Michigan State Basketball: Ty Rodgers proves why he needs to be a priority

The names left on Michigan State basketball’s big board for the 2022 class are solid but there’s a concern that Tom Izzo hasn’t branched out enough and there’s a real chance he could miss on all of his ‘Plan A’ guys.

Jalen Washington, a five-star big man, recently committed to North Carolina after being a top target for the Spartans, five-star big Kijani Wright doesn’t have an official visit planned to Michigan State, four-star power forward Tarris Reed seems to be trending toward Ohio State and Michigan, four-star power forward Isaac Traudt has been trending with Virginia, and four-star guard Jaden Schutt recently got an offer from Duke.

One name that should be higher on the list of Michigan State priorities for the 2022 class which is not listed above but does hold an offer: Ty Rodgers.

Rodgers is one of the best wings in the entire 2022 class and you could make the argument that he’s the best on-ball defender there is in the cycle. The native of Michigan is ranked the No. 59 player in the class and 17th-best small forward, according to the composite.

Rodgers’ performance against Emoni Bates opened eyes

The 6-foot-7, 195-pound small forward’s Meanstreets EYBL team took on Emoni Bates’ Bates Fundamentals squad on Wednesday night and Rodgers put the clamps on the nation’s top prospect.

In fact, he scored six points with six assists and a few rebounds, but he held Bates to just 15 points, making plays like this all night:

Rodgers just screams OKG (our kind of guy) with his defensive mindset and willingness to give 100 percent on every single play.

I’ll admit, I wasn’t a big believer that Tom Izzo should go after Rodgers because he seemed like a Michigan lean and I didn’t know enough about his game, but after watching some highlights and reading up on him, it’d be foolish for the Hall of Fame coach not to make him a priority.

Izzo loves hard-nosed defenders who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and Rodgers is just that. He also possesses the ability to score but he showed against Emoni that he’s just a tremendous overall player; he’s a complete player.

The 2022 class is looking bleak so far with no commits, and that’s why Izzo needs to make sure he doesn’t let Rodgers and that elite defense go to a rival school.