With the three major recruiting services — 247sports.com, Rivals and ESPN — all releasing their final rankings for the 2018 basketball class, we've now got a better idea of where Michigan State fits on the national scene.
In 247sports' final composite rankings, which combines all of the major national sites, the Spartans' 5-player class of Marcus Bingham Jr., Aaron Henry, Gabe Brown, Foster Loyer and Thomas Kitheir comes in at No. 14 nationally.
That number would probably be higher if not for 247sports' own list, which has the Spartans 22nd, with much lower players rankings for Brown, Loyer and Kithier compared to the other two.
Michigan State is 11th on Rivals and 12th on ESPN's list.
The five hoopsters are ranked four-star players on all three sites.
Bingham is the Spartans' highest-rated recruit on all three sites. After that, it varies. Here's a player-by-player breakdown.
BINGHAM: Rivals has the Grand Rapids Catholic Central big man 58th in their top 100 list. Bingham is 59th at ESPN and fell three spots to 68th on 247.
HENRY: The Ben Davis (Indiana) forward is a very interesting case study in how exactly these rankings work. Henry rocketed up 47 spots on 247, landing at 101st overall. He's 111th overall at Rivals (and last among the MSU five) and didn't crack ESPN's top 100.
BROWN: The Belleville forward fell four spots to 129th at 247, dropped nine spots to 97th on Rivals is ranked 83rd nationally on ESPN.
MSU'S 2018 RECRUITING CLASS:
- MSU recruit Marcus Bingham Jr. 'came from bottom' to become state's No. 1 prospect
- Michigan State basketball recruit Aaron Henry bringing a winning mentality to Izzo’s crew
- When Gabe Brown signed with Michigan State, he fulfilled his late father’s dream
- Mr. Basketball: Michigan State commit Foster Loyer bringing swagger back to Breslin Center
- Clarkston’s Thomas Kithier putting distractions in rear-view, focused on MSU, winning
LOYER: The Clarkston sharpshooter is loved by Rivals (62nd) and ESPN (68th). Not so much by 247, which dropped Loyer 17 spots and has him 144th overall in the 2018 class.
KITHIER: The center didn't play his senior year after he was ruled ineligible following a transfer from Macomb Dakota to Clarkston. So with no new tape, it isn't much of a surprise to see him drop down the rankings. He fell eight spots to 109th at Rivals, dropped 18 spots to 201st at 247 and isn't on ESPN's top 100 list.
So what does it all mean? Well, the Spartans had three McDonald's All-Americans on this past season's team — including two five-stars in Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson Jr. — and were unceremoniously dumped by Syracuse in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Take the rankings at your own peril.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the WZZM 13 app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@wzzm13.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter.
