Michigan State offered Jefferson (Georgia) cornerback Cordaro Parham a scholarship, and the athleticism he shows on the football field was immediately used in his celebration following his phone call with cornerbacks coach Hank Poteat.
“When Michigan State offered me, I was excited,” Parham said. “I was with a few of my friends and we were all cheering and skipping around the school hallways.”
The excitement stems, in part, from how under the radar Parham has been. Michigan State is his first Power Four or Big Ten offer. It doesn’t seem like he should be. He checks a lot of boxes at 6-foot-2, 178 pounds with a track background. He reports a 41-inch vertical that is backed up by his 6-2 high jump and 43-2 triple-jump.
That translated onto the football field, where Parham had 50 tackles, eight pass breakups, three interceptions and two forced fumbles. One of those forced fumbles was in the state title game. All this while still leaning the position.
“I started playing football in the third grade. When I first started playing, I was playing running back,” Parham said. ‘When I got into high school, I was switched to a defensive back.”
It is difficult to hear about Michigan State offering a sleeper cornerback in Georgia and not immediately think of Darqueze Dennard. Then-assistant coach Harlon Barnett uncovered Dennard late in the process when only a handful of G5 programs had offered and developed him into an All-Big Ten player and first-round NFL draft pick.
Parham, based on his physical metrics, might get other offers soon, but the Spartans already have gotten a visit booked with him and are establishing a relationship before other schools can.
“I don’t know too much about Michigan State’s program, but I know they’re a good program and have had some high-level players go there,” he said. “I plan to take an official visit June 5-7 to Michigan State and I can’t wait.”
Parham was a Dream Team and all-state selection as a junior.
Michigan State identifies another new 2027 target
Michigan State has extended new offers from the road.
One was to Tyson Washington, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound rising senior at The St. James School in Springfield, Virginia. Washington is listed as an athlete and has played multiple positions in high school but schools, including Michigan State, are recruiting him as a linebacker. Linebackers coach Max Bullough extended the offer.
Syracuse, Penn State, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest are the schools he has official visits set with, but Michigan State is hoping to work its way into the schedule.
Allen Trieu covers Midwest football recruiting for On3. He has been featured on the Big Ten Network on its annual Signing Day Show. His Michigan and Michigan State recruiting columns appear weekly at detroitnews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Trieu: Under-the-radar Michigan State target ‘can’t wait’ for visit
Reporting by Allen Trieu, Special to The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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