Michigan State quarterback commit Henry Hasselbeck breaks down decision to become a Spartan
Michigan State landed their 2024 quarterback commit on June 30, adding a commitment from Boston (Mass.) Xavieran Brothers three-star Henry Hasselbeck. The son of former 18 year NFL veteran Matt Hasselbeck became the tenth commitment in the Spartans’ 2024 class.
The announcement came after two visits to East Lansing in June. His first official visit of the process came to Michigan State on June 2, as he returned later in the month for a second visit. Hasselbeck also took official visits to Boston College, Pittsburgh, and UAB.
“It couldn’t feel better, I could not feel better,” Hasselbeck told SpartanMag.com after his commitment.
Hasselbeck admits he had limited knowledge of the Michigan State program before the visit.
“What I knew about Michigan State was that it was a good program, a Big Ten School, and they have a cool mascot,” Hasselbeck said. “I had never been up to Michigan outside of the Detroit airport. They offered me in the middle of May, and I talked to my dad, and we visited the first weekend of June.”
“We got up there as fast as we could,” Hasselbeck said. “It was just my dad and I the first time and it was awesome. The campus definitely blew me away. I was like ‘I didn’t know they had this’. East Lansing is cool. It’s not like the big city where I am from in Massachusetts. I am very close to Boston. In Lansing, your further out from Detroit and it is just Michigan State.”
Hasselbeck and his father were impressed by East Lansing and the Michigan State campus.
“The campus is all about Michigan State,” Hasselbeck said. “It’s a college campus. That definitely led into my conversations with players. They would tell me that it shows. They love it there. Noah (Kim) is from Virginia and he was telling me he loves spending time there. It is awesome just hanging out in East Lansing. Just hanging out with the guys, in the dorms or apartments, I mean it’s fun. It seems like a solid time.”
The three-star quarterback was hosted by current Spartan quarterback Noah Kim. The pair have kept in touch since Hasselbeck left East Lansing.
“He was my host on my official visit, and he was incredible,” Hasselbeck said. “I have been texting with him lately, he is an outstanding guy. I wish him the best, really. Now I am looking forward to this fall and think he has a really good shot to have a great season.”
Of course, his father’s alma mater Boston College played a significant role in the recruitment of the younger Hasselbeck, but the family has connections throughout the game, including finding some in East Lansing on the Michigan State staff.
“There are definitely other colleges that I have an insane amount of ties to or even just a little amount of ties to,” Hasselbeck said. “But when we came to Michigan State, before we went up, we were like ‘okay, let’s see what we get ourselves into here’.”
Matt Hasselbeck and current head of strength and conditioning coach Jason Novak overlapped with their time in Tennessee while Novak coached with the Titans.
“The head strength coach there was my dad’s strength coach with the Tennessee Titans,” Hasselbeck said. “So that was immediately a connection with Coach (Jason) Novak. One of the other people on staff was a running back for my dad with the Titans I believe. Oddly enough we actually do know a lot of the staff which is good to have friendly faces and connections so that was new.”
“But I don’t think that is something that is terribly important for me. I have lived in every part of the country. West Coast, Midwest, South, East Coast. We lived in Indiana so even the Midwest isn’t new to me. I will be comfortable wherever I am so being far from home doesn’t matter too much to me.”
Once Hasselbeck began to narrow down his remaining visits, he found it important to make another stop so his mother could visit Michigan State. The Spartans got her stamp of approval on the trip.
“As we were narrowing it down it was like, my mom had seen Pitt, she’s definitely seen Boston College, and she went down to UAB,” Hasselbeck said. “She usually travels with me almost everywhere. We do a good job (with that). It was like, okay so if this is one of my final choices, it would be nice to have my mother see where I would be living away from home for the next couple years of my life.”
“We went back up and did a little bit with Coach Johnson, which was awesome,” Hasselbeck said. “We did a lot on our own too. My mom and I biked around campus. That was nice, we saw the town. It was a really good time with my family and a good two days. That trip definitely helped push me in the right direction in going there.”
Hasselbeck gave himself some time to be sure, then called Jay Johnson to tell the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach the news.
“It wasn’t too long after that,” Hasselbeck said. “It was the last week of June, and I was like ‘hey you know what? This feels right’. I have been giving it thought 24/7 for the past few weeks. There has been nothing else on my mind for the second half of June.”
“There definitely wasn’t a thought of not giving it enough thought,” Hasselbeck said. “I have been giving it as much thought as I could. That week I think I called Coach Johnson on Tuesday (June 27). I told him I wanted to come play for him and then he handed the phone to Coach (Mel) Tucker and they were really excited. I wouldn’t go there if I didn’t truly love them both, and I really do so it’s a really good situation.”
The newest Michigan State commit spent time with current Spartan commitments Andrew Dennis of Mount Pleasant (Mich.) and Logan Bennett of Baltimore (Md.) on his official visit. He also built relationships with other Spartan targets since leaving East Lansing.
“Anthony Carrie is an amazing guy,” Hasselbeck said. “I called him about three days before I committed. He is a standup guy I really liked him. AJ Dennis, the offensive lineman, is awesome. He is a nice guy. I met AJ on my visit. Logan (Bennett) from Maryland is also a nice guy. I talked to him on my visit. Another guy, Kwazi Gilmer, is still uncommitted. I’ve been talking to him trying to get him to hop on the train. We have a great group of guys already, Reggie Powers too, he’s a stud. We can only go up from here and we are in a good spot already too.”
Part of what sold Hasselbeck on Michigan State was the vision of head coach Mel Tucker and the rest of the Spartans’ class.
“I know that he is interested in winning,” Hasselbeck said. “There is nothing I like better than winning. I just want to put myself in a situation to help them win. Coach Tucker should help Michigan State get there. We are going to win some games. I know we have some ballers in my class and some ballers already on the team. He’s not there to just be a middle pack team, he wants to take Michigan State to the top and I really admire that.”
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