Michigan State basketball: 2023 class signees rise in 247Sports rankings

The 2023 Michigan State basketball recruiting class is going to be a special one in East Lansing and it’s proof that Tom Izzo still has plenty of gas left in the tank.

The Hall of Fame coach signed five-star big man Xavier Booker to go along with four-star point guard Jeremy Fears, four-star freak athlete wing Coen Carr, and another athletic four-star wing in Gehrig Normand. This group of prospects is going to rival Michigan State’s 2016 class in terms of star-power and potential long-term success.

Rarely does Izzo land all of his Plan A targets, but it felt like he did throughout the entire 2023 class with four top-100 guys who all complement each other and were just scratching the surface on their potential.

And on Thursday, the newest 247Sports rankings came out and most of these guys saw a nice jump.

Three Michigan State basketball signees jumped in new rankings

Three of the Spartans’ four signees jumped in the latest rankings with the only one moving in the opposite direction being Booker.

In fact, Booker dropped four spots to No. 10 in the latest rankings but he’s still the Big Ten’s top prospect heading into the 2023-24 season.

Fears, on the other hand, jumped up to No. 30 nationally which means he’s quite literally bordering on five-star status. He is five spots away from being a five-star and he’s 247Sports’ seventh-best point guard for 2023.

Carr also saw a nice jump as he’s now the No. 38 player after sitting at No. 44 previously. He’s gone from No. 157 nationally back in May to now being the 38th-best prospect in the country. That’s quite a leap, but it’s warranted for the freak athlete from South Carolina.

And lastly, Normand was previously No. 95 overall but he moved up five spots to No. 90. He’s a sharpshooting athletic wing who is going to bring some range to the class.

It looks like Michigan State’s guys are getting the respect their deserve (finally).