EAST LANSING, Mich— With National Signing Day less than 24 hours away, things are heating up for the Michigan State Spartans football team and head coach Mel Tucker. However, the class took a hit earlier on Tuesday when cornerback Shannon Blair decommitted from the 2022 class and reopened his recruiting.

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— ✰ (@shannon_blair1) December 14, 2021

Blair is the first verbal commit to reopen his recruiting for Tucker. He is also the first player to decommit from MSU since four-star defensive tackle Rayshaun Benny (Oak Park) rescinded his commitment and chose Michigan on Feb. 3, 2021.

The Spartans had four recruits in total decommit in the 2021 class, including four-star running back Audric Estime and three-star safeties Jah’von Grigsby and Gabe Nealy. 

Blair, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound positionally placed athlete by 247Sports, hails from Knoxville, Tennessee, and played high school football at Knoxville West High School. According to 247Sports, Blair is a three-star recruit and the No. 30 overall recruit in Tennessee as well as the No. 59 “athlete” prospect in the nation. 

Blair initially committed to MSU on June 25, 2021. He tore his ACL in late August and subsequently missed his entire senior season.

Overall, he has four offers from various Power Five schools including Duke, Wake Forest, Virginia and Purdue. Eight other notable mid-major programs, including Appalachian State, Memphis, Liberty and Middle Tennessee State, have also offered Blair a scholarship.