This season Michigan State basketball welcomes #TheClass consisting of Miles Bridges, Josh Langford, Cassius Winston and Nick Ward. The first two names we mentioned are McDonald’s All-Americans; and “The Class” is currently regarded to be the third best nationally.
The Spartans also might not be done yet, as the nation’s top rated player, and another MCDAA, Josh Jackson, has narrowed his choices to Michigan State, Arizona and Kansas. The last time we saw a recruiting class this special on paper in East Lansing was 2001 (Chris Hill, Alan Anderson, Kelvin Torbert) or maybe 2000 itself coming off the national championship season (MCDAAg MVP Zach Randolph, Marcus Taylor).
Of course, nick-naming and hash-tagging a recruiting class doesn’t always work out.
MSU fans certainly hope that #TheClass doesn’t have an ending similar to Indiana’s #TheMovement
(Related: very early 2016-17 Michigan State season preview)
Here’s how we see each member of #TheClass fitting into Michigan State’s 2016-17 depth chart. This is excerpted from our way too early top 25 rankings, in which he slotted MSU #8. We also put MSU first in our way too early Big Ten power rankings.
Projected Depth Chart
F/C: Deyonta Davis (So)/Gavin Schilling (Sr)/Nick Ward (Fr)
F: Miles Bridges (Fr)
G/F: Matt McQuaid (So)/Josh Langford (Fr)
SG: Eron Harris (Sr)/Alvin Ellis (Sr)/Kyle Aherns (So)
PG: Lourawis Nairn (Jr)/Cassius Winston (Fr)
Gone: SG-Denzel Valentine, C-Matt Costello, SG-Bryn Forbes, F-Corey Wallenman, F-Marvin Clark (transfer), F-Javon Bess (transfer)
#5 nationally rated shooting guard, 5-star Josh Langford (Huntsville, AL)
-On himself: “I personally, feel like I’m a great play-maker, defensively, offensively, I feel like I can make the players around me better, I feel I can excel in pick-and roll situations, but I think I still need to work on my jump shot.”
–On Miles Bridges: “He’s just a beast. He’s a man-child out there on the court.”
-On #5 point guard, 4-star Cassius Winston (Detroit, MI): “He’s a great play-maker, a great point guard, great leader as well”
-On #6 Center, 4-star Nick Ward (Gahanna, Ohio): “I haven’t really gotten to see him much because he’s been on the Nike circuit”
*All numbers according to ESPNU recruiting rankings.
#3 rated small forward, 5-star Miles Bridges (Flint, MI)
-On himself: “I bring athleticism, rebounding, defense, I do whatever my coach asks me to do.”
-On Josh Langford: “he brings toughness, an old school kind of game like D. Wade.”
-On Cassius Winston: “very smart point guard, high IQ, knows how to get his teammates involved.”
-On Nick Ward: “tenacious rebounder who can score in the low post area.”
Josh Langford gave a summary of #TheClass
“We have a great class, a very balanced out class, I feel like we’re coming into a good situation because we have a lot of guys who have already made a national championship run, been to the tournament and they know what it takes. They know how to deal with Coach Izzo,” said Langford.
“They know what we have to do and we’ll have somebody to look to.”
MSU Recruiting Profiles:
Miles Bridges
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
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