Michigan State fans' hands are hovering over that panic button on Tuesday, just 24 hours after it felt like the Spartans had some serious momentum in the recruitment of Aiden Sherrell.
Unfortunately, that momentum has since diminished and it looks like Sherrell is Indiana-bound.
Losing Sherrell hurts because this is the second time that Izzo has missed out on the talented recruit who's originally from Detroit and likely grew up dreaming about playing for Michigan State. Money talks, and you can't really blame a college athlete for wanting to get paid with multiple elite programs throwing bags at him.
Sherrell chose a program that's made the NCAA Tournament just two times in the past decade led by a relatively unproven second-year head coach over a Hall of Famer who hasn't missed the postseason since the 1990s.
This is going to end up as one of Izzo's most painful misses, I already know it.
Michigan State is a center away from being a true national title favorite, and after losing Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper this offseason, landing an elite one in the portal felt necessary.
Sherrell looked to be that guy, but it sounds like Izzo and Michigan State pushed hard but Indiana was able to get him to cancel a pending visit to East Lansing and close things down.
Money talks.
Michigan State is running out of options
On Monday, it felt like Michigan State was in a really good spot. Sherrell was "close" to locking in a visit with the Spartans and there was also talk of Izzo reaching out to Cincinnati big man Moustapha Thiam who's being courted by several blue bloods like Duke, Kansas, and UConn as well as top programs like Arkansas and St. John's. That's not looking very likely at this point.
There's also the center from SMU, Samet Yigitoglu who was a top target for the Spartans before they really honed in on Sherrell. He had been rumored to be a South Carolina lean, but it'll be interesting to see if Michigan State can circle back and make him a better offer.
There's also Anton Bonke from Charlotte who could be a solid option as a 7-foot-2 big man with NBA aspirations and potential. He wasn't option No. 1, but he may have to be now.
Luke McEldon of Mount St. Mary's is another option as he was just in East Lansing for a pickup game with the Spartan players at IM West. Rumors were circulating that he was visiting someone, but it's starting to feel like he might be the only center option.
It's been a rough 24 hours for Michigan State in the transfer portal, but we just have to hope that Izzo feels the pressure and goes all out to get a quality big man for the right price.
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