Izzo: Spartans 'Really Excited' About Freshman F
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State brought in three promising freshmen with Jase Richardson, Kur Teng and Jesse McCulloch.
Richardson is the son of Spartan legend Jason Richardson and was ranked as the No. 3 combo guard in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. Teng, meanwhile, was ranked the No. 1 class of 2024 prospect in Massachusetts, per 247Sports.
Both prospects were four-stars, and because of the acclaim that has surrounded them. McCulloch has been rather overlooked from the outside.
The former three-star Ohio native likely won't see the floor much in his freshman season, but according to Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, there's a lot of promise.
"We've been really excited about Jesse," Izzo said on Tuesday. "As I said, you always recruit guys ... You recruit some guys, you think you got an ace, and he turns out to be just OK. Most of the time, it seems like kids are never as good as the rankings, or that you recruited them, because everybody builds them up so much. So there's always some margin for error. This one, the margin for error has been the opposite. He's grown a little bit. He's gotten his body tightened up. He can shoot the ball, I mean, and yet he's got some [Nick] Ward in him where he gets under the basket. He's tougher than nails. So, do I think he's ready to play yet? Maybe not quite yet. Does that mean, we would look into talking to him about what he should do? Maybe. ... The nice thing is we got a game now, and we got a little time, and, as you know, players can play in the exhibition games and not lose their eligibility. But hasn't been something we've talked to him about, because we're just waiting to see."
"And we haven't really had any injuries yet, knock on wood, but as we all know, a couple of years ago when Miles [Bridges] was here, we had three bigs that were already out for the year. And so, we just hope that doesn't happen. He has been one of my surprises, and yet, he's a freshman."
It seems the ceiling could be pretty high for McCulloch. Fans should be excited for what he could bring to the table down the road.
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