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Michigan State's Marcus Bingham Jr. declares for NBA Draft, forgoes extra year of eligibility

The Spartan's all-time leading shot-blocker will begin preparations for a professional career

Michigan State men's basketball Twitter page confirmed on Tuesday night that senior center Marcus Bingham Jr. will compete in the 2022 NABC-Reese's Division I College All-Star Game this Friday in New Orleans.

This comes two days after WZZM 13's Mike Lacett reported that Bingham Jr. would forgo an extra year of eligibility at Michigan State and declare for the 2022 NBA Draft, which has now been confirmed.

Bingham Jr. will be joined at the College All-Star game by teammate Gabe Brown, who also announced this week that he would forgo the extra year of eligibility provided by the NCAA in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This season, Bingham Jr. became Michigan State's all-time leading shot-blocker, eclipsing former Spartan Xavier Tillman's mark of 153. The record-breaking swat came in the Spartans' second matchup with rival Michigan, as Bingham Jr. blocked Wolverine freshman Moussa Diabate's layup attempt out of bounds.

Bingham Jr. had 77 blocked shots this year as a senior, and finishes his career with a total of 168 denials. The 7-footer had a stat line of 9.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 0.9 steals and 2.2 blocks per game this past season. He shot 52.3 percent from the field, 41.5 percent from three-point range and 74.7 percent. 

The senior's decision to forgo an extra year of eligibility is not a surprising one, as Bingham Jr.'s post-game comments following the Spartans' loss to Duke in the NCAA Tournament indicated he would not be back.

At present, it is unclear whether the senior has signed an agent, but draft prospects who do have until June 1 to withdraw their names from consideration for the NBA Draft. However, it appears that Bingham Jr's decision is fairly set in stone.

With Brown and Bingham Jr. heading out of the door, senior power forward Joey Hauser is the only remaining senior yet to make a decision about the 2022-23 season. With a lack of depth in the frontcourt, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo is expected to scour the transfer portal this offseason for viable options to help the Spartans in the low post next season.