Tom Izzo officially got back to work this week with the first practice of the season on Monday. I say "back to work" in terms of this year's Michigan State basketball team, but he's been working all offseason on the recruiting trail.
The head coach is actually always working. He had a great summer with his team, and it sounds like they bonded -- and improved -- nicely. He's also had a solid summer on the recruiting trail.
Izzo landed Carlos Medlock Jr. to open his 2026 recruiting class, and he's not even close to being done. There could be up to five roster spots open in 2026-27, so the Hall of Fame head coach may have to land a bigger recruiting class than he's used to.
Medlock is locked in, and he's going to help Izzo with a couple of other targets, including top-40 shooting guard Jasiah Jervis who was just on a visit with the Spartan commit during Grind Week.
On Wednesday, Izzo made it even clearer that Jervis is his top priority, paying him yet another visit (this is now the third time the staff has seen him since his visit on Sept. 5. He's also stopping in to see another top target, Julius Avent.
Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and his staff are out East today making stops to see prime targets and four-star seniors, Jasiah Jervis at Stepinac & Julius Avent at Bergen Catholic, source told @Stockrisers.
— Jake (@jakeweingarten) September 24, 2025
Jervis has to be the No. 1 target right now, judging by how much time Izzo has put into his recruitment. He's hosted him on an official visit and now has seen him a few times over the past month. He really wants the nation's No. 34 overall prospect.
As for Avent, he often gets lost in the shuffle when talking about 2026 targets, but he's one of the most talented forwards in the class. He's ranked the No. 77 overall recruit and 13th-best power forward in the class.
Jervis is from White Plains, N.Y., and Avent is from Oradell, N.J., so the East Coast trip knocked out two birds with one stone.
Izzo is looking to wrap this 2026 class up sooner rather than later. And he desperately wants these two guys to be part of it -- especially Jervis.