New Spartans Head Coach Mel Tucker has been aiming to change that. Late Sunday, Tucker and his staff got their first commit of the 2022 class: Kris "Big Dooley" Phillips, a three-star offensive lineman out of Salem High School in Georgia.

Phillips, a native of Conyers, Georgia, is a three-star recruit according to Rivals and stands at 6-foot-4 and 310 pounds.

"It's really a dream come true to be a Spartan and to be a part of this organization and I'm very blessed," Phillips said to The State News via direct message.

His other offers included Arizona State and Delaware State, according to 247Sports.

As an offensive lineman, he joins fellow OL recruits Ethan Boyd, Geno VanDeMark and Kevin Wigenton who all committed as members of the class of 2021.

The commitment came on the eve of maybe Tucker's biggest recruiting win as a first-year head coach. Rayshaun Benny, a four-star out of Oak Park, Michigan, committed on Monday afternoon, giving Tucker his first top-200 national recruit in the class of 2021 that now has 17 total recruits.

Rayshaun Benny becomes highest-rated recruit in MSU's 2021 class

Rayshaun Benny's mind was already made up. He knew it, even if hats embroidered with Penn State, Kentucky and Michigan logos rested next to the one with a Spartan head.

A four-star defensive tackle out of Oak Park High School in the class of 2021, Benny is the type of blue-chip recruit that the Spartans had been waiting on.

After missing out on East Lansing's Andrel Anthony, the No. 1 WR in the state of Michigan, and then Keon Coleman, a two-sport, four-star athlete, the Spartans nabbed a second four-star, according to 247Sports composite rankings, Monday afternoon when Benny committed live on CBS Sports HQ.

Benny chose MSU over offers from programs such as Ohio State, Oregon, LSU, Georgia, Auburn and Texas A&M. He joins Geno VanDeMark as the only other four-star in MSU's 2021 recruiting class.

At 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, Benny is also the highest-rated recruit in MSU's 2021 recruiting class. The high school senior is a top-200 prospect nationally and is the No. 15 defensive tackle nationally and No. 6 overall prospect in the state of Michigan. The 2021 Spartan recruiting class now has 17 commitments after Benny's on Monday.

He was recruited by Offensive Line Coach Chris Kapilovic recruited him, and he is a two-way player at Oak Park, who recently just won their first playoff game after not winning a single regular-season game. They upset Grosse Pointe South in the first round of the MHSAA playoffs.

"It was just the family oriented part that was big for me," Benny said to 247Sports. "They were there when I needed them."