Tom Izzo, MSU Basketball Offer Elite In-State Target

Point guard Jonathan Sanderson is one of the best point guards in the country for the 2026 class and one of the top players in Michigan. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo just gave him a chance to stay in the state at the next level.

Michigan State's head coach Tom Izzo gets emotional late during the second half in the game against Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. / Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA

The position of point guard is vital for every basketball team, but it means more for Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. His best teams have had great point guards, such as Mateen Cleaves and Cassius Winston. Right now, Izzo has Jeremy Fears Jr. as his point guard of the future. Fears could very well end up in the pantheon of great Izzo guards.

Looking ahead, Izzo is targeting 2025 point guard Trey McKenney heavily. McKenney looks to be a combination of scoring prowess and offensive facilitator.

Izzo offered 2026 in-state point guard Jonathan Sanderson on Friday. Sanderson has been a standout at Saline High School. In Trevor Andershock's scouting report on Sanderson, he describes a point guard that sounds perfect for an Izzo team.

"His energy and competitiveness stand out within seconds of watching him, as Sanderson never takes a play off. He moves well laterally on the defensive end and makes it difficult on his opponents each trip," Andershock wrote. "Young point guards often allow others to do the dirty work and wait for the ball to be in their hands, but that is not the case with Sanderson. He crashes the boards and mixes it up in the paint to get the ball ...  He made 30 of 89 threes (33.7 percent) during 3SSB play but converted 82.9 percent of his 41 free-throw attempts.

"There is little reason to worry that Sanderson will be a top-tier three-point shooter. Even at the 15U level against rugged competition, Sanderson made pull-up threes in transition or off-the-dribble shots over defenders in the half-court. His form and mindset suggest that shooting will be one of his strengths for the rest of his basketball career."

Sanderson accomplished the 1,000-point mark this past February. The fact he did it in just two seasons at the high school level is incredible.

Sanderson is considered a Top 10 point guard in the class across all recruiting platforms, such as On3, 247Sports, and ESPN. On3 rates him as the No. 47 overall prospect in the class, 247Sports has him at No. 52, and he is rated No. 44 by ESPN.

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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