Michigan State Football Offers Karsten Busch

The Michigan State defense under Joe Rossi loves its linebackers. So far in the 2024 season, the standout defensive players have been the linebackers. Jordan Turner, Cal Haladay, Wayne Matthews III – they were all exceptional.

Rossi signed two linebackers in the 2025 class, Di’Mari Malone and DJ White, and he looks to carry that momentum into the 2026 class. The Spartans have offered several linebackers so far and the most recent is St. Louis Cardinals’ Karsten Busch.

Busch is 6-foot-3 and weighs 225 pounds. He has a structure ready for Division I college football. In Rossi’s defense, he has the size to post more and play rush end for Chad Wilt. We’ve seen this with several targets who play linebacker in high school but could be used as a rush end by Rossi.

Like any coach, Rossi has a prototypical linebacker. Its scale varies. He said this in August:

“Long, athletic and smart. That’s what we look for and that’s a sliding scale, okay. And what I mean by that – if a guy is 6-foot-4 and runs a 4.4, that’s fine. But if you’re going to be a short 4.8, you better be 6-foot-1. So my point is – he slides, but the ideal, if I’m just giving you three, is length, is athleticism, and isn’t necessarily in that order. .”

Busch has 10 offers. Along with the Spartans, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Minnesota, Louisville, Purdue, Wisconsin and West Virginia are among the interested schools. 247Sports lists Busch as most interested in Kentucky so far.

The Spartans have offered 13 linebackers in the 2026 class so far. Rossi’s “scale” varied.

Linebackers as big as Cincere Johnson (listed by some as an edge rusher), a 6-foot-4, 230-pound four-star, and Samu Moala (6-foot-2, 225 pounds), as well as those on the smaller side like Colsen Gatten (6-foot-1, 215 pounds) and Andre Parker (5-foot-11, 190 pounds).

Rossi has had success with both top-tier prospects and those with three high stars and three average stars. Rossi is a respected defensive mind and was a big reason the Spartans signed Brady Pretzlaff, a star in the 2024 class.

Michael France is the Michigan State recruiting writer for Sports Illustrated, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for the Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartan recruiting coverage.

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