Throughout the Tom Izzo era, Michigan State has built a list of "what could have been" players who nearly committed to the green and white and would have been perfect fits, but decided to go elsewhere. Some of them were used incorrectly at the school they chose over Michigan State while others went on to have solid careers.
Guys like Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones, Cliff Alexander, Jabari Parker, and Caleb Swanigan all nearly became Spartans and in recent years, Enoch Boakye, Mark Smith, Brian Bowen, Darius Adams, Ty Rodgers, and Trey McKenney also come to mind.
Well, one of those recent guys is back on the market after leaving a Big Ten rival to enter the transfer portal for his final year(s) of eligibility.
Rodgers, a former four-star in-state forward target, announced on Thursday that he would be entering the transfer portal after spending four years at Illinois. If you haven't heard his name in a while, that's because he's missed the last two full seasons with a redshirt and a knee injury. Rodgers hasn't played since 2023-24 when he averaged 6.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game.
Like Adams who hit the portal on Wednesday evening, this is a case of bad timing for Michigan State because I'm sure that if Izzo needed another wing, he would inquire about the former priority recruit.
Tom Izzo sees a lot of familiar faces in the transfer portal
The Spartans' Hall of Fame head coach would never be the kind of guy to say "I told you so" to a recruit because he ultimately doesn't blame the kids for making poor decisions, he mostly attributes that to getting bad advice from a support system or outside noise.
But there are some of those types of players in the portal who Izzo probably felt good about landing, but they ultimately decided to chase either money or a perceived better opportunity elsewhere.
The familiar faces in this year's transfer portal include:
- Ty Rodgers, obviously who this whole article is about
- Aiden Sherrell who ended up transferring to Indiana after choosing Alabama
- Darius Adams who picked Maryland over MSU
- Flory Bidunga who ended up at Louisville after Kansas
- John Blackwell who Izzo admits he wishes he had recruited harder out of high school
- Iowa State's Milan Momcilovic who the Spartans were pushing hard for a few years ago
- Jalen Haralson who the Spartans were finalists for before he committed to Notre Dame
- Devin Royal who ended up at Ohio State
- Dwayne Aristode who picked Arizona
Who knows what Sherrell's career would have looked like if he chose the Spartans over Alabama in the first place. Now we'll get to see if his decision to transfer to Indiana pays off. The rest will also be interesting to monitor. You have to wonder how many of these guys reached out to Michigan State when they hit the portal.
Lesson learned: always choose Tom Izzo.
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