Ethan Taylor is presumably the final piece to Tom Izzo and Michigan State’s 2026 recruiting class puzzle. He committed just a week after the Spartans landed four-star shooting guard Jasiah Jervis.
These two capped off what could end up being Izzo’s best recruiting class since Cassius Winston, Miles Bridges, Nick Ward, and Josh Langford’s 2016 group. That class would go on to win three Big Ten titles, make a Final Four, and it featured a Big Ten Player of the Year (Winston). And if not for an injury to Langford, it could’ve been even better.
Michigan State has a group of 2026 commits who could rival that 2016 group, and Taylor could be one of the best bigs that Izzo has ever landed.
While that may seem like an egregious statement considering who he’s had come through the program, Izzo himself gave a glowing review of Taylor following a practice before the Kentucky game.
Izzo said that he’s never had a player quite like Taylor, according to SpartanMag editor Paul Konyndyk.
Tom Izzo acknowledged after practice on Sunday that he has never had a player quite like Ethan Taylor, who will combine rare size and physical strength as a freshman next season. Taylor is 7-foot-1, 244, as a high school senior at Link Academy.
— Paul Konyndyk (@Pkonyndyk) November 17, 2025
Story: https://t.co/WzF5SatSRI pic.twitter.com/gBkMuYwR2D
You can read his full quotes with an On3 description, but this statement alone shows that Izzo thinks very highly of his new five-star center commit. He doesn’t just say that about anyone, but he knows that Taylor could be the missing piece of the puzzle in the post.
Michigan State has gotten better post play this season from Jaxon Kohler, Carson Cooper, and Cam Ward, and Izzo seemingly believes in Taylor enough to help replace the production lost from the two graduating seniors early on in his career.
If a Hall of Famer who has coached for 30 years believes that Taylor is unlike any big he’s ever coached, you know he’s going to be a good one.