Unfortunately for Michigan State basketball fans, we only got to enjoy one season with Jase Richardson. The son of Michigan State legend and national champion Jason Richardson spent his lone collegiate season in East Lansing where his father starred for a couple of years before making that NBA leap.
And now he's Tom Izzo's latest one-and-done player.
Before Richardson, the last one-and-done to play for Izzo was Max Christie and he came in as a likely one-year guy as a five-star and one of the best shooting guards in his recruiting class.
Richardson, on the other hand, came in as a four-star and a borderline top-50 prospect. He was expected to be good, but maybe not this good right away. He became the Spartans' best player and helped lead them to a Big Ten title and Elite Eight appearance.
This one year with Richardson was special and now he's forever a Spartan. MSU fans were lucky to be able to watch him become a star before our eyes in 2024-25.
But that almost didn't happen.
According to his dad, Jason, on Paul Georgie's podcast, he thought Jase was going to Alabama before the Spartans hosted him for Grind Week and then he knew his son would be a Spartan.
This story, shared by Maxwell Klitzke on X, explains why he chose MSU over the Tide.
culture matters. https://t.co/n1jXWJEWNK pic.twitter.com/B7wmowGYKX
— maxwell (@maxwellklitzke) June 5, 2025
Jason said that he believed Jase was Alabama-bound and he even told the coaching staff in Tuscaloosa that if they let him visit East Lansing for Grind Week, they were going to lose him. And sure enough, that was enough to sway Jase's decision as he later became a Spartan.
As Maxwell said in his tweet, culture matters. It's true. Not all schools have events like that which bring back past players for a "Grind Week" and it allows these recruits to take a peak into their future.
Honestly, Grind Week is one of the best recruiting tools that Izzo has.
We'll see if this year's version leads to more commitments.