Michigan State Basketball: Jalen Terry doesn’t hold back about decommitment

Jalen Terry decommitted from Michigan State basketball a few months ago after AJ Hoggard committed. He was blunt about his decision recently.

Jalen Terry surprised Spartan fans with good news back in April as the team was preparing to face Texas Tech in the Final Four. He committed to the green and white, giving Michigan State a clear replacement for Cassius Winston in 2020-21.

However, Tom Izzo wanted to add another guard so he didn’t have to worry a lack of players who could run the point guard position and handle the ball. AJ Hoggard committed in October and that seemed to drive Terry away as he decommitted a week later.

It was relatively clear that Hoggard’s commitment was the nail in the coffin when it came to Terry, but he had never opened up to the media about his decision.

That was until this week.

Making the decision to commit to Oregon over LSU and Louisville this week, he sat down with Ryan Slocum of WJRT-TV to talk about his recruiting process. He was also fairly blunt when asked about his decision to decommit from Michigan State.

In a video that has since been removed from Twitter, Terry had this to say about his decision:

"“We were there, committed, 100 percent with them, and then they recruited another guard. We started thinking about the future and stuff like that. You want to go where there’s a better opportunity for you to develop; like, where there’s not too many people where, if you make a mistake, you (don’t) get taken right back out the game or something like that. They actually trust you.”"

Clearly he’s talking about Izzo’s coaching style, but this should never have been a surprise to him as he should have been watching the NCAA Tournament last season before he committed. In that same tournament, Izzo laid into Aaron Henry during a timeout that caused a stir, but it was nothing new to Spartan fans. Terry committed after this altercation.

As if this shot fired wasn’t eye-opening enough, he was asked if his decision to decommit from Michigan State was tough, and he had this to say:

"“Not really. It’s like, this is a business. You got to make sure business is right.”"

All of these quotes are interesting, especially considering how well Izzo has developed players over the years and how sudden his commitment went awry.

Was Terry worried about splitting time with Hoggard at point guard? Potentially, but they could have both fed off each other at the guard positions next season. This was a tough loss for the Spartans, but apparently he didn’t feel the same.