Recruiting: Tanner Kelly commits to Michigan State

By @MichaelCaples –

Make that three members of the Little Caesars ’02 team committed to Michigan State.

Tanner Kelly announced today that he has verbally committed to the Spartans. The LC 15U forward has been a fixture on a Caesars squad – coached by Kris Draper – that has won numerous state titles.

“I chose Michigan State because I’m really excited to play for Danton Cole and the awesome program that he is putting together,” Kelly told MiHockey. “Also, playing in the Big Ten is going to be awesome because there is so much good competition so there will be many rivalries and I love playing in big games like that when the pressure is on.”

He joins current teammate Carter Mazur and former teammate Tiernan Shoudy – now playing with the Caesars 16U team – as recent MSU commits.

“I’ll be excited to join my teammate Carter Mazur and former teammate Tiernan Shoudy,” Kelly said. “I’m excited to play college hockey just because the college atmosphere is going to be crazy playing in front of 6,000 people in Munn Ice Arena. The whole college experience seems like the time of your life.”

Kelly is currently a student at the Total Package Hockey Center of Excellence. A San Diego native, he moved to Michigan three years ago, and he currently resides in Clarkston.

“Also I would like to thank my coach Kris Draper, the rest of the coaches at Little Caesars, my former coach Jaan Luik, and my dad all for pushing me to get to the next level and always believing in me,” Kelly said. “They’re the ones who have helped me get to this point.”