BB RECRUITING

Michigan State basketball looking like favorite to land Jesse McCulloch

McCulloch would be a nice addition to the 2024 class.

Published

2 months ago

April 5, 2023

Chris Norman

Announcing his decision date just one day after Michigan State basketball landed Kur Teng, Jesse McCulloch looks like a Spartan.

Four-star center prospect Jesse McCulloch has quickly become one of Tom Izzo’s top remaining targets for Michigan State basketball in the 2024 recruiting cycle.

The 6-foot-9 big man from Cleveland, Ohio, was originally offered by Michigan State back in July of 2022, but the recruitment took a bit of a back seat. It now feels like that’s no longer the case as he’s making a decision on April 20.

Most experts believe Izzo could look to add two players to its front court rotation in 2024. It’s no secret that Izzo has been really interested in five-star center Flory Bidunga and still continues to be. He was most recently seen at a game of his and has been upping the recruiting efforts since the tournament ended. Aside from him, Izzo had also reached out to fringe five-star James Brown from Chicago. Unfortunately, he lost out to North Carolina in that race.

With Brown off the board, the recruitment of McCulloch started heating up.

McCulloch is more of the typical big man you see here at MSU. He’s smaller, at 6-foot-9, and can stretch the floor at both ends. He may end up playing more of a power forward type role, but can also play center and does it well.

Landing McCulloch would give coach Izzo some flexibility down low in the future. Mady Sissoko will have two more years of eligibility. With Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper still around, it would be nice to have players that could move between the power forward and center spots and stay effective.

Currently, 247Sports has McCulloch as the No. 86 player in the 2024 class and the No. 15 center. He holds 18 offers currently from schools including MSU, Alabama, Indiana, and Ohio State. His final four schools were released on Tuesday along with his commitment date of April 20, confirmed by On3’s national recruiting expert, Joe Tipton. The final schools he will chose from are Michigan State, Xavier, Virginia Tech, and Alabama.

The race is presumably down to MSU and Alabama seeing those schools are two he took official visits to.

The timing of this announcement certainly bodes well if you are an MSU fan. McCulloch just wrapped up his high school season by winning a state championship for Lutheran East. Before the playoffs, McCulloch visited East Lansing on March 3 and was rather impressed with it. Even his parents were quick to point out that the family atmosphere in East Lansing was great. Two of MSU’s 2023 signees in Jeremy Fears and Xavier Booker have been actively recruiting him on Instagram as well.

Because MSU was just able to pick up its first 2024 commitment from four-star shooting guard Kur Teng on Monday, it is interesting McCulloch decided to announce his decision date a day later. Lots of speculation is swirling but we see this often as classes start to take shape and recruits want to assure themselves a spot on a potential roster since some schools may only take 3-4 recruits a cycle.

Pairing all this information with the fact that there have been three crystal balls placed for MSU in regards to McCulloch on 247Sports, you have to feel like Jesse is about to become the second domino to fall in the 2024 class for Izzo.

Spartan Nation will want to be following this one closely as Tom is working on yet another impressive recruiting class.

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BB RECRUITING

Michigan State basketball prioritizing 5-star SG Isaiah Elohim

Elohim would be a heck of a 2024 addition.

Published

1 week ago

May 24, 2023

Just Another Sports Fan

Michigan State basketball is one of six schools reaching out the most to five-star shooting guard Isaiah Elohim.

In a tweet from 24/7 High School Hoops, it was recently revealed that Michigan State basketball, among five other programs, is showing plenty of interest in highly-ranked shooting guard Isaiah Elohim from California.

2024 5⭐️ Isaiah Elohim is one of the top players in the ‘24 class. He told me he’s hearing the most from these schools lately:

UCLA
Kansas
Arkansas
Kansas State
USC
Michigan State

He tells me he’ll be looking to start setting up visits in the coming weeks. #11 in the ESPN100. pic.twitter.com/4jTXncDCJL

— 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) May 23, 2023

The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Elohim isn’t an athletic freak like Coen Carr, but has excellent size, speed, and athleticism regardless. He also has a good shot and excels at scoring the ball from around the court. It’s easy to envision him being the kind of guy in the future who can drop a flurry of jumpers and take over a game.

Elohim is currently attending Sierra Canyon in Los Angeles, Calif. This is big-time basketball school that has produced plenty of NBA talent, including Kenyon Martin Jr. and current Detroit Piston Marvin Bagley. It’s also the same school that Bronny James attended. The fact that Elohim was able to excel at such a prestigious basketball school (against excellent competition) gives me plenty of confidence that he can translate to the next level.

Tom Izzo will have to beat out other big-name programs such as Kansas, UCLA, Duke, Kentucky, and Baylor (who have also reportedly been showing interest) for the top-20 ranked shooting guard. Michigan State just capped off a top-five ranked class for 2023, but keeping the recruiting hot streak going for 2024 would be massive for the program. The more five-stars you have, the more five-stars you get — talent wants to play with talent.

Look for a visit to be scheduled soon.

It might be time for Izzo to land his latest five-star.

BB RECRUITING

Coen Carr throws down incredible free throw line dunk (Video)

Coen Carr is a freak.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 21, 2023

Daily MSU

Coen Carr flashed his elite athleticism once again, throwing down a dunk from the free throw line this weekend.

Incoming MSU freshman forward Coen Carr has displayed his extreme athleticism all offseason. It seems like every week a new video surfaces of him doing something mindboggling.

Today’s highlight shows Carr dunking from the free throw line.

Coen Carr taking off from the FREE THROW LINE 🤯 (via daddyharden/TT) pic.twitter.com/R8U8OKK5qP

— Overtime (@overtime) May 21, 2023

This is something that most NBA players can’t even do but Carr looks like he is able to do this with ease and had the whole gym rocking in the video.

Coen Carr is one of four players joining the Michigan State Basketball program this season, joining five-stars Xavier Booker and Jeremy Fears as well as four-star Gehrig Normand. According to 247Sports, he is the No. 31 player in the class and No. 7 at his position. Carr was not always ranked this high, but his ranking skyrocketed during his senior season as he vastly improved his game.

Michigan State’s 2023 class is one of Tom Izzo’s best ever. The Spartans class is No. 4 in the country and is the best in the Big Ten. Each freshman will be ready to play day one and will mesh perfectly with the returning players.

What will Coen Carr do next? My guess is we won’t have to wait too long to see his next high-flying dunk shock the internet. He’s going to tear the roof off of Breslin next year.

BB RECRUITING

Michigan State basketball makes top 7 for 4-star PF/C Tyler McKinley

MSU and Ohio State are the only Big Ten teams to make the cut.

Published

3 weeks ago

May 15, 2023

Connor Muldowney

Michigan State basketball has made the cut for one of the top 10 centers in the 2024 class, four-star Tyler McKinley.

Michigan State basketball is in the running for one of the top centers in the 2024 class as four-star Tyler McKinley released his top seven schools on Monday afternoon.

2024 4⭐️Tyler McKinley just released his Top 7. Here are the programs he’s considering:

Xavier
Ohio State
Virginia Tech
Cincinnati
Michigan State
Alabama
Tennessee

McKinley is an active, two-way forward who is a solid rebounder and good defender. #72 in the ESPN100. pic.twitter.com/9cDirxTS8f

— 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) May 15, 2023

McKinley, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, is currently playing high school ball in Missouri and has become one of the top 10 centers in the 2024 class. He’ll be choosing between MSU, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Xavier, Virginia Tech, Alabama, and Tennessee. That’s quite the mixed bag as there are SEC teams, Big Ten teams, an ACC team, and some prominent local teams from where he grew up.

Tom Izzo will have to fight hard for this commitment.

The 6-foot-9, 220-pound center is ranked No. 60 overall in the 2024 class and he’s the 10th-best at the position. With his frame, he may translate more to a power forward at the next level and he could complement Jesse McCulloch in the post.

McCulloch also projects as a power forward so this would be an interesting target for Izzo if he were to make a heavy push here.

Flory Bidunga is likely the Spartans’ top center target in the 2024 class, but it looks like Indiana has a lead there while Cincinnati is also in the running.

Michigan State’s 2024 recruiting class currently ranks No. 10 in the nation after landing McCulloch and four-star wing Kur Teng this spring. Adding another top-60 recruit to the class would just be another sign that Izzo still has it and he’s not “washed” like some rival fans claimed a year ago.

McKinley doesn’t currently have a visit to Michigan State scheduled, but I’d assume that he sets some officials before making a final decision.

I’d expect the 2024 Michigan State basketball recruiting class to be three or four players deep.