Tom Izzo, MSU Basketball Dealt Another Blow in Recruiting
Tom Izzo and Michigan State will have to look outside of La Lumiere for their first commitment of the 2025 recruiting cycle. Last week, five-star forward Jalen Haralson committed to Notre Dame after a tightly contested recruitment came down to the Irish, Spartans, and Hoosiers.
His teammate Darius Adams, another five-star Top-25 player, had the Spartans among his teams as well. On Monday, Adams chose the dominant Connecticut Huskies and head coach Danny Hurley over Izzo and the Spartans.
It marks another tough loss that was so close to being a massive recruiting victory for Izzo. Adams is the No. 19 player in the country, per 247Sports. That the two players, Haralson and Adams, are able to share the ball and work as a cohesive unit for La Lumiere is nothing short of spectacular.
I spoke with head coach Pat Holmes, who said that success was based on their philosophy program-wide.
"I think we try to recruit to it and build our program to where the ball is not just going to be one in guy's hands," Holmes said. "But if you talk to Jalen and Darius, those are guys that want to win and they know what it takes to help the team be successful. So they're going to make the right basketball play, is what it boils down to. You got two guys on the basketball, you got to pass the ball. They're not taking crazy contested shots. And that just doesn't go for those to, it goes for the whole team.
"I think we try to do our homework as best as we can on the front end to make sure we're bringing in guys that fit our style of play and are coachable and will do what we're asking them to do. Which, in the long run, helps them get prepared for college."
Unfortunately for the Spartans, both players won't be taking their dynamic act to East Lansing.
Izzo and the Spartans will press on for five-star Dwayne Aristode, along with four-star Jordan Scott and five-star Niko Bundalo. The Spartans can still get a serviceable haul in 2025, even if it doesn't turn out the way they thought.
Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.
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