Michigan State basketball lands first commit of the 2026 class

On Friday, Michigan State basketball struck on the recruiting trail. 2026 four-star guard Carlos Medlock Jr. shut down his recruitment, committing to Tom Izzo and the Spartans.

Medlock Jr. had already announced a visit to MSU in September, occurring during Spartan basketball “Grind Week”. Medlock will visit alongside forward Quinn Costello and shooting guard Jasiah Jervis. However, after meeting with the staff and having been recruited by them for years, the point guard did not want to wait until September to end his recruitment.

Instead, he got on FaceTime with Tom Izzo to say “I gotta tell you something real quick: I know you’re looking at point guards, but I’m just here to tell you: you ain’t gotta look at point guards. I’m coming to be a Spartan.”

Carlos Medlock Jr. calling Tom Izzo to let him know he’s got his next PG. Let’s go. pic.twitter.com/D9xkUEiMxw

— Spartans Hoops (@HoopsSpartans) July 25, 2025

Michigan State basketball landed their next star guard

Medlock Jr. originally started his high school basketball career with Wayne Memorial High School, in Michigan, taking his team to a state championship game last year. Before his senior year, he will be taking his talents to Link Academy in Missouri. His father, Carlos Medlock, started 108 games for the Eastern Michigan Eagles from 2005-2010, averaging 14.3 points per game.

The younger Medlock is slightly undersized, at 5-foot-11, but it is easy to recall another undersized guard from Michigan who turned into a star with the Spartans, Cassius Winston. While Medlock Jr.’s game revolves more around shooting the ball over passing, with the guard averaging nearly 25 points per game for Wayne Memorial last year, there will be big shoes for Medlock Jr. to fill in 2026.

During the Adidas Circuit this summer, Medlock continued his hyper-production, averaging 21.1 points on 47 percent shooting, including 36 percent from behind the arc. While he is barely ranked outside the top-100 in the 247Sports Composite, at No. 118, he is expected to rise this summer and fall. He ultimately chose MSU over Michigan and Tennessee, two top-caliber programs with their own rich history of guard play.

Medlock will find himself in the same guard room as Jeremy Fears Jr., who’s father, Jeremy Fears, averaged 10.5 points for Ohio (a conference opponent of Medlock Sr.’s Eastern Michigan squad) during 2004-2006.

Currently, Medlock is the only Spartan commit, and gives Michigan State basketball the No. 14 recruiting class in the country.