Marcus Bingham Jr. is now the No. 1 recruit from the state of Michigan

There’s a new sheriff in town. Marcus Bingham Jr., a four-star power forward and Michigan State commit, is now the No. 1 player from the state of Michigan in the 2018 recruiting class, according to Rivals.

He has surpassed University of Michigan commit Brandon Johns for that spot. Bingham made a huge jump in the Rivals150 Rankings, going from No. 104 to No. 54 overall. Johns ranks as the No. 58 player.

According to the list, Michigan State now has commitments from four of the six top players in Michigan — Bingham, Foster Loyer, Gabe Brown and Thomas Kithier. All four of those players also rank within the top-95 of the entire 2018 class.

Trevion Williams, a Purdue commit from Henry Ford Academy, ranks just ahead of Kithier on the Rivals150 list at No. 94 overall.

Scout.com lists Bingham as the No. 1 power forward in Michigan, No. 2 in the Midwest and No. 12 at his position in the country.

Bingham is a 6-foot-10-inch front court player from Grand Rapids Catholic Central. He can protect the rim on defense, slam it home on offense, and also step back and show nice touch from three-point range.

Many analysts expected Johns, an East Lansing product, to choose Michigan State, but late in the process, Michigan became his preferred school, after Tom Izzo and company had allegedly backed off of Johns and communication between the two had seemingly ceased to exist.

Now, losing Johns doesn’t sting as bad, as Bingham has surpassed him as the top-rated prospect from The Mitten.

It is worth noting that as of press time, 247Sports still lists Johns as the No. 1 player in Michigan, and Bingham as No. 2.

How much should we buy into this? It’s hard to tell. Of course, all of these prospects still have a whole season of high school basketball left to play, and rankings can change rapidly. Let their play on the court prove who deserves to be ranked as the best in the state.

One thing I think we can clearly draw from all of this is that Michigan State will continue to be a contender in NCAA Basketball for years to come. Starting in 2017 with an absolutely stacked roster, and bringing in the No. 2 ranked recruiting class in 2018 (per 247Sports), we should all be in for a treat.

Congratulations to Bingham for making a huge jump and getting the recognition he deserves. Go Green!

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