Just a few months after seeing five-star center Caleb Swanigan decommit from his program, people around Tom Izzo spread the narrative that Michigan State’s longtime head coach had become thoroughly fatigued with big-time recruiting battles.
There are politics. There are backdoors. However, the Spartans got news on Monday evening that likely rejuvenated Izzo’s spirits.
Five-star guard Joshua Langford, a 2016 prospect out of Madison Academy in Alabama, made his pledge for Michigan State over a handful of suitors, including SEC and national power Kentucky.
According to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Langford is the No. 14 player in the country, and the top recruit out of the state for his class. The 247Sports Crystal Ball did have Sparty in the lead with thirty-six-percent of predictions, but Kentucky was right on their heels, with twenty-nine-percent of predictions.
The McDonald’s All-American candidate told recruiting reporters that he was “won over” by the family atmosphere around Izzo’s program, an aspect of Michigan State that many overly romantic NCAA Tournament television specials have tried to show the country but failed to do so without coming off, well…melodramatic.
For many, the Spartans program is a blue-collar one, built on the success stories of lightly recruited and over developed underdogs that buy into a physical, team concept employed by the coaching staff. They rebound. They defend. They’re rarely, if ever, afraid of the moment.
But like any program that has its eyes on a national title, Michigan State must do its best to assemble a roster that has as much talent as possible, without sacrificing chemistry and program buy-in. Langford is a perfect fit in this regard.
