Barnett on DBs: 'I like those vicious guys'
With limited scholarship space, and having signed six defensive backs last year, Michigan State needed to be frugal with its scholarship offers and scholarship slots for defensive backs in 2016.
Spartan coaches didn’t have to offer many defensive backs before getting three commitments last summer in four-star DBs Demetric Vance and Kenney Lyke, to go with three-star Ohio cornerback Austin Andrews.
Vance and Lyke are two of the top three-ranked safeties in the Midwest, according to Rivals.com.
“That’s a great combo,” Barnett said. “Two guys that are vicious football players. They’ll come and get you, man. I look forward to helping develop their games and get them to a level that is higher than where they are now.”
Vance (6-2, 193, Detroit Cass Tech) first impressed MSU coaches as a wide receiver prior to his junior season in high school. Then he switched to safety during his junior year, wowed onlookers with hard-hitting ability that no one knew he possessed.
His hard-hitting junior film, when paired with his long, strong frame and excellent speed, led him to become the No. 189 player in the country, according to Rivals.com.
“He is a go-getter, man,” Barnett said. “He’s going to come get you. He can run and he has ball skills. Good player. Athletic. I like those vicious guys, man. He’ll run through a wall.”
Vance’s Chicagoland counter part, Kenney Lyke, is a like-minded player.
“He is a natural-born killer,” Barnett said, recycling a phrase that he applied to former All-Big Ten safety Isaiah Lewis. “Hitter. And that’s the best way I can describe him. And I look forward to seeing him, starting this spring.”
Lyke (6-2, 185, Hoffman Estates, Ill.) earned four-star status during the ball. He is ranked the No. 6 player in Illinois.
“He will bone you up,” Dantonio said of Lyke, after he enrolled in January.
The three DBs in MSU’s class committed in May, and never wavered.
Andrews was the first to commit, on May 12.
“He’s a quick-body guy, a quick-twitch guy,” Barnett said. “That’s what I like about him. He’s tough, physical and competitive.”
Barnett said it didn’t take long to scout Andrews to know he was the type of cornerback Michigan State likes.
“He can accelerate fast,” Barnett said. “You can just see the athleticism in him. It didn’t take long to scout him.”
