Michigan State basketball lands transfer center Szymon Zapala

Michigan State basketball has officially landed a transfer center as Longwood’s Szymon Zapala committed on Tuesday.

Michigan State basketball wanted a transfer center and on Tuesday, they got one.

Thrilled to announce my commitment to Michigan State University! Proud to be a Spartan! Let’s get to work! pic.twitter.com/LkRyAHw305

— Szymon Zapala (@szymon_zapala) May 14, 2024

After being rumored as the frontrunners for Szymon Zapala on Monday, the Spartans landed the 7-footer from Longwood on Tuesday afternoon. He is the final piece to the 2024-25 roster and while he’s not a superstar, he’ll add some depth to the center position.

Tom Izzo has now added a three-man class of Jase Richardson, Kur Teng, and Jesse McCulloch along with Frankie Fidler and Zapala from the transfer portal. Five new players on next year’s squad should make for some interesting rotations, but there are plenty of fans remaining optimistic. Although the center add is a bit underwhelming, he’s going to add some depth behind Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler.

What this means is that Kohler is going to have to take a major step in the right direction and be that go-to scorer down low while also improving his defense drastically. Cooper will have to be a much better backup option than he was this past season on the offensive end.

Zapala played 16.7 minutes per game this past season for Longwood after transferring over from Utah State where he couldn’t crack the playing rotation. He averaged 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game while shooting 63 percent from the floor. At least he has a back-to-the-basket game that is better than most of what we saw this past season — but it was Big South competition.

Size is added to the room and he’ll at least be a big enough body to guard opposing 7-footers in Big Ten play. That 7-foot-0, 240-pound frame is exactly what Izzo wanted in the portal from his backup center and he got it.

Is this move going to make Michigan State basketball a national title contender? No, but it adds depth at a position of need.