As a sophomore at Tigard High School near Portland, Oregon, Max Lenzy was one of the most wanted prospects in the state and in the Northwest.
Coming out of his first season as a full-time varsity starter, the cornerback held a four-star recruiting designation that earned him offers from Oregon and Oregon State.
With coaching changes for both the Ducks and the Beavers following the 2017 season, Lenzy all of a sudden had no Power 5 offers. And the interest from schools like Northwestern, Purdue, Washington State and UNLV cooled significantly.
Coming into his senior season, Lenzy’s ranking had dropped to three stars despite his continued excelling at premier summer camps up and down the West Coast. He held offers from Navy and Utah State among FBS suitors as well as FCS offers from Eastern Illinois, Idaho, Sacramento State and Youngstown State.
When Montana State came to the table to recruit the 5-foot-10, 170-pound hyper-competitive cornerback, Lenzy didn’t know much of anything about the state of Montana or about MSU. But he did know what it felt like to be wanted like he was when he was a rising sophomore. Lenzy wanted that feeling again.
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“One thing about my recruiting, I wanted to feel wanted and Montana State’s coaches were always on me, showing me a bunch of love,” Lenzy said. “And they are playing at a top level, in the FCS semifinals. And with the campus and the environment in Bozeman, it seemed like the best fit.”
When Lenzy gave his commitment to MSU head coach Jeff Choate on July 24 before his senior season, it sent shockwaves through the FCS. As of the beginning of November, Hero Sports had Lenzy ranked as the No. 1 commitment in the Big Sky Conference. As of January 26, Brian McGlaughlin of Hero Sports slotted Lenzy as the No. 7 prospect joining the league next season.
“Recruiting, it was great and it was wild,” said Lenzy, who was ranked as the No. 7 overall prospect in the state of Oregon and the No. 81 cornerback prospect in the country by 24/7 Sports when he signed with the Bobcats on December 22. “Everyone dreams of playing D-I and getting offered. When Montana State offered, I didn’t know much about them. Then I ended up getting out there for a visit and it was great. It was so much better than I expected. Their campus, their atmosphere, their coaches, it really made me feel at home.”
When Mark Helfrich was fired at Oregon and Oregon State dismissed Gary Andersen, Lenzy had to suddenly adjust his mindset to considering going out of state to play college football. Idaho was the first to the table to offer the athletic, hard-nosed cornerback. Utah State came to the table next.
As of the spring of 2019, Lenzy told The Oregonian that “Purdue, Eastern Washington and Harvard” are probably recruiting me the hardest right now.”
Offers came from the aforementioned suitors and interest came from places as far flung as Bowling Green, Central Michigan and East Carolina. When Montana State first evaluated Lenzy’s junior film, a campaign that saw the defensive back earn first-team all-state honors by leading the Beaver State with 10 interceptions, MSU cornerbacks coach Kyle Risinger, Choate and recruiting coordinator DeNarius McGhee all loved what they saw.
“The one thing we LOVED is this kid is a ball hawk,” McGhee said on December 22. “He had 20 takeaways, 20 interceptions in three years. If he does that here, our defense will definitely continuing having the success they are having.”
Montana State got Lenzy on campus for his first of two unofficial visits to Bozeman early in the summer. By July, he committed to the Bobcats. By September, he watched the Bobcats post a 38-17 victory over No. 12 Southeastern Missouri State, a pivotal win during a 9-3 regular-season that eventually ended with 11 wins, the program’s most since 2012.
As a senior, Lenzy earned his league’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year award. He was an all-state pick at cornerback again as well as earning first-team all-league honors as a receiver and kick returner.
“Max was a great high school football player, tough, smart, extremely productive both on offense and defense,” Choate said on December 22. “He’s a guy that we feel very fortunate to get. His production is outstanding and we’re very excited about Max.”
During his three years as a varsity starter, Lenzy was only a part of five losses at Tigard. The last was perhaps the most heartbreaking. The Tigers ripped off 10 straight wins to earn the No. 1 seed in the Oregon 6A state playoffs. But the team lost to the No. 16 seed out of Mountainside in the second round of the 32-team tournament.
Still, the priority on winning proved to be a priority in recruiting for Lenzy when it came to picking his destination.
“I think my high school program helped prepare me well,” Lenzy said. “Tigard High, we’ve always been a winning program. I think I’ve lost five games my three years on varsity. Winning is really important to me. I’ve always been a part of winning teams and Montana State making the semifinals, that really helped my decision.”
“I was watching all the playoffs on the ESPN app and I watched the Montana-Montana State game. That made me even more excited. To see those wins, going to a team that knows how to win and is in the top four and is going up from here, especially with this great recruiting class I think we have, it’s awesome.”
Lenzy made his official visit to Bozeman on January 23 more than three weeks after conducting the interview for this story. He said he planned on asking detailed questions about the business program as he has interest in going into business development or sports marking.
The most highly recruited player in Montana State’s Class of 2020 seems among the most at ease with his decision to spend his career wearing blue and gold.
“It felt because making it official made it that much more special,” Lenzy said. “Having it confirmed, dotting my future, it was great.”
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