Tom Izzo vowed to hit the portal this offseason but that he was going to keep his locker room the way he wants it. Michigan State fans accepted that reality but they expected maybe a little harder of a push for the top transfer centers in the portal.
That hasn’t happened yet.
And on Saturday, Michigan State got another unfortunate transfer portal update regarding the recruitment of elite Cincinnati big man Moustapha Thiam.
According to a report that surfaced late on Saturday, Thiam is planning a visit to the state of Michigan on Monday… to check out Ann Arbor. Michigan wasn’t even on the list of about 10 teams that had been pursuing him as recently as Friday, but Dusty May worked quickly to get him scheduled for a visit and now it looks like Izzo is going to miss out on another priority target.
I’m not saying that this one is over nor am I saying he’s a lock to Michigan, but this is no longer looking like a possibility after this recent scheduled visit.
So now Thiam is being targeted by Duke, UConn, Kansas, and Michigan and he’s visited St. John’s and now he’s about to head to Ann Arbor. This pipe dream will likely be one of those “how close were they really?” recruits that haunts Michigan State fans for years.
The Big Ten is loading up on Michigan State misses
Three big men who Michigan State was reportedly connected with have already transferred to Big Ten programs which means that not only are the Spartans whiffing, but they now have to face the guys they missed on next season.
Samet Yigitoglu and Aiden Sherrell both went to Indiana and Luke McEldon (not really a major target but a backup center option) is now at Northwestern. Now Thiam could end up at Michigan.
Michigan State also just hosted Charlotte 7-footer Anton Bonke this weekend and that’s an option, but it feels like Izzo is banking on running with his current roster at this point. And that’s super disappointing. Sure, he could push for Carson Cooper’s fifth year, but losing Thiam without much of a fight to the rival down the road is worst-case scenario.
When it rains, it pours.
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