Tom Izzo Introduces Michigan State Basketball 19 Signing Class!
Breslin Center
East Lansing, MI
East Lansing, MI – Michigan State made two additions to the basketball team official on Wednesday as both Huntington (WV) Prep 4-star point guard A.J. Hoggard and Mt. Pleasant (UT) Wasatch Academy 4-star center Mady Sissoko each signed their National Letter of Intent.
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo spoke about his recruiting class for the first time on Wednesday afternoon and said that he feels both players are perfect fits for the Spartan program and also added that there’s a good chance they will have more additions to the 2020 class.
“It’s an exciting day for us here at Michigan State, announcing the commitments of AJ (Hoggard) and Mady (Sissoko),” he said. “Mady is a guy everyone will love. He’s got a little bit of Tum Tum (Nairn) in him that he just appreciates the world he’s in and appreciates people. In AJ, he brings the toughness that I think this program has stood for. I fell in love with him watching him on the bench in a game, he’s such a good leader, he communicated. AJ fits in well with our guys and brings a lot to the table. We’re not done recruiting yet. We’ve got two down and maybe one or two to go, but this was a great start for us here and I’m excited with the two guys we’ve signed.”
With room for at least one more addition to Michigan State’s recruiting class, possibly two, 247 Sports currently has the Spartans ranked as the No. 27 ranked recruiting class in the country.
Hoggard, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound point guard who is rated as the No. 71 player in the 2020 class according to 247 Sports, fits the profile of a Michigan State and Big Ten floor general as he’s shown the advanced ability to handle the ball, passing and creating shots.
Considering his size and strength and skillset both offensively and defensively, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Hoggard see significant playing time as a freshman next year.
Izzo said that Hoggard, who is from the same hometown as former Detroit Piston Richard Hamilton and spent time training with the former NBA All-Star, is someone he can see playing in a variety of roles and also praised his toughness, which is something the longtime Michigan State coach values.
“There are some good genes there,” he said. “AJ is the kind of guy we’re looking for here, a tough, rugged, 6-3, 220-pound player who can play multiple positions. He can play some point, he can play some two and he can play some three. What is he? He’s a basketball player. And we think a tough player who brings some of the attributes we like.”
Sissoko is still relatively new to the game of basketball, only having played the sport for less than five years, picking up the sport after moving from his native Mali to Utah. But in that short time, Sissoko has quickly developed into one of the nation’s top prep big men with a ceiling to go even higher.
A 6-foot-9, 230-pound center, Sissoko is an athletic force down low with a knack for rebounding the ball and has shown plenty of upsides to being an elite shot-blocker as well. Sissoko has also gained plenty of praise nationally for being a high motor, high-effort type of player and was rated as the No. 35 player in the 2020 class according to ESPN.
“Mady Sissoko is a 6-10 jumping jack, a guy that we think will be an excellent addition,” Izzo said on Wednesday. “Maybe one of the great rebounders of all-time and we consider ourselves a little bit as Rebounder U with the number of national titles we’ve won over the years here. Mady brings that to the table. He’s an incredible rebounder. When the ball goes up, he goes up. He runs like a deer. He’s got a lot to him as far as energy and he’s a well-conditioned athlete. I hope he’ll put on a little more weight, but he’s really strong for his size. Mady is from Mali, West Africa and came over and he’s been at Wastatch in Utah and we think his back home brings a work ethic beyond belief and at Wastach, they’ve done an incredible job with him as he’s improving each and every year he’s been there.”
Sissoko will be Michigan State’s first player from Africa since Idong Ibok, who is from Nigeria and played for the Spartans from 2005-2009.
Michigan State likely isn’t done adding to their 2020 class as the Spartans still have one open scholarship, which was originally held by Jalen Terry, but Terry decommitted from Michigan State shortly after Hoggard announced his commitment last month.
For all of the latest news on Hoggard, Sissoko and the rest of the Michigan State basketball program, be sure to stay tuned to Spartan Nation!
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