The Michigan State Spartans won a thrilling game on Tuesday night in overtime against Oakland University without star play Denzel Valentine, but the most important part of the win might have been someone in the stands. Number one recruit Josh Jackson was in attendance for the game and saw the Spartans win 99-93, but he also cut his list down even further to just two schools, according to Rico Beard of the Ryan & Rico show on Detroit Sports 105.1 FM.
Jackson is reportedly down to just Michigan State and Arizona, but he had to be impressed by the way Michigan State fought back on Tuesday night without its Player of the Year candidate. This visit was an unofficial one for Jackson, and he doesn't have an official visit scheduled to East Lansing yet, but he has already officially visited Arizona and has a scheduled official visit to Kansas in late January. If this report is accurate, though, Jackson will likely cancel that visit to Kansas.
As of now, the experts see Jackson's decision as one that is too close to call, as they have Michigan State as the slight favorites with Arizona right on its tail, according to 247 Sports. Jackson is from Detroit, which likely gives the Spartans a bit of an edge, but Jackson has also been impressed with other things about the Spartans, including the fact that they already have gotten a commitment from five-star forward Miles Bridges who he is close friends with. Jackson also had nothing but great things to say about head coach Tom Izzo.
"I think Michigan State's a real nice place. I love coach Izzo, I think he's one of the best college basketball coaches there is right now. And the thing I really like about Michigan State is that out of all the times I've seen them play, I've seen them lose and win, but I've never seen them be out-toughed by another team. And I think that really fits into my style of play," said Jackson.
Michigan State has the third-best recruiting class in the nation, but getting a commitment from Jackson would likely push it to number one. Based on the things Jackson is saying, it seems like he is leaning toward the Spartans, but you can bet that Arizona coach Sean Miller is doing everything he possibly can to get Jackson to become a Wildcat, as he has only received a commitment from one four-star recruit for 2016 and he really needs a marquee guy to jumpstart his 2016 class.
