Tom Izzo is one of the best to ever do it. There’s really no debate and the haters can say all they want about him not winning a national title since 2000, but there’s an argument to be made that winning a college basketball national title in a 68-team field is the toughest championship process out there.
No matter how you look at it, Izzo has been elite for a long time.
The Michigan State head coach has also had some elite recruiting classes over the years. The first one that I remember fondly as a fan during my early teenage years was the Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers, Chris Allen class which eventually broke apart when the latter transferred to Iowa State.
Izzo also landed that 2016 class of Miles Bridges, Cassius Winston, Josh Langford, and Nick Ward and followed it up with Xavier Tillman and Jaren Jackson Jr. in 2017. He has an elite eye for talent.
But in his 70s, there are some who believe that he’s lost his fastball because he hasn’t been to a Final Four since 2019 and some rival fans love to play the “he can’t develop talent” game whenever they have one good NBA draft class. No one can ever say that he’s not elite at spotting talent, though, and the 2026 class is proof that he’s still one of the best in the business in that regard.
The numbers prove it.
Michigan State’s 2026 class by the numbers
Almost all four of Michigan State’s 2026 class signees started on the lower side of the rankings before catapulting to where they are now.
Let’s start with the modest rise of Julius Avent. Izzo offered him in June of 2025 when he was the No. 103 prospect in the country and he immediately jumped into the top 100 and was as high as No. 82 before settling at No. 93 in the final 247Sports class rankings.
Also, let’s get the bad news out of the way with Ethan Taylor’s drop in the rankings. I think this was more of Izzo waiting a little bit longer to offer him after identifying him as a target when he was ranked the No. 73 recruit in the country a week before being offered by the Spartans. He jumped into the top 25 right before Izzo offered. He ended up being No. 45 in the final rankings.
Jasiah Jervis was another late-riser and he became a McDonald’s All-American. In early June of last year, Jervis was ranked No. 109 in the nation and then he rose into the 60s before Michigan State offered. After he was offered, he launched into the top 40 before committing in November.
Lastly, Carlos Medlock Jr. may have been the craziest story. He was offered by Izzo when he was the No. 178 recruit in the country and then he soared to No. 103. Shortly after committing, he jumped 30 spots and then he settled in at No. 51 in the final rankings.
All of these guys saw jumps in the rankings after Izzo started recruiting them and most soared after committing. Haters can try to knock Izzo for a lot of things, but identifying talent isn’t one of them.
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