Wisconsin is biggest threat to Michigan State basketball for Frankie Fidler

Wisconsin seems to be the main competition to Michigan State basketball for Omaha transfer Frankie Fidler.

Monday is the day. Frankie Fidler is coming off an official visit weekend with Michigan State basketball and he’ll be making his commitment announcement on Monday morning on a radio station in Omaha.

Fidler has a top four of Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Creighton, but by all accounts, it feels like there are two favorites.

Michigan State got his last visit and seemingly made up quite a bit of ground on the rest of the field this past weekend, but the leader has been rumored to be Wisconsin. I’m not sure Tom Izzo and Michigan State did enough to catch up to the Badgers, but getting the last visit will surely make things interesting come Monday morning. The Hall of Fame coach surely gave the talented Omaha transfer something to think about.

But why is Wisconsin likely the leader and top competition to the Spartans for Fidler?

Unfortunately for Michigan State, Wisconsin has something that the Spartans don’t have: Chucky Hepburn. Why does that matter? Hepburn and Fidler were high school teammates and are good friends so that draw alone could give the Badgers the ultimate edge. Does that mean they’re a lock? No, but the draw of playing high-major college basketball with your best friend could be enough.

Michigan State could offer Fidler a chance to compete for a Big Ten title while being that “missing piece” in the starting lineup at the small forward spot. The Spartans need a scorer and it seems like Tom Izzo would allow him to play freely in this lineup.

The Spartans would likely have more firepower than a Wisconsin team without AJ Storr next season, but the Hepburn connection may be too much to overcome.

We’ll find out on Monday morning, but this feels like a two-team race.