Izzo lands his second recuit of the 2013 class
Alvin Eliis, 3-star SG out of Chicago, Illinois, just committed to the Spartans yesterday.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/basketballrecruiting/basketball/recruiting/play…
This may be Izzo's weakest recruiting class since becoming head coach at MSU. It's certainly the weakest during the Rivals/Scout era. I have to wonder if something is driving this decline, or if it's just a fluke.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/commitments/2013/mic…
April 25th, 2013 at 12:07 PM ^
Most people don't give a damn about MSU. We don't need to validate them by making threads about their recruiting or for that matter, anything related to them. They should be an after thought to everyone.
April 25th, 2013 at 12:31 PM ^
but we're naive and/or delusional if we think somehow MSU basketball is going to fade into the shadows. MSU basketball != MSU football. Tom Izzo is still one of the best coaches in the country
April 25th, 2013 at 12:40 PM ^
I would be a little concerned. This class consists of two 3 stars. They don't have a true point guard. The deep tournament runs are fading in the past. After next season, Payne, Harris and Appling will all be gone.
According to Rivals, lotto pick Trey Burke was only a 3 star. Talent can come from anywhere.
.... ah crap, did I just start a "stars" argument? Sorry everyone.
But Burke wasn't an end-of-the-season pickup either. He committed to us as a junior and signed that fall.
I don't think Izzo and MSU are on the decline although I certainly think that things are more competitive now. I think what Izzo really did was take advantage of a lull when we were down, Indiana was no longer able to get top guys under Knight, OSU was not as good as they are with Matta etc. Had that very successful 3 year period from 99-01. The competition is better now and they won't have a run like that again. But they can still be a good team/program.
As you look at their roster though, you see a real good team next year. But I don't see much after 2014. Payne and Appling will be gone. Probably Harris goes pro after next year as he can be in the lottery. Dawson may turn into a scorer but besides that I don't know that guys like Trice, Valentine, Costello, Guana, Byrd etc have really shown much. Then these other 2 new guys who were clearly Izzo's plan B. They're young and they'll develop but their freshmen and sophomore and recruits don't catch your eye and make you think they will ever be first team all-B1G or anything. On the one hand, you can play young guys right away and reload quickly these days, as our team shows, but looking at their roster it also looks like their talent necessitates having a killer class in 2014 unless they want a dropoff over the next few years. Huge recruiting pressure for them in this class.
I guess this is interesting for some, but I don't really care who MSU signs unless they are in direct competition with UM.
And as an addendum, HS basketball rankings don't mean much to me anymore, given how many top kids go pro after a year. Izzo has always tried to recruit kids who can grow in his system a bit, and maybe that means taking lower-ranked kids. Beilein has done the same to wild success, so if Izzo thinks this kid is worth it I'm going to trust the guy who has taken numerous teams to the Final 4.
Argh, see above. Sorry. Meant to reply there, not here.
Didnt Mateen Cleaves and Ed Martin know each other??