Michigan State basketball makes top schools list for nation's No. 1 center

Tom Izzo and Michigan State basketball have been on a heater lately.

The Hall of Fame head coach may have gotten off to a slower start to his 2026 recruiting class than he would have liked, but he's been making up for that on the trail recently.

A couple of weeks ago, Izzo landed his first 2026 commit as Carlos Medlock Jr. chose the Spartans over several other programs who just jumped into the mix for him. He's one of the best point guards in the 2026 class, and he's been soaring up recruiting rankings. Izzo's now focusing on building around Medlock, and he could do that with one of the best centers in the class.

Izzo recently offered five-star big man Ethan Taylor who's considered the No. 1 center in the 2026 class and now he's down to six schools, including Michigan State.

Michigan State not only made the top schools list for Taylor, a 7-footer, but it also locked in an official visit with the five-star. He'll be on campus over the weekend of Oct. 3, which could be the same weekend as Midnight Madness. The Spartans will be getting the second-to-last visit for Taylor, which isn't a bad place to be, but Kentucky has the advantage of getting the final official.

Oklahoma, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, and Oregon are the other finalists for the five-star big man, and they, too, will all be getting official visits this fall, starting with Oregon on Sept. 7.

Taylor is ranked as the No. 22 overall prospect and No. 1 center in the 2026 class, according to the composite. He was just offered by the Spartans on July 30. Michigan State is the most recent offer to make his list of finalists. That's a great sign.