Trieu: Michigan State 2026 target Gregory Patrick focuses on improvement, not offers

Michigan State offered Portage Northern offensive lineman Gregory Patrick a scholarship at the end of June. Only a rising sophomore, Patrick projects out as one of the state’s top prospects in the 2026 class. Between that and his father Joseph Patrick having played offensive tackle at Michigan State, an offer from the Spartans seemed like a foregone conclusion.

But the Spartan staff put him through the paces. They had him up for a visit in the winter and said they wanted to see him keep gaining weight. They had him up for camp on June 21, worked him out and did not offer on the spot, but just over a week later.

Patrick has no problem earning his way, though. That is what he did as a freshman at Northern when he won a starting job on the varsity. “To be honest, it started as a position of need," Portage Northern head coach Kurt Twichell said.

"We knew we had a super young team and didn't have any senior offensive linemen in 2022. We knew who the other four would be, the biggest question was who our next guy is and is Patrick ready to be that as a 13-year-old? We decided to roll with him and first two games, we were ‘OK, this kid is pretty good. ’ He ended up being all-conference, all-region, made Dream Team.

He was better than anybody could have imagined. ” Along with that has come the college attention. Central Michigan offered first and since then, along with Michigan State, offers have come from Oklahoma and Minnesota.

A lot goes into a freshman being able to play that well on the varsity. Physical talent is an obvious component, but Patrick’s approach was another vital piece of his success. “I think what's a little different with Gregory is, he’s gotten lot of interest offer from big-time programs, but that was never the primary thing for him,” Twichell said.

“He obviously wanted to play college football and that was a dream of his, but his whole mindset coming in as a freshman was wanting to prove himself to older guys and the coaches — show everybody I can do this. He had that attitude and that chip on his shoulder and he’s maintained that even as the attention and offers have come. He wants, the next three years, to be the best high school football player he can be, best teammate he can be, and that’s why we expect more to come and further opportunities than he already has because of his great mindset and great approach.

He’s not a kid who’s out chasing offers. ” That said, Michigan State is meaningful place to the Patrick family. Gregory’s father has been bringing him to games since he was young.

Following his offer, he returned for Spartan Dawg Con and undoubtedly will visit unofficially this fall for games. He has a long time to make a decision and other offers are very likely to come between now and then, but the Spartans are sure to have a spot high among the choices. The focus continues to be on improvement, though, and not recruiting, and that is actually what the college coaches have wanted to see.

“He’s up about 40 pounds,” Twichell said. “He played last year around 220 pounds as a freshman and now he’s in the mid-260 range. Coaches looked at the film and loved what they saw.

That’s how Minnesota got on him and Oklahoma. Michigan State wanted to see the growth progression. In January, he was 236 pounds at their junior day and still playing basketball and (offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic) wanted to see the weight keep going up.

” Now 6-foot-4, 262 pounds, Patrick looks like a Big Ten prospect. Twichell says he “eats like you wouldn’t believe” so expect that number to keep rising. That should lead to an even more dominant sophomore year building on what was already a successful inaugural high school season.

None of it has happened by mistake, though. “His hard work is paying off big and the reward is the confidence that hard work pays off,” Twichell said. “He works as hard as anybody in the weight room.

He plays three sports. He is never not doing something. On the weekends, a lot of time, he is at the field with his dad, who is our offensive line coach.

He brings up teammates and organizes work with other players in the area. He lives for it. He eats and breathes being an athlete right now when he is also a high academic student in the classroom.

” Portage Northern begins their 2023 season on Aug. 24 against Vicksburg. .