Michigan State men's basketball 2023 recruiting class enters nation's Top 3
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has been under heavy scrutiny this offseason due to the lack of additions the Spartans made via the transfer portal for the 2022-23 season.
While much of that criticism is warranted, Izzo also deserves all the credit in the world for hitting the high school recruiting trail hard this summer and bringing high-level talent to East Lansing in his 2023 recruiting class.
With the commitment of four-star small forward Coen Carr yesterday, Michigan State's 2023 recruiting class is now ranked No. 3 in the country, trailing just Duke and Kentucky.
The Spartans' class is tied with Ohio State for No. 3 in overall team points (65.09), but Michigan State (97.40) has a slight edge over the Buckeyes (97.10) in average player rating.
Four-star point guard Jeremy Fears got this class started for the Spartans with his commitment back in January. The 6-foot, 180-pound point guard is the No. 42 overall prospect in the country, and the No. 7 point guard, according to 247Sports' composite rankings.
Then, less than two weeks ago, Izzo got the biggest commitment in the class from five-star power forward Xavier Booker. The 6-foot-10, 205-pounder is considered the No. 1 player in the country by Rivals.com, 247Sports lists him at No. 3, and On3 Sports has him as the No. 6 overall player.
Booker's 247Sports composite ranking, which sits at No. 58 in the country, is very misleading. The low ranking is due to the fact that ESPN's recruiting service has not yet updated their player rankings, and still considers Booker a four-star prospect with a score of 82 (out of 99).
With the five-star's commitment, Michigan State has rode a wave of momentum these past two weeks. The Spartans' landed four-star small forward Gehrig Normand next. Standing 6-foot-6 and weighing in at 180 pounds, Normand is ranked No. 89 overall and No. 17 among small forwards by the 247Sports composite.
Finally, Izzo and his staff capped its excellent class with Carr, a 6-foot-7, 200-pounder whose athleticism is off the charts. Carr is ranked No. 58 overall and the No. 10 small forward in the country.
If Michigan State finishes with the No. 3 class in 2023, it would be the Spartans' highest-ranked recruiting class since 2016 when they signed Miles Bridges, Joshua Langford, Cassius Winston and Nick Ward.
