Tom Izzo, Michigan State Sign Two Top 50 Prospects In 2024 Class
The early signing period for college basketball recruiting opened on Wednesday, and Michigan State men's basketball added a trio of high-profile high school prospects.
The Spartans received national letters of intent (NLI) from all three of their verbally committed prospects in the 2024 recruiting class — four-star combo guard Jase Richardson, four-star shooting guard Kur Teng and three-star power forward Jesse McColloch. Michigan State's class is currently considered the No. 7 group in the country, according to 247Sports' team composite rankings.
Richardson, the son of the well-known former Spartan Jason Richardson, is the No. 33 overall player, No. 3 combo guard and No. 7 player from the state of Florida in the 2024 recruiting class. He committed to Michigan State back on Oct. 15 over his other finalists, Alabama and Cincinnati, and is locked in as a Spartan after signing his NLI today. Richardson plays his high school basketball at Miami (Fla.) Columbus High School.
"In Jase Richardson, we get a little bit of everything," MSU head coach Tom Izzo said in a press conference on Wednesday. "We get a guy who can pass it, he can shoot it, he can defend it and he can rebound it. He's a very aggressive rebounder. As he gets stronger, like his dad went through, I think this kid has the chance to be one of the great combo guards, because I think he can do it in a lot of different ways."
Jason Richardson was one of Izzo's earliest players during his head coaching tenure at Michigan State, and Izzo is excited for the opportunity to coach Jason's son.
"It is an honor to have a son of a former player," Izzo said. "I think he's going to be a great addition to add on to what we have but in what we need, and I think that's going to be really important to us in the near future."
Teng, out of Haverhill (Mass.) Bradford Christian Academy, is considered the No. 40 overall player, No. 8 shooting guard and No. 1 player out of the state of Massachusetts in his class. Teng was the first 2024 prospect to commit to the Spartans. He gave verbal pledge to Michigan State on April 3 amongst a 'Final Three' that also included Rutgers and Providence.
"In Kur Teng, he was the first player to commit, he was a Top 50 guard," Izzo said. "He's played for a guy in Vinny [Pastore] out at Bradford Christian Academy that is...I've never seen a guy that coaches as hard as he does. Because of that, this kid has been coached. [Teng] has incredible respect for the game, for people."
Teng's measurables come in at 6-foot-4 and 185 pounds, and he's one of the top shooters of this cycle.
"We think he's got a body and if you got size and you can defend it and you can shoot it at the same time, that's a positive," Izzo said of Teng. "So, we got to know him, we got to know his family. It was just the right fit for us."
Finally, Michigan State also received a signature from McCulloch out of Cleveland (Ohio) Lutheran East High School. The 6-foot-9, 190-pounder is considered the No. 129 overall prospect, No. 27 power forward and the No. 6 player from the state of Ohio in the 2024 class. While he's listed as a three-star prospect according to 247's composite rankings, three out of the four major recruiting services consider McCulloch a four-star recruit.
"In Jesse McCulloch, we get a kid who's a four-star recruit right now and I think could move up," Izzo said. "But he has something that we think is very valuable. He can really shoot the ball. He's got more weight and he's got energy. He's a guy that's excited to be here."
McCulloch gave his verbal pledge to Michigan State on April 20, less than three weeks after Teng committed to the Spartans. McCulloch chose MSU among a 'Final Four' which included Alabama, Xavier and Virginia Tech.
"He's got to learn to play harder like every big guy in America has to learn how to do," Izzo said. "We were attracted to him because he could shoot it and he communicated really well on the floor. We watched him in an AAU tournament and he talked better than any guard I've ever seen. And now we got a chance to meet his family. His parents were just unbelievable. More appreciative, not entitled. So, we looked at Jesse early, we liked Jesse early, we moved on Jesse early."
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