. “They tried to get me to sign early. It didn’t necessarily make me nervous, it just more showed how important I was. But with me, I’m the type person if I got my mind set on something, that’s what I’m going to do. And there ain’t no changing my mind.”
Benny, 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, picked MSU over the Wolverines, Penn State and Kentucky. He had offers from a number of Big Ten and Power Five conference schools.
There were two motivations Benny, a four-star prospect and the Spartans’ top recruit according to 247Sports.com’s composite rankings, gave for waiting.
He said he suffered meniscus tears to his left knee during a car crash in mid-July. He was in the back seat of a vehicle that was T-boned on his side. Thinking the high school season was getting pushed to spring, Benny underwent surgery. Then the MHSAA changed direction about a week later and announced it would play.
Benny said he went to physical therapy three times a week, the maximum allowed, “so I could get back on the field and contribute” for Oak Park. The focus was to strengthen his injured left knee so he could move laterally.
“If anybody who know what happened to me during the summer, they knew how hard I worked to get back to playing football this season,” he said. “They know how important it was to me.”
The Knights — with Benny and three-star MSU running back commit Davion Primm — appeared headed for an early postseason exit after going winless during the regular season, (including a forfeit by Birmingham Groves). But they went on a tear with upset wins over Grosse Pointe South, University of Detroit Jesuit High and Wyandotte Roosevelt to reach the Division 2 regionals.
Then came the second shutdown. And the change to his signing timeline.
“When we got the schedule, it fell in line with signing period. And I was just so focused on football, that’s all I wanted,” said Benny, who was scheduled to play Livonia Churchill on Tuesday before the latest state health department orders. “So me and my family and my coaches, we just decided to hold off on it. And then they extended it again. But I didn’t feel like rushing trying to figure stuff out. …
“It’s more so with the whole fact that I planned on us playing next week. That just threw everything off. … Everybody else, they already were getting stuff settled and getting ready to sign while I was still in chill mode, thinking that I was waiting because the season was going on. I just didn’t feel like trying to rush and get everything in order, get everything organized, and try to make sure it was perfect. So I would just rather hold out.”
Early signing period runs from Wednesday through Friday. Signing period reopens again Feb. 3-April 1. The Spartans have 18 players committed for 2021, Tucker’s first signing class.
Benny might not be the only one who waits. Four-star running back Audric Estime from St. Joseph Regional High in Montvale, New Jersey — MSU’s second highest-rated prospect — told NJ.com last week he also plans to sign in February. He also said he continues to draw strong interest from Notre Dame, Penn State, Wisconsin and Iowa.
“Honestly, right now, I’m still committed (to MSU),” Estime told the website. “But I’m listening to other schools and what they have to say, too.”
