The Big Ten has been absolutely dominating the transfer portal this offseason with teams like Michigan, Wisconsin, UCLA, Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, and even Iowa landing quality transfers left and right and it's made some Michigan State basketball fans critical of Tom Izzo's portal usage.
While Izzo has already landed a quality transfer in Kaleb Glenn who was a top-75 recruit out of high school a couple of years ago when he committed to Louisville and is the No. 74 transfer in this cycle, fans are worried that Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Purdue are just out-classing the reigning Big Ten champs and there's no reason that should be the case.
Let's face it, Michigan State has lost a ton of production from this past season's team with Tre Holloman, Xavier Booker, and Gehrig Normand transferring out and Jaden Akins, Szymon Zapala, and Frankie Fidler exhausting their eligibility. Oh, and Jase Richardson entering the NBA draft.
The transfer portal was a must for Izzo following those seven departures.
So what did he do? He identified a top target, went out, and recruited him quietly, landing him over other potential suitors because of the fit, not because of flash. Glenn led FAU in scoring this past season and he's also a former teammate of Jeremy Fears Jr.
Izzo landed a top-75 transfer (the most successful transfers every year are usually not the "flash" guys anyways) who led a solid FAU team in scoring and shot over 40 percent from deep.
The fanbase's reaction? Mostly good, but some bad apples claiming that this wasn't the splash addition that they were hoping for.
So Izzo goes back into the portal, identifies another target that he believes will help the team next year in Trey Fort and recruits him quietly, putting the program in a great position to land him. Fort led a really good Samford team this past season in scoring and he can shoot the ball well and can score in bunches. The fanbase's reaction? Mostly good, some displeased.
For those who still don't trust who Izzo is targeting, tell me the last "miss" that the Hall of Fame head coach has had in the transfer market.
And before you say Szymon Zapala or Frankie Fidler, just realize that the former was the starting big man for the Big Ten champion and Elite Eight Spartans. Fidler struggled to adjust early, but eased into his role at the end of the year which was a guy who could come off the bench and provide some big plays on both ends of the floor -- which he did.
Before them, you had Tyson Walker as a legit Big Ten Player of the Year candidate, Joey Hauser who grew into a fan favorite, Ben Carter who outside of that Syracuse debacle, played the role he came in to play as a backup big man, Bryn Forbes who was a star in East Lansing as a sharpshooter, Eron Harris who also became a fan favorite and made some big plays but was limited by injury, and Brandon Wood who also played his role well as a sharpshooting guard.
Izzo has quite literally never "missed" on a transfer and while you could make some arguments, all of these guys made their respective teams better.
If Izzo is going after a transfer, there's a reason he doesn't want it to be public: he knows that fellow coaches trust his elite level scouting and will follow with some pursuit of their own.
Let's trust that Izzo knows what he's doing because more often than not, he makes us look dumb.