Michigan State basketball recruiting is heating up as the summer draws nearer to an end, and visits are being scheduled, and top schools lists are being released.
Tom Izzo has done a great job of creating his recruiting board, identifying his top targets, and he's already landed his first commitment in four-star point guard Carlos Medlock Jr. who has been sky-rocketing up the rankings this summer.
What Izzo has been doing that feels different than what he's done in recent years has been expanding his recruiting board. In the past, he's focused on a few guys, and he's put all of his eggs in one basket only to be let down in the end and be forced to find a Plan B or Plan C target to work on.
Izzo is also scheduling official visits for the fall. One of those visits will be coming from four-star power forward Julius Avent from Oradell, N.J.
On Wednesday night, Avent revealed his top five schools. Michigan State made the cut.
NEWS: 4⭐️ Julius Avent is down to five schools, he tells @Rivals:
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) August 6, 2025
Xavier, Michigan State, Seton Hall, Penn State, and Providence
The 6-7 forward and top-75 overall recruit breaks down his finalists: https://t.co/pgCqHmTw8M pic.twitter.com/obcJtxya8O
It shouldn't have been all that surprising to see Michigan State make the cut because he just announced that he'd be taking an official visit to East Lansing a couple of weeks ago. He'll be on campus on Aug. 30 for the first football game of the season, kicking off his official visit schedule.
After checking out MSU on Aug. 30, he'll visit Penn State, Xavier, Providence, and then Avent will cap off his official visit schedule with Seton Hall on Oct. 2.
Avent is ranked the No. 87 overall recruit, and he's the 12th-best power forward in the 2026 class, according to the composite.
This is a very winnable recruiting battle.