MSU Finalist for Two Targets, Including Four-Star 7-Foot Center
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Michigan State basketball recruiting took a major step forward on Saturday as two more class of 2026 targets have included the Spartans among their top schools.
First, Joe Tipton of Rivals/On reported that four-star 7-foot center Ethan Taylor has narrowed his schools down to Michigan State, Kansas, Kentucky, Oregon, Oklahoma and Indiana.
Per Tipton, Taylor has an official visit to Michigan State set for Oct. 3-5, the same weekend class of 2026 three-star forward Jalyn Collingwood will be visiting. It's possible this will be the weekend of Michigan State's annual "Midnight Madness."
NEWS: 2026 Top-25 recruit Ethan Taylor is down to six schools, he tells @Rivals.
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) August 9, 2025
The 7-0 center has scheduled official visits to each of his finalists: https://t.co/rXiKvrSGid pic.twitter.com/SIu6Gb6wv0
Speaking of Collingwood, 247Sports' Dushawn London, who also reported on Taylor's top six, reported on Saturday that Collingwood has trimmed his list down to Michigan State, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Maryland, Butler, Texas Tech and Ohio State.
NEWS: Stock rising four-star Jalyn Collingwood has narrowed his focus to 7 schools, he tells @247Sports
— Dushawn London (@DushawnLondon1) August 9, 2025
Story: https://t.co/QFUCh9qjP0 pic.twitter.com/geCmcraXeC
Who is Ethan Taylor?
Taylor and Spartan commit Carlos Medlock Jr. are teammates at Link Academy in Missouri. The highly touted big man is ranked the No. 1 center in his class, the No. 1 class of 2026 recruit in Missouri and the No. 22 overall prospect in his class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Here is part of 247Sports director of scouting Adam Finkelstein's evaluation of Taylor:
"Taylor is a rapidly improving big man with elite physical tools. Measuring at 7-feet with a 7-foot-3 wingspan and a solid frame that is only just beginning to fill-out, he has massive size. But he’s also a good athlete for his size who runs fluidly, gets off his feet powerfully, and even has some agility. He can spin-off contact in the post, rise-up for emphatic power dunks, and be a consistent lob threat.
"Still, there is room for more physical dominance as he continues to harness his conditioning in order to consistently keep up with the pace of an up-tempo game and learns to be more proactively physical in order to dominate the paint to the extent he’s capable of.
" ... Ultimately, Taylor may be the most physically gifted big man in the class. He’s already made rapid strides and as he continues to get more assertive and aggressive, his impact should only continue to grow."
The Medlock connection is key, as the Spartans are up against some tough competition in this battle, and the Michigan State commit could be an advocate in their recruiting effort.
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