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Sep 7, 2024; College Park, Maryland, USA; A detailed view of Michigan State Spartans helmet on the field before the game against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Injuries are Complicating MSU's Kicking Competition

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Jacob Cotsonika | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 9:00 AM ET

The competition to become the starting kicker at Michigan State is certainly going to go under the radar for some, as would any kicking competition, but injuries have severely impacted the competition in East Lansing with less than a dozen days to go before kickoff.

No matter who wins the job, kicker is going to be a question mark for the Spartans once the season begins on Friday, Aug. 29, against Western Michigan. None of the three players at that position on MSU's roster has much experience at all. There's also the added pressure of replacing Jonathan Kim, who holds the MSU record for accuracy on field goals (82.1%).

Between those three players, the starting job is expected to come down to redshirt freshman Martin Connington and redshirt sophomore Tarik Ahmetbasic.

What the coaches are saying

"Martin and Tarik have been pretty limited," said MSU head coach Jonathan Smith on Monday. "Tarik's been closer; he did some light kicking really today, and so by the end of the week, we feel he'll be closer. Martin might be (down) a little bit longer."

"The best ability is dependability and availability," rush ends and co-special teams coordinator Chad Wilt said last Thursday. "Can we be dependable and available? But for those guys (Connington and Ahmetbasic), it's getting to that point where they're really available and dependable."

Tarik Ahmetbasic

Of the three kickers, Ahmetbasic is actually the only one that has gotten into a collegiate football game. Ahmetbasic's lone appearance for the Spartans came last year against Prairie View A&M, where he converted a PAT and sent away two kickoffs, one of which went for a touchback.

Coming out of Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township, Michigan, Ahmetbasic was named a four-and-a-half star kicker by Kohl's Kicking.

Ahmetbasic has been with the program since the 2023 season.

Martin Connington

Connington redshirted last year as a true freshman but was a big-time recruit coming out of high school, as far as kickers go. Kohl's Kicking ranked him as the No. 5 kicker in the entire class of 2024 and gave him five-star status. He also slotted at 14th in punting, for good measure.

As a senior in high school, according to his MSU bio, Connington went 20-for-20 on PATs and 6-of-7 on field goal tries while attending Mountain View High School in Meridian, Idaho.

Blake Sislo

If neither Ahmetbasic nor Connington are available for the season opener, the Spartans would likely turn to Davenport transfer Blake Sislo.

Sislo had been a member of the Davenport football program for a couple years but never saw the field. He's another Michigan native that hails from Dexter High School.

"Blake's been solid, to be honest with you," Smith said. "We've operated the kickoff and field goals, and he's been pretty active."

"Blake Sislo has done an awesome job coming in here, and I've really seen a lot of growth and development out of him," Wilt said.

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