STATE CHAMPS! SCOUT TEAM: Ball State reels in Groves’ Ralph Donaldson, while Louisville lands another Fitzpatrick
Birmingham Groves’ senior safety-tailback Ralph Donaldson visited Ball State last weekend, watching the 52-14 whipping of Toledo that left the Cardinals as the lone unbeaten atop the Mid-American Conference’s West Division standings.
While he was on the Cardinals’ Muncie, Ind., campus, he secured an offer from coach Mike Neu’s staff, and by Tuesday night had made the decision to commit.
Donaldson is on the verge of topping the 1,000-yard mark on the ground and has recorded 75 tackles on defense in 2019.
Louisville lands another Fitzpatrick
Sunday night, Southfield A&T senior wide receiver Christian Fitzpatrick (6-4, 210) committed to the University of Louisville to play with his older brother Dez, the Cardinals’ star split end most likely destined for the NFL. Christian is considered a three-star recruit and de-committed from Washington State last week. He visited Louisville over the weekend.
Dez Fitzpatrick graduated from Waterford Mott in 2016. Christian played at Mott as a junior after spending his first two years of high school at West Bloomfield.
News & Notes: Campus Confidential
Belleville junior defensive lineman Damon Payne, the No. 1 prospect in the state’s Class of 2021, visited Iowa this past weekend. Zeeland East sophomore linebacker-quarterback Tag Bonnema, one of the state’s top prospects in the Class of 2022, was on campus in Iowa City as well.
Birmingham Detroit Country Day junior offensive tackle Caleb Tiernan and Oak Park junior safety Jaylin Mines both took a visit to Penn State and came home to the Mitten with offers. PSU commit Enzo Jennings, Mines’ teammate at Oak Park, accompanied Mines on his trip to Happy Valley to watch the Nittany Lions’ 28-21 dispatching of Michigan.
Oak Park junior tailback Davion Primm, quietly approaching 1,000 yards for the season on the ground, got a Colorado offer last week.
Clarkston blue-chip junior defensive end Rocco Spindler just nabbed an offer from Florida. Spindler is the son of retired Detroit Lions rush end Marc Spindler and has started on both ides of the line for the Clarkston Wolves since he was a freshman.
Name to watch: Macomb Dakota junior wide receiver Clinton Robertson. This spry and sleek 6-foot-2, 180-pound playmaker is turning heads this fall and just grabbed his first offer from Central Michigan.
— SCOTT M. BURNSTEIN
