Michigan State basketball has Big Ten’s No. 1 rated 2020 recruiting class

After months of being the No. 2-rated recruiting class in the Big Ten for 2020, Michigan State basketball has risen to No. 1 on Tuesday.

For months, Michigan State fans have heard how “mediocre” their 2020 basketball recruiting class is.

Ranked No. 37 in the nation and sixth in the Big Ten, per 247Sports, rival fans have had a field day, posting about Michigan State trending down, but not realizing just how college basketball recruiting works.

Unlike football where every class is essentially 20-plus players, you don’t really have to worry about average player ratings because the rankings factor that in for you. In college basketball, class sizes vary by program depending on departures.

For example, Michigan was aiming for a class of five players because the Wolverines were losing so many players from the 2019-20 team. For Michigan State, that 2020 recruiting class could only be as big as three. In that case, comparing a five-man class to a three-man class, potentially, wouldn’t exactly be fair.

But now, after months of trolling by rival fans, the Spartans have the No. 1 class in the Big Ten in terms of average player rating after a massive de-commitment by Isaiah Todd from Michigan.

Michigan State has the highest-rated class in the Big Ten for 2020 with its two commitments, Mady Sissoko and AJ Hoggard, and still has a chance to improve on that (at least in 247Sports‘ rankings) with a commitment from Karim Mane.

This average rating is not only good for No. 1 in the Big Ten, but it’s also the fifth-best mark in the country behind only Gonzaga, Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina.

So the next time you see someone saying that Michigan State’s 2020 class isn’t that good because it’s only sixth-best in the Big Ten, show them the numbers that actually matter.