This
blog is turning into nothing but MSU basketball. I’m sure one day I’ll post something
different. One day.
So
June 15th the new NCAA “rule” came into effect that allowed coaches
unlimited phone calls and texts to recruits.
It was real interesting to see which coaches were calling which players,
and the responses/reactions from the players.
Overall it was no big deal for a lot of the big-time recruits, but there
was a lot of interesting information to come out in the past few days. So here’s a recap:
Jabari Parker (Class
of 2013, Power Forward)
Let’s
start with the big fish; the #1 prospect in all the land. It was tweeted by Jody Demling (a recruiting
guru for the Indiana/Kentucky area) and many other sources that Jabari had
changed his phone number prior to the June 15th unlimited calls and
texts rule taking effect (the kid is smart, what can I say?). While that in and of itself is not big news,
Demling was told by Parker that only one coach had his new number, and that his
hunch was that it was not Kentucky or Louisville.
This
news is huge. Parker has continually
said he has no favorites at this time and he’s exploring all options. While he may still be looking at schools, the
news of only one coach having his number means he has a clear-cut
favorite. This would leave many to
believe it’s either Izzo or Coach K, the two perceived favorites. It was also reported last night that that Parker
will make his decision in November, meaning that although he’s exploring a lot
of schools, he’s not going to wait and take his time.
If
you listen to Parker interviews, you’ll hear all the big boy schools
mentioned. There is a lot of “political
correctness” that goes along with these interviews. He’s going to list the major players, while
not delving too deep into his thought process in order to avoid an onslaught of
media and fan attention. That’s where
reading between the lines, looking at who has an established relationship with
Parker, who would his top choices be if he were to give out his phone number,
makes sense. MSU seems to be in very
decent shape with Jabari.
Cliff Alexander
(Class of 2014, Center/Power Forward)
Two
weeks ago, everything was coming up green and white with Cliff. MaxPreps did an interview with Cliff, and had
this to say:
“As far as recruiting goes, Alexander's list started and
stopped with one program – Michigan State. Expect the Spartans to be tough to
beat as even a little prodding failed to get the Class of 2014 star to name
another school.”
In the same article, a video of Alexander was featured,
where Alexander once again professed his love for Izzo and the MSU program.
Fast forward a couple of weeks, and news came out that
John Calapari was set to be one of the first to contact Cliff on June 15th. A day later, Cliff came out to say that he
considered Kentucky his “dream school”.
Definitely not what MSU fans wanted to hear.
I honestly don’t know how much stock to put into the
Kentucky comment just yet. Even after the
comment about Kentucky, many experts (and Kentucky messageboard posters) still
think MSU is the favorite to land him.
Perhaps the Kentucky comment was taken out of context, I don’t
know. Perhaps Cliff is just playing the
game, saying what any recruit would/should say.
This may be a case of “where there is smoke, there is fire”, or it could
be much ado about nothing, and that Cliff is a true MSU lean, and will be in
the green and white sooner rather than later.
James Young (Class of 2013, Shooting Guard)
This kid has risen to #5 in the ESPN rankings, and has
garnered a lot of attention this summer with his recent AAU play. So much so that he has just earned a Kentucky
offer. James has publicly stated that he’d
love to play for Coach Cal and Kentucky, and has put it on the record. At the same time, he is from Troy, and has a
large contingent of people that would love to see him at MSU. The general feeling is that the battle for
Young’s services are between MSU and Kentucky, and that Kentucky is going to be
hard to beat.
I’m not sure how to feel about this one. On the one hand, this is a dynamic scorer,
who paired with the likes of Gary Harris, Branden Dawson, Keith Appling, and
dare I say it- Jabari Parker- would make MSU an elite offensive club. Losing out on a top-10 talent kid from our
own backyard would be a very difficult and humbling loss.
On the other hand, MSU has never been in love with Young,
for whatever reason. They’ve held back
on offer until just this summer, despite him being a top-20 national talent for
quite some time. There have been
questions about his academics and attitude, so maybe that has played a
factor. Maybe he just doesn’t fit the
physical brand of MSU basketball. If you
are going to play as a Spartan, you better be able to defend and rebound, which
are not Young’s strongest aspects (yet).
One thing I can’t shake from my head is a 6-point performance he had in
a December high school game with Dane Fife in attendance. It was an off night for sure, but at the same
time, the #5 kid in the country should be able to get 10 points just at the
free throw line in a high school game.
That’s the biggest red flag to me- is this kid mentally ready for Izzo and MSU? Scoring is great, but scoring on the AAU
circuit (where defense is optional) is one thing, but in a system that
emphasizes team basketball? I worry.
Demetrius Jackson (Class of 2013, Point Guard)
This kid is getting tons of love. He had a feature on the ESPN recruiting page
the other day, with an interview by ESPN recruiting expert Dave Telep. Right now Notre Dame (he lives right outside
South Bend) and Illinois (they’ve made a serious push lately to get him) are
the two perceived favorites. He plans on
visiting Illinois soon, but does still list MSU as one of the schools
recruiting him the hardest.
The reason I bring him up is that if James Young goes
with Big Blue, where would MSU turn next? State has two scholarships available for 2013-
one would go to Parker, and the other?
Again, the question is, do you go with Jackson, a point guard, and have
a roster of Appling, Trice, and Jackson, and possibly risk losing out on Tyus
Jones in 2014? For what it’s worth, I
think Jackson is a perfect fit for MSU- a strong, physical, and very
intelligent point guard. I honestly
think he’s worth the gamble (yeah, a top-40 player is such a gamble, I
know).
But here’s where another name could emerge if Young goes
to UK: Sterling Brown. Brown you
say? That sounds familiar. Yep, that’s Shannon’s little brother. He plays on the same AAU team as Jabari
Parker, and Izzo has gotten quite familiar with this game. A shooting guard, he plays the same position
as Young, and would be an obvious replacement if Izzo wanted another shooting
guard. Brown has played in some big time
tournaments with some big time recruits, so the big stage will not phase
him. He’s not the athlete Shannon was or
is, but he’s still a legit prospect. If
Izzo sees potential, trust in Izzo on this one.
Just another name to keep in mind.
***
~Mikey D
