FanPost

2011 Basketball Scholarship Number Clarification(?)

There's been some (understandable) confusion about how many incoming freshman players Tom Izzo and Michigan State are going to add in 2011 and I wanted to weigh-in to see if I can clear it up.

Some media outlets keep reporting that MSU is going to take three players in 2011. For those of you who count and say "Wait...Lucas, Summers, Allen, Herzog. That's four," you're right. Shouldn't the number be four?

I think the confusion stems from this: if Izzo is going to continue to hold a position for Trey Zeigler in 2010, it has to come from the early openning of a 2010 scholarship. For this to work, it has to also come at the expense of a 2011 spot and therefore reduces the number available to three.

So, if Izzo wants to accept a commitment from a fourth 2011 player, it is going to be after MSU has been eliminated from contention for Trey Zeigler or after Izzo has decided to focus in a different direction. This could happen tomorrow or in April. It's also possible that TZ will select MSU and take that scholarship, though from most reports those odds seem long right now.

Regardless, MSU should add at least two more players to the 2011 class to join Brandan Kearney between now and next fall. For a list of likely targets, I've put together this.

If anyone has more info or a different interpretation of why some say "three" and some say "four," let me know.

This is a FanPost, written by a member of the TOC community. It does not represent the official positions of The Only Colors, Inc.--largely because we have no official positions.