Michigan State basketball inks part of most anticipated recruiting class ever

Michigan State basketball has officially signed three players from its most anticipated recruiting class in the Tom Izzo era. There’s more to come.

It’s a good day for Michigan State basketball. Not only are the Spartans two weeks away from the start of the 2020-21 season, but three members of their highly-anticipated 2021 class signed their National Letters of Intent (NLI) on Wednesday.

Max Christie, Jaden Akins and Pierre Brooks all inked their NLIs on Wednesday, kicking off the 2021 class which is arguably set up to be the best of the Tom Izzo era.

While those three guys are all four and five-star prospects, there are two more big names on the board who are contemplating reclassification. Emoni Bates, the No. 1 recruit in the 2022 class who is considered the best high school recruit since LeBron James, and Enoch Boakye, a five-star in 2022, are also candidates to reclassify.

Christie was the most surprising commitment of the three signees, spurning the likes of Duke, Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio State. He was a Duke-lean for a while, but Izzo swayed him toward East Lansing. He’s ranked the No. 12 prospect in 2021.

Akins is also a special talent, ranked the No. 62 prospect in the class, standing 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds. He’s the 11th-best point guard in 2021 and he might be the perfect addition at point guard, especially if Rocket Watts leaves. He’s long and athletic for the position.

Lastly, Brooks may be the lowest-ranked signee of the class, but he has the confidence and the talent to be a star in East Lansing. Michigan State needs elite wings and he can be just that. He’s ranked the No. 68 overall prospect and 13th-best shooting guard in the 2021 class, per 247Sports.

Michigan State’s class is officially three and there’s at least a decent chance it will grow to five and become the most anticipated recruiting class Izzo has ever landed — topping the Miles Bridges, Cassius Winston, Josh Langford and Nick Ward group.