Michigan State basketball in top group for West Virginia transfer Jalen Bridges

Michigan State basketball is in hot pursuit of West Virginia wing transfer Jalen Bridges as he recently got an in-home visit from Tom Izzo.

It’s no secret that Tom Izzo is trying to upgrade his roster heading into the 2022-23 season after Michigan State basketball finished 23-13 with a second-round exit after a heartbreaking loss to Duke.

Reports from Justin Thind of 247Sports surfaced that he was going to be active in the transfer portal and after Gabe Brown and Marcus Bingham Jr. both announced they’d be declaring for the NBA draft and hiring agents, filling some openings is even more important.

Izzo already had scholarships open from the previous class after Emoni Bates and Enoch Boakye both decommitted so there will be at least a couple of spots filled by transfers in the best-case scenario.

One of the top targets that has emerged for Michigan State is Jalen Bridges from West Virginia.

It was reported last week that Izzo had reached out to Bridges after he entered the portal and the staff has already paid him an in-home visit. Now, the Spartans are reportedly in his top four.

Michigan State has made some headway here with Bridges as it’s on his top schools list with a month’s worth of visits planned.

Bridges is ranked one of the top transfers on the market by Evan Miyakawa, even listing him as a five-star in his portal rankings.

Replacing Brown with a top-tier defender in Bridges who can score in all three levels and has yet to reach his full potential would be a massive recruiting victory for Izzo. He averaged 8.4 points and 4.8 rebounds for West Virginia this past season while shooting 43 percent from the floor and 33 percent from deep.

This is a fantastic development for Michigan State as it looks to add at least one wing scorer and perimeter defender along with a big.