For the second time in the past four classes, Tom Izzo and Michigan State have signed four recruits. The Spartans followed up a two-man class of Cam Ward and Jordan Scott with a four-man group of Carlos Medlock Jr., Jasiah Jervis, Ethan Taylor, and Julius Avent.
Not too shabby.
Izzo is continuing to stack talent and his 2026 class might end up being one of his best yet, headlined by a McDonald’s All-American shooting guard, a borderline five-star center, an elite four-star point guard, and an underrated — yet still top-100 — power forward.
This class has been ranked in the top five all offseason and it’s still at No. 5 after the final 247Sports update for this class which came out on Thursday.
But one signee saw a pretty hefty drop in the rankings.
Ethan Taylor went from the No. 29 recruit in the country down to the No. 42 prospect. He dropped an entire 13 spots in one update, going from a borderline five-star to the 40-range. I’m not entirely sure what went into this new ranking, but some have been down on him after a quiet senior year at Link Academy even though I just think he’s more raw than people expected.
I’m not saying that he’s just Xavier Booker 2.0, but he has some work to do in order to enter that regular big man rotation but I don’t think it’ll take Izzo and Saddi Washington long to mold him into a Big Ten-caliber starting center.
Jervis, Medlock, and Avent all dropped minimally in the updated rankings.
Michigan State’s 2026 class complements the returning roster
Michigan State’s returning roster has some needs like more shooters, an extra ball handler, and some post depth and that’s exactly what the 2026 class provides.
The Spartans added an elite shooter in Jervis who is considered one of the best two-guards in the class as a McDonald’s All-American. I think he’s ranked way too low still, but he’s going to prove the rankings wrong in 2026-27 as a potential starting shooting guard for a Big Ten contender. They also added a really good ball-handler in Medlock who can run the offense, plays with some intensity, and creates for himself and others.
And then there’s Avent and Taylor who provide some much-needed post depth after losing Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler.
The only thing that might be missing is another big-bodied wing who could play anywhere from the two through the four and that’s what I believed Maximo Adams could have been before he committed to North Carolina.
The incoming class is still a perfect complement to the current roster which racked up 27 wins this past season and has national title aspirations.
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