Michigan State Basketball: Tom Izzo’s top recruiting victories
Who are Tom Izzo’s biggest Michigan State Basketball recruiting victories.
Who says Tom Izzo can’t recruit? The Michigan State Basketball coach has had his fair share of recruiting victories in his two decades at the helm, but rarely gets credit for it. After losing out on the nation’s top recruit, Josh Jackson, just this week, Izzo has been knocked for not being able to get “that guy” who can turn the Spartans into title favorites.
Before Josh Jackson, it was Caleb Swanigan. Before him, it was Jahlil Okafor, Cliff Alexander and Tyus Jones. Before those three, it was the infamous Jabari Parker decision that shocked Spartans everywhere.
Parker was considered by some to be the No. 1 player in the 2013 class and Michigan State was the favorite to land him, but he decided to go with Duke because apparently he didn’t want to steal Branden Dawson’s thunder.
Along with every big recruiting miss, there’s been a big get. Let’s take a look at the 10 Spartans who Izzo should be proud to have won the recruiting battle for.
Note: This isn’t based solely on success they had at MSU (although that is a factor), but these are primarily five-star recruits who, at the time, were huge gets for Izzo and his staff.
Believe it or not, at the time of his commitment, Marquise Gray was a five-star recruit and one of the top 20 players in the country, according to Rivals. It seemed like Gray was on the team forever, but could never really act on his potential.
A 6-foot-8, 235-pound monster of a forward, Gray was expected to come in out of Flint Beecher and dominate. He redshirted as a freshman, started nine games and then broke his foot. That seemed like the theme to his career. He was never really 100 percent and it showed.
As a sophomore, he played in 35 games and had his best season. Gray averaged 6.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. While it looked like his Spartan career was trending in the right direction, he never really gained momentum and his numbers diminished as a junior and senior. He was in Izzo’s doghouse a lot and finished as a career 4.4-point, 3.9-rebound per game guy.
Next: 9. Deyonta Davis