College Football

Michigan State Commit Donovan Winter misses National Signing Day after arrest

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:11 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jerran Anderson/FanSided via Saturday Blitz

In a wild turn of events, the Michigan State Spartans would be unable to sign his letter of intent. Because he’s currently in jail.

The Michigan State Spartans haven’t fared too poorly in their recruiting class this season. The Spartans have 20 recruits in their 2017 incoming class. However, it looks like it will be without weakside defensive end recruit Donovan Winter. Winter is currently in jail after missing National Signing Day, and it looks like he won’t be signing with anyone anytime soon.

Winter was nowhere to be found on National Signing Day, unfortunately. The weakside defensive end out of Orlando, Florida was in jail on Monday night on alleged burglary and larceny of a firearm charges. When asked about the situation, the recruit’s head coach Matt Hedrick said it was a long story, adding he wouldn’t be signing anywhere. National Signing Day was an exciting event at 7:30 AM this morning for Bishop Moore senior players. However, Winter’s name was nowhere to be found on the tables set up for players.

Winter was one of four commitments in the Spartans’ recruiting class at the weakside defensive end position. The Orlando Sentinel reports, as of Wednesday morning, Winter is no longer a student at Bishop Moore.

Winter held 11 offers from schools such as Michigan State, Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Tennessee. The Spartans earned his commitment last June and the three-star prospect visited East Lansing roughly three weeks ago. He rated as the 882nd best player in the nation, 50th best at his position and 121st best in the state of Florida, according to 247 Sports.

Winter had a stellar senior season for Bishop Moore this past fall, racking up 56 tackles, 24 tackles for loss and nine sacks. His brush with the law puts a black eye on an otherwise stellar career for Winter. Now, it looks like his college career has been cut prematurely due to some trouble with the law.