Michigan State Reportedly Favorites to Land Transfer Center Szymon Zapala

Michigan State's Tom Izzo could land his second transfer of the offseason.

Mar 21, 2024; Memphis, TN, USA; Longwood Lancers center Szymon Zapala (12) shoots during practice / Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Michigan State men's basketball recently earned its first transfer portal commit since 2021 in forward Frankie Fidler. Now, the program could soon add its second transfer this year.

After talks all offseason that Michigan State coach Tom Izzo needed to desperately land a center in the portal, some reports on Monday have revealed that could be a possibility.

According to Rhode Island men's basketball color analyst Chris DiSano, transfer center Szymon Zapala from Longwood University is considering East Lansing as his next home.

Hearing Szymon Zapala appears headed for Michigan State… URI and Wichita St. were right there, coming down to P5 NIL advantages. Rams remain in mix for other bigs and swing types.

— Chris DiSano (@CDiSano44) May 13, 2024

247Sports has Michigan State predicted to land Zapala with a 100% chance in his transfer portal crystal ball.

Zapala, a 7-foot, 240-pound center comes off a 2023 campaign in which he averaged 9.8 points per game and 5.6 rebounds while playing 16.8 minutes a game. He made 24 starts in 35 contests.

The center helped lead Longwood to a spot in the NCAA Tournament after throttling UNC Asheville to win the Big South tournament title. Longwood then fell to Houston in the first round of the tournament.

Zapala transferred to Longwood from Utah State, where he played three seasons. He played 45 games as a member of the Aggies, averaging 1.2 points and 1.3 rebounds in 4.6 minutes per game.

As a recruit from Poland, Zapala was a three-star prospect, per 247Sports, and was ranked the No. 32 center in the class of 2020. Zapala played on the Polish national team at the 2019 U18 FIBA Eurpopean Championships. He averaged 7.5 points per game, 5.1 rebounds and 1.0 blocks.

Zapala also played for Trefl Sopot in the U20 Polish Cup. He led his team to the championship and received team MVP honors.

Zapala announced his entering into the transfer portal on April 12.

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