core42

February 15th, 2021 at 3:34 PM ^

Whoever posted the 24/7 Sparty board a couple of days ago had a bunch of Sparty fans bitching about this kid being "another big guy project" & "Does Izzo know he can recruit ready made big men like Dickinson?" 

 

Maybe the kid got a peek at the hateful bitching over there & decided he should look elsewhere. 

On this board at least we bitch about the recruits that don't have enough stars, the 4 & 5 star kids are revered...until they hit campus  /s

WestQuad

February 15th, 2021 at 2:51 PM ^

I know that people call East Lansing East Landfill, but the Granger family who own Granger construction and Granger [Waste Management] and a landfill, sold much of their farm land back in the day to MSU.  The rest of their land is actually a landfill.  

Was the East Landfill moniker because of that, or just a coincidence?

(Grangers are good people BTW)

AC1997

February 15th, 2021 at 12:15 PM ^

I'm not a recruiting expert, but this seems like a really big deal for them.  Not only is this guy a stud recruit, but there has been some chatter that he would reclass and come in next season to help them solidify their center position.  

Most of the hope around MSU returning to glory centers around their excellent 2021 recruiting class and the idea of bringing Boakye in as soon as they could to help.

Obviously we know from football that crappy seasons have a direct impact on recruiting.  In this case it also doesn't help that Izzo is literally playing 5 different centers 8 minutes per game.  Can't imagine that's the type of development a 5-star would be looking for.  

AZBlue

February 15th, 2021 at 12:30 PM ^

In the "M is a final four team" RCMB thread that we were mocking yesterday --- a poster put together a DETAILED comparison on how the top 5 recruits for MSU in 2021 were actually better ranked than M's "#1" class.

Of course this included both Boyake and Bates as reclassifying into 2021 - which is already 0-1 pending Bates' inevitable NBA declaration.

More rational posters in the Boyake decommit thread on RCMB point out that it was optimistic to expect him to have a significant impact as a Frosh.... - aka a "Dickinson level of impact".

 

Side note - Have there been any recent Basketball players that have re-classified that actually made an impact?  In the B1G I can only think of the 5* guard on IU that barely plays and the kid on OSU that enrolled in December and got a little run when they had injury issues.

GOBLUE4EVR

February 15th, 2021 at 1:48 PM ^

ontario was the only province that offered the "13th grade" aka OAC... but it was phased out in 2003... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_grade

when i went to HS in Windsor there were a lot of schools in the Windsor/Essex county area that took advantage of the extra year for sports, because kids could graduate after grade 12 if they had enough credits and didn't want to go to a University (College in Canada isn't the same as University) but schools would get the better players to come back for that extra year and make sure that had enough classes/credits on their schedules to get that sports season in... IIRC you only needed to be taking 3 classes/credit to be able to play a sport...

but when it comes to basketball a lot of the high end players come to the US to play at prep schools so they can play against better talent and have more scouts see them play...

ldevon1

February 15th, 2021 at 12:29 PM ^

Who said he was worried about playing time? 

 

edit: I just saw this: “It’s a tough decision, because I really do love Michigan State,” Boakye said. “But it’s just one of those situations where I have to do what’s best for me and my future.” The issue, according to Boakye, a junior, stems from the logjam of bigs in Lansing, who will likely be around longer because of the Spartans’ underwhelming season.

“Just doing a lot of research with my people and watching a lot of games, it looks like they will have a lot of guys staying,” Boakye said. “I want to go to a place where I have the opportunity to make an impact right away. That’s the No. 1 goal of mine.”

 

njvictor

February 15th, 2021 at 12:21 PM ^

This is a huge loss for State. I think they've been really betting on Boakye and Bates to reclassify and re-energize this program. If Bates and Boakye both decommit, then thats a really puts a damper on their future

Also, this decommitment seems to be a direct indictment on Izzo's coaching and development. Decommitting due to too many undeveloped bigs on the roster that you think your coach might undeservedly play over you is a bad look

San Diego Mick

February 15th, 2021 at 12:33 PM ^

He's from the same town as Nik and others who have played for us and now Houstan coming in. I wonder if Juwan will pursue him, the list of teams he's interested in are dubious to say the least.

uncle leo

February 15th, 2021 at 12:33 PM ^

Very similar to Tyus Battle for us.

I remember how out of the blue amazing that signing was- but it was still like 2+ years away before he was going to potentially step onto the court. I am now super, super nervous about anyone who signs that far in advance- I almost prepare myself for them potentially leaving and see it as a bonus if they commit.

uncle leo

February 15th, 2021 at 1:00 PM ^

I said this another thread; this season has aged Tom by a decade.

I think he's probably got 3-4 years left in the tank. If his next recruiting class, which is pretty good, does not get him a championship, I could see him stepping aside.

If I was an MSU fan, I'd be terrified about the future after Tom. I think most of their fans cannot stomach the assistant coaches. I'd be worried for them if it just turns into a transition into Fife or one of those other guys.

Jordan2323

February 15th, 2021 at 1:15 PM ^

This kid would fill a big void in either class. We need another big in 2021 and if he was still there or stayed in the 2022 class he might be the only returning big. 

The Fugitive

February 15th, 2021 at 1:18 PM ^

I call BS.  The dude is clearly running away from the competition from Tiny Tim's Weird Guys at the end of the bench. 

Someone probably showed him a clip of Jaren Jackson Jr getting beat out for crunch time vs Syracuse when Ben Carter helped Sparty light up the scoreboard.