Michigan State basketball: Two former Spartans officially find new homes

One former Michigan State basketball player and one former commit both found new homes this past weekend. Where’d they end up?

This past weekend was a big one for a couple of former Spartans. One was former Michigan State basketball streaky sharpshooter Pierre Brooks and the other was a former commit in the 2021 class, Enoch Boakye.

Brooks entered the transfer portal after a quiet sophomore season that started with a bang but quickly fell off. He announced over the weekend that he’ll be joining former Ohio State head coach Thad Matta at Butler.

Let’s rock @ButlerMBB ??? pic.twitter.com/AhSQA7lPlC

— Pierre Brooks II (@nba_pbj) April 10, 2023

This will be a good spot for Brooks and he should get a constant green light there.

Obviously there’s more interest in what players who actually played for Michigan State are doing, but Boakye was once one of the hottest topics for Spartan fans. He was actually supposed to join a class with Jaden Akins, Brooks, Emoni Bates, and Max Christie. It could have been the best class in a long time, but it quickly fell apart a year early.

Bates and Boakye both decommitted and decided to head elsewhere. In fact, Bates went to Memphis while Enoch Boakye signed with Arizona State. It was a shocking change of direction.

And people were quick to question if “Tom Izzo still had it.”

Bates has since transferred to Eastern Michigan while Boakye played minimally at Arizona State over his first two years in Tempe. The former five-star MSU commit averaged 2.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks in just over 12 minutes per game as a freshman, but his numbers dropped off drastically during his sophomore campaign. He averaged just 0.7 points and 0.7 rebounds in 3.3 minutes per game.

To no one’s surprise, the 6-foot-10 former five-star center from Canada entered the transfer portal and he picked a new home over the weekend.

Former Sun Devil Enoch Boakye is transferring to Fresno State, per his Instagram. pic.twitter.com/md6AvCB7Cb

— Anthony Totri (@Anthony_Totri) April 9, 2023

It’s wild to see him used so little at Arizona State, but Fresno State is a good spot for him to get some extended playing time and potentially create an NBA stock for himself in a year or two.

The two former Spartans are in good situations that should see them both flourish.

The last time a player transferred from Michigan State to a smaller program, Foster Loyer flourished with Davidson. I see the same thing happening here with Pierre and Boakye.