Devin Booker admits he was going to commit to Michigan State basketball

Devin Booker recently admitted that he was going to commit to Michigan State basketball before choosing Kentucky in the end.

The pain of losing top recruits is nothing new to Michigan State basketball fans.

While Tom Izzo happens to be one of the top recruiters in the country, he has also lost out on a number of top players who have gone on to have successful college and NBA careers because, well, he plays by the rules.

Not all of the misses were because other teams didn’t play by the rules, but some did hurt more than others.

We all remember Jabari Parker and Caleb Swanigan and there have been others like Jahlil Okafor, Cliff Alexander, and Tyler Ulis, but one that doesn’t quite get talked about enough is Devin Booker. The Grand Rapids, Mich., native grew up watching the Spartans and had a good relationship with Izzo but he ultimately chose John Calipari and Kentucky.

Picking Kentucky as a top recruit isn’t surprising, but the recruitment was apparently closer than anyone realizes.

In a recent video, Booker was asked if he knew he was always going to Kentucky and he said “not until the end” and then admitted that he was going to pick Michigan State because of his love for Izzo and the fact that his friends all went there.

“You knew you were always going to UK?”

“Not until the end. I was going to Michigan State. Love Izzo to this day.”

Devin Booker was almost a Spartan😭
pic.twitter.com/DJIF6eKL9L

— Michigan State Content (@msucontent) August 5, 2024

Booker did say that he didn’t grow up picking a side in the rivalry but during his recruiting process it was pretty clear that he favored the Spartans over the Wolverines and he still has love for Izzo to this day.

While it’s cool to hear that one of the best players in the world nearly chose Michigan State, it’s bittersweet because it’s one of those “what could have been” situations.

Michigan State went to the Final Four during Booker’s lone season in 2014-15 and it lost to Duke by 20 before the Blue Devils went on to win the national title over Wisconsin. The Badgers actually shocked Booker’s Kentucky team which came into that game 38-0, making a bid for the ever-rare perfect college basketball season.

Maybe if he had played for Michigan State, he would’ve helped the Spartans get past Duke to win Izzo his second national title.

But we’re not going to dwell on that and drive ourselves crazy today.