Was MSU out of the Moa Race Before His Commitment?

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Caleb Sisk | Last updated Aug 2, 2025 3:38 PM ET

The Michigan State Spartans have been building to their 2026 class, wich was once was behind par. They could've been in a much worse shape, but the staff took their four commits in the month of May and before, and turned it into over 20 commits, which is where we sit today. They have landed many different targets in the class that were near the top of not only their board, but also other programs' boards as well.

While landing these targets is a huge deal, they have missed on their fair share of targets as well, but none hurt more than losing out on five-star ATH Salesi Moa. He was the Spartans' top target in the class, regardless of whether they landed the player or not, but committed to play for the Tennessee Volunteers on Thursday.

This decision came as a shock, which is what Sisk claimed, as he confirmed the Utah Utes were the possible front-runner in his recruitment before he pushed his original early July commitment back to near the beginning of August. While we have discussed that the Spartans were playing from behind, it is worth mentioning how far behind they actually were.

In a flurry of posts made on X, more light was shed on the situation.

The Utah fan account, "THE REAL U," shared an excerpt from Hunter Shelton of On3/Rivals that detailed where things changed in Moa's recruitment:

"As for Moa, his agent told Utah the night before his commitment that the Utes were good. Tennessee just found out moments before announcing he was choosing the Vols over Utah. The allure of being a two-way player in the SEC was one of the exciting factors in choosing to play the next chapter of his college career in Knoxville.

"Josh Heupel (Tennessee head football coach) and Kelsey Pope (Tennessee wide receiver position coach) spoke extensively with Moa the night before his announcement. Two days before it was offensive coordinator Joey Halzle. Utah felt good, until the day of, when Moa was hard to reach."

I’ll just leave this here. pic.twitter.com/JeTOEH2Oex
— THE REAL U (@therealutahutes) August 1, 2025

Moa was quick to respond, asking "why we lying(?)" While many are unsure what the truth is, one thing is a constant: Michigan State was nowhere to be found in that final stage of his decision. Does this mean the Spartans were further back than we thought?

why we lyin
— Salesi Moa (@salesimoa8) August 1, 2025

Yes, they were. It has become clearer that they were basically out of the picture before the commitment was made.

Stay up to date on all your Michigan State football news when you follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and feel free to share your thoughts when you join our community group, Go Green Go White, as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.

Be sure to also like and share our content when you follow us on X @MSUSpartansOnSI.