Michigan State basketball reaches out to TCU transfer Eddie Lampkin

Tom Izzo might be active in the portal, after all. Michigan State basketball reportedly reached out to Eddie Lampkin.

Tom Izzo has been vocal about the portal and his feelings toward how it’s being used, but the Michigan State basketball coach knows that he needs to adapt.

Heck, his two best players from this past Sweet 16 season were from the portal.

But now it’s time to really focus on roster building and keep up with the rest of college basketball in terms of landing elite talent in the portal. And he’s making an effort.

According to Jake Weingarten, Michigan State is one of the newest teams to reach out to TCU center transfer Eddie Lampkin.

Woahhh. Interesting. High energy guy on both sides of the glass. Big body (6’11” 265lbs). Not particularly efficient but would be a nice piece to mix into the frontcourt. https://t.co/FfoB6fQXer pic.twitter.com/3jG5SvJewR

— DK (@SpartanHoops_DK) March 30, 2023

It would be nice to add a piece like Lampkin who could provide slightly more offense than Mady Sissoko and who’s more polished than Carson Cooper at this stage.

I’ve already made it known who my first choice would be if Michigan State were to target a transfer center, but Lampkin makes sense because he wouldn’t require as many minutes as Kel’el Ware and he’s a big body that can help eat up the paint.

Lampkin has been at TCU since 2020-21 and he only played 10 games as a true freshman, averaging 3.4 minutes with little production. In year two, he averaged 6.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 0.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks while shooting 61 percent from the floor. Last season, he put up 6.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 0.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks, shooting 55 percent from the floor in 21.8 minutes.

Obviously he’s not the most productive center option, but you have to realize he put up these decent numbers in a very competitive Big 12 so he’d be ready to come in and compete right away in the Big Ten.

Do I think Michigan State lands Lampkin? No, but I do like to see that Izzo is at least reaching out to guys and gauging interest. It feels like Lampkin has already had some serious suitors and he’s completed some Zoom calls with schools. Michigan State may be slightly late here.

Still, I don’t hate this effort from Tom.