New Big Ten center Michigan State basketball should contact in transfer portal

Tom Izzo has made some noise in the transfer portal so far this offseason, and even appears to be on the verge of landing a commitment from star forward Frankie Fidler. But there is still one glaring hole on the roster that I think Michigan State basketball and Izzo need to address regardless of what Fidler decides to do.

Pretty much every Michigan State basketball fan thinks Izzo needs to get a center out of the portal this offseason. But what's shocking is that Izzo hasn't even contacted one yet.

To be fair, the portal stays open for new entrants until May 1, so maybe Izzo is waiting to see who else hits the portal before he goes after someone.

But a center from another Big Ten school just entered the portal that I think MSU should go after.

Felix Okpara is a transfer center from Ohio State. He is coming off a solid sophomore season with the Buckeyes that saw him average 6.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. I know that amount of points isn't overly impressive, but he really turned it on for the Buckeyes in the NIT, scoring in double figures in all three games.

Okpara also had a solid 10-point, six-rebound game at the Breslin Center in his one meeting again Michigan State this season as well.

Okpara isn't the best center out there in the portal, but I still think he would be a solid addition to the roster. At 6-foot-11, he has the size to defend the large post players that it seems like every Big Ten team has been landing in the transfer portal this offseason. But not only can he defend well, he has proven that he can be a capable scorer from time to time, something that I don't feel confident enought to say about any Spartan post player on the current roster.

Time will tell if Izzo chooses to go after a center in the portal or not, but if Michigan State wants to compete with the best teams in the Big Ten next season I think they will have to. But we'll just have to wait and see what Izzo decides to do.