1. If MSU’s 2026 class meets expectations and the right veterans stick around, look out
This Michigan State basketball season has barely started and there are good players on this year’s team that won’t be back and others whose returns in this day and age shouldn’t be taken for granted. But …
Let’s talk about next season for a minute. Because Michigan State’s 2026 recruiting class has become one of those Tom Izzo classes that could elevate the Spartans into national contention, if these recruits meet expectations and the right veterans stick around.
MSU landed 7-foot-1, five-star center Ethan Taylor on Friday afternoon. He chose the Spartans over Kansas and Oregon. Taylor appears to be the most complete big man the Spartans have added since Jaren Jackson Jr. eight years ago. Xavier Booker’s recruiting ranking was higher, but he wasn’t as ready or as physical as he was skilled. Taylor seems to be well ahead of Booker in that sense.
And, on the heels of signing top-40 shooting guard Jasiah Jervis, along with point guard Carlos Medlock Jr., and forward Julius Avent, also both four-star recruits, this MSU class has 2016 class vibes. That group — Miles Bridges, Joshua Langford, Cassius Winston and Nick Ward — had to carry that team. If things go right, this 2026 group should supplement and elevate the Spartans’ roster.
Here’s a best-case scenario roster for next season:
Starting lineup
PG: Junior Jeremy Fears Jr.
SG: Freshman Jasiah Jervis or sophomore Jordan Scott
SF: Senior Coen Carr
PF: Sophomore Cam Ward
C: Freshman Ethan Taylor
Bench
SF: Junior Kaleb Glenn
SG: Sophomore Jordan Scott or freshman Jasiah Jervis
SG: Junior Kur Teng
PG: Freshman Carlos Medlock Jr.
G: Junior Divine Ugochukwu
C: Sophomore Jesse McCulloch
PF: Freshman Julius Avent
Not everyone is going to stick around. That’s not how it works in today’s college basketball. Some of that will play itself out. The key will be the return of Carr, Fears and Ward. MSU will probably want to add another big man, someone of the Szymon Zapala variety, who brings size, experience and depth. But in a perfect world, this is a roster that can take a run at something real.
2. What Ethan Taylor brings MSU
There is an awful lot to like about Ethan Taylor’s game. He’s got good footwork on the low block and is quick at making his move to the rim. He doesn’t shy from contact and he’s got a little bit of an edge to him. His passing from the high post seems fairly advanced. Defensively, at least at the levels he’s played, he appears to have a knack for rim protection. This is a Day 1 starting center in the college game.
Like with Jasiah Jervis, landing him shows Izzo and Co. can still reel in the big fish, and that they’ve got the financial resources to do so. Five-star freshman centers in college basketball aren’t quite as expensive as defensive tackles in football, but you’ve got to have cash to play in this sandbox. MSU lost a guard to Maryland this past summer, in part because the Spartans didn’t want to overpay. It’s clear the evaluations of Taylor and Jervis are a little different. They saw these guys as being worth digging deep to get.
MORE: Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State’s basketball recruiting, landing Jasiah Jervis and how he fits on MSU’s roster
3. If only MSU redshirted Jaxon Kohler two years ago
Next year’s MSU team might not need Jaxon Kohler, but can you imagine that sort of physical, rebounding, skilled power forward center also being on that roster?
It could have happened if, after Kohler missed the first two months of his sophomore season with a foot injury, the Spartans’ shut him down for the rest of the year. At the time, MSU needed him and he did provide depth and rebounding for a team that still had hopes of making a run. So I get it. And every coaching staff I’ve been around has made the same short-term decision/long-term mistake. Coaches are trying to win now.
But that was also largely a lost season for Kohler. If MSU had treated it as such and just had him work on his development, he’d be a junior eligibility-wise right now and a heckuva veteran tone-setting anchor next season.
Contact Graham Couch at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Graham_Couch and BlueSky @GrahamCouch.
