{"id":3275,"date":"2020-11-02T17:34:43","date_gmt":"2020-11-02T17:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peoriamag.com\/?p=3275"},"modified":"2020-12-14T17:36:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-14T17:36:20","slug":"top-michigan-state-football-recruit-rayshaun-benny-to-delay-signing-until-february","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peoriamag.com\/?p=3275","title":{"rendered":"Top Michigan State football recruit Rayshaun Benny to delay signing until February"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of\u00a0Michigan State football\u2019s top commitments for 2021 has decided to wait on making it official.<\/p>\n

Oak Park defensive tackle\u00a0Rayshaun Benny\u00a0told the Free Press on Saturday he will not sign Wednesday during college football\u2019s early signing period. However, he said he still plans to become a Spartan in February and join\u00a0coach Mel Tucker\u2019s program\u00a0next summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I’m solid on Michigan State still,\u201d Benny said. \u201cThey tried to get\u00a0me to sign early. It didn’t necessarily make me nervous, it just more showed how important I was. But with me, I’m the type person if I got my mind set on something, that’s what I’m going to do. And there ain’t no changing my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benny,\u00a06-foot-5, 275 pounds,\u00a0picked MSU over the Wolverines, Penn State and Kentucky. He had offers from a number of Big Ten and Power Five conference schools.<\/p>\n

There were two motivations Benny, a four-star prospect and the Spartans\u2019 top recruit according to 247Sports.com\u2019s composite rankings, gave for waiting.<\/p>\n

He said he suffered meniscus tears to his left knee during a car crash in mid-July. He was in the back seat of a vehicle that was T-boned on his side. Thinking the high school season was getting pushed to spring, Benny underwent surgery. Then the MHSAA changed direction about a week later and announced it would play.<\/p>\n

Benny said he went to physical therapy three times a week, the maximum allowed, \u201cso I could get back on the field and contribute\u201d for Oak Park. The focus was to strengthen his injured\u00a0left knee so he could move laterally.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anybody who know what happened to me during the summer, they knew how hard I worked to get back to playing football this season,\u201d he said. \u201cThey know how important it was to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Knights \u2014 with Benny and\u00a0three-star\u00a0MSU running back commit Davion Primm \u2014 appeared headed for an early postseason\u00a0exit after\u00a0going winless during the regular season, (including a forfeit by Birmingham Groves). But they went on a tear with upset wins over Grosse Pointe South, University of Detroit Jesuit High and Wyandotte Roosevelt to reach the Division 2 regionals.<\/p>\n

Then came the second shutdown. And the change to his signing timeline.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we got the schedule, it fell in line with signing period. And I was just so focused on football, that’s all I wanted,\u201d said Benny, who was scheduled to play Livonia Churchill on Tuesday before the latest state health department orders. \u201cSo me and my family and my coaches, we just decided to hold off on it. And then they extended it again. But I didn’t feel like rushing trying to figure stuff out. \u2026<\/p>\n