2022 four-star center Enoch Boakye de-commits from Michigan State basketball

Probably not the way most Michigan State Spartan fans wanted to start their week, but we have some bad news. Enoch Boakye, a four-star center in the 2022 recruiting class, has de-committed from Michigan State.

The news was reported by Tipton Edits on Twitter, with Stephen Brooks of 247Sports confirming the news.

Boakye, who is listed at 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, hails from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. He is listed as the No. 4 center, No. 1 player in Ontario, and the No. 32 prospect nationally, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. While he is listed a four-star according to Composite, Boakye is ranked as a five-star according to 247Sports’ individual rankings.

He originally gave his verbal commitment to Michigan State on July 28, 2020. No doubt about it, this is a big blow for the future of Tom Izzo’s program.

Boakye spoke to Sports Illustrated All-American about the decision. Here is what Boakye told SI:

“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.”

“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. 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.”

Given these comments, it sounds like Boakye could be seriously considering reclassifying to 2021. Otherwise, if he were to stick in the 2022 class, Thomas Kithier, Marcus Bingham Jr. and Joey Hauser would likely all be off the roster at that point, while all of those players, plus Julius Marble, Mady Sissoko and Malik Hall, will all remain next season. However, transfers out of MSU are certainly possible after the 2020-2021 season ends. But either way, in 2022 there would seemingly be an easy path to early playing time for Boakye.

Athletic competition has been mostly suspended across Canada this season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, so coming to the U.S. early to compete is another reason as to why Boakye could be trying to reclassify.

Tipton Edits also mentions that Boakye has interest in the following schools: Duke, Kentucky, Arizona, Baylor, Texas Tech, USC, Texas, Gonzaga, UNLV and Arizona State, but that is recruitment is now “fully open.”

With Boakye’s de-commitment, that leaves just five-star prospect Emoni Bates as the sole commitment for Izzo in the 2022 class as things currently stand. Of course, Bates may also reclassify to 2021, or could choose to skip college basketball altogether and play professionally somewhere else while waiting to be eligible to join the NBA once he turns 19 years old. Bates’ upcoming decisions are certainly something to watch for MSU fans.