Michigan State basketball commit named a top performer at prestigious Hoophall event

Tom Izzo is one of the nation’s best recruiters, and his eye for talent isn’t talked about enough. Yes, he knows how to land four and five-stars, but he’s also good at finding undervalued four-stars, or even three-stars, and land them before they blow up.

The last Michigan State basketball commit who soared up the rankings before he committed was Xavier Booker in the 2023 class with Jeremy Fears, Coen Carr, and Gehrig Normand.

Booker was a four-star when Michigan State began recruiting him, ranked closer to 100 nationally than he was to the top 10. By the time he was signed by Izzo and the Spartans, he was ranked in the top 10 of his class. He was considered one of the top five-star centers in the country.

We won’t talk about his time in East Lansing because he never quite lived up to the hype, but another Michigan State signee has been on the rise for months, and Carlos Medlock’s showing at the prestigious Hoophall Classic might just vault him up the rankings once more.

According to Jamie Shaw of Rivals, Medlock was his third-best performer during Saturday’s Hoophall Classic event.

Medlock was the third-best Day 1 performer, according to Shaw, behind Missouri commit Jason Crowe and Arkansas pledge Abdou Toure. Izzo identified some elite talent early — again.

Carlos Medlock’s rise has been impressive

When Michigan State started recruiting Medlock publicly, he was ranked in the 100s nationally, per 247Sports. He was ranked in the low-100s by the composite, but 247Sports had him as low as No. 179 in the country as recent as May of 2025.

Since then, he’s sky-rocketed to No. 65 nationally on 247Sports and he’s No. 72 in the composite. After this weekend’s performance at the Hoophall Classic, that should rise again.

Why is this Hoophall Classic such a big deal? It’s one of the top high school hoops events in the country, and it’s previously featured stars like Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving, AJ Dybansta, Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, Zion Williamson, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis, and Kevin Durant. Clearly, this is where you want to excel if you’re an aspiring pro.

Medlock is going to see another rise in the rankings before he gets to campus officially, and Michigan State’s backcourt is going to look scary in 2026-27 with Fears, Medlock, Divine Ugochukwu, Jasiah Jervis, and Kur Teng — and maybe some Jordan Scott when he’s not playing the three.

Going from Fears to Medlock is just an embarrassment of riches.