First Max Christie, then Pierre Brooks II. And now, add another major recruit for Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans historic 2021 recruiting class.
Four-star point guard Jaden Atkins has officially announced that he’ll be taking his talents to East Lansing. And that’s on top of Christie, Brooks II for the 2021 class. Their 2022 recruiting class includes Emoni Bates and Enoch Boakye. Not bad!
“I want to announce that in the fall of 2021 I will be continuing my academic and athletic career at Michigan State University. Go Green,” Akins said on his announcement video on Twitter.
He had also been considering Michigan, Northwestern, Florida, Mississippi State and DePaul.
The 6’3, 160 lb. Akins is the 70th ranked player per 247 Sports Composite rankings. As a junior with Farmington last year, he averaged 23 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists per game. He’ll be playing his senior year with the Ypsi Prep basketball program.
BONUS CONTENT: Michigan State reacts to “heartbreaking” decision from Big Ten
The Michigan State Spartans had an understandable reaction to today’s decision by the Big Ten to postpone the football season out of safety concerns thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic; the hope is that play will be able to get underway in the spring.
The team had been outside practicing when the news came through. First year head coach Mel Tucker gathered his team together to deliver the unfortunate decision, meaning that he’ll have to wait to make his debut with the team after taking over for the long tenured Mark Dantonio.
Athletic director Bill Beekman issued the following statement:
“The decision to postpone the fall season is heartbreaking,” Michigan State athletic director Bill Beekman said in a statement, soon after the Big Ten made its announcement. “Our student-athletes have put in tireless hours of hard work to earn their scholarships and their places on our teams. They are what inspire every one of us who work in intercollegiate athletics. We understand that today’s news will be devastating for many of them. As an athletic department our goal is to provide opportunities for student-athletes both academically, athletically and socially. Sadly, the time has come where we must postpone those athletic opportunities, at least for the fall.”
