MSU Football Offers Unique Two-Sport Star

Michigan State offensive line coach Jim Michalczik is one of the best recruiters on a staff of very good recruiters. He is beloved by recruits who commit. He is beloved by ones that don’t.

Three-star offensive lineman Darius Afalava, a 2025er who chose Oklahoma over the Spartans, was a big fan of Michalczik. 2025 commit Justin Bell, of Macomb Dakota, said this of Michalczik:

“[Michalczik] never lies about anything, he’s always truthful to you on what happened. And basically, he really wants to be as truthful as he can, and not sugarcoat anything. And he’s always been a great guy overall. He’s always checking in on people, making sure they’re okay. He’s a really great recruiter, too.”

For Bell in particular, Michalczik’s ability to develop NFL talent was eye-opening. Michaczik is a renowned developer and the architect behind 2024 NFL Draft first-rounder Taliese Fuaga, who many considered a can’t-miss prospect.

“He’s had a lot of people come in and put in the work, and with his drills, his teaching, and his play-calling, he’s had a lot of guys develop to be great football players to go to the NFL,” Bell had said. “And I really can see myself being able to get developed under him.”

Where does all this come in? Michalczik recently offered 2026 offensive lineman Claude Mpouma. Mpouma has a unique story — the 6-foot-8, 308-pound offensive tackle who is also a prolific basketball player.

Allen Trieu wrote that when Mpouma first arrived at Phillips Academy, the prospect thought it was just going to be a basketball experience. His head coach, Ivan Simmons, said that changed.

“He was always interested and it was on his mind to try it, but no one really pushed him to do it,” Simmons said. “He came in and we had a conversation to talk about some technical stuff, lifting, training, and starting to go to camps and getting noticed. He did one padded camp. His first time in pads was at Lindenwood and now we’re in pads and scrimmaged several times and he’s driving guys off the ball.”

Now Mpouma has eight offers, including those from Florida State, Miami, Minnesota, and Illinois. Simmons lauded Mpouma’s traits and tools. And there are a bunch of them.

“I think he’s naturally strong and gifted in pass protection because he moves so well,” Simmons said. “He’s played soccer and basketball, so his upside with his pass blocking is very high. We’ve tried him at defensive tackle and he gets off the ball and shows signs of aggression. UCLA and Notre Dame came in and Notre Dame liked him more on defense but everyone else coming in says offense and his pass protection is excellent.”

Michalczik certainly thinks so. Mpouma is a raw prospect, but he has two more years of prep football to develop. Even then, if he were to arrive in East Lansing, Michalczik would have a lot to work with.

Michael France is Sports Illustrated’s Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.

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