Tom Izzo has been in the process of expanding his 2026 recruiting board, but the Michigan State basketball coach needs to land that first commitment to get the ball rolling.
It feels like now is the time in every recruiting process in which the Spartans start making waves, but the 2026 class has been fairly quiet so far. Izzo has been expanding his board and was even linked to four-star combo guard Jason Singleton on Tuesday afternoon.
But arguably the biggest name on the board right now is Anthony Thompson.
The five-star small forward from Ohio has been hearing a lot from some big-time programs and Michigan State has been listed as one of the teams pushing the hardest for him. Will this pay off? That's yet to be seen, but we're about to find out. The five-star forward revealed recently that he plans on narrowing his list down even more.
Five-star forward Anthony Thompson tells @247Sports “I'm probably going to narrow my list pretty soon.”
— Dushawn London (@DushawnLondon1) July 20, 2025
He broke down his process and some schools involved heading into his eventual list cut.
Story: https://t.co/Su0Hf5ZNhp pic.twitter.com/kLfKThm35a
There are over a dozen teams listed as "warm" on 247Sports and Michigan State is one of them which makes me think that the Spartans have a good chance of making Thompson's narrowed list.
Other teams in the running for him are Auburn, BYU, Georgetown, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue, Texas, and Xavier. Obviously he could take his pick of the litter but Izzo is hoping that he chooses the Spartans.
Thompson would be an excellent addition as the No. 9 overall prospect in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports. He's also the third-best small forward in the class and the No. 1 Ohio-based prospect.
I'm expecting to see Michigan State on Thompson's trimmed list in the coming weeks.