Strengths of Each Michigan State Rumored Portal Target
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The search and wait for a transfer portal center is ongoing.
Michigan State basketball and Tom Izzo like to keep things quiet and hush-hush during portal season, but that hasn't stopped a few names from potentially leaking out and circling the rumor mill.
Lots of fans are holding out hope for Alabama transfer Aiden Sherrell (No. 4 center in portal, per On3), but SMU transfer Samet Yigitoglu (No. 7 center) and Charlotte transfer Anton Bonke (No. 11 center) are also names making their way into some Spartan fans' lexicon.
MSU only has one roster spot to hand out right now, assuming point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. withdraws from the NBA Draft. If any of these three guys become Spartans, these would be the strengths they take with them.
Sherrell: Stretch Ability, Rim Protection
The ceiling is the highest for Sherrell by a good bit. He was the starting big man on a team that reached the Sweet 16, hanging tough with eventual champion Michigan for a while, averaging 11.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Two things about Sherrell that stand out are his ability to stretch the floor and his defensive presence in the paint. Sherrell isn't an elite three-point shooter, but he did make 33.8% of his threes this year on 2.4 attempts per game, which is good enough that opponents will have to respect it.
What's slightly more impressive is that he averaged 2.2 blocks per game. That was second in the SEC on a per-game basis, but his 76 total rejections were the most in the conference down south.
Getting Sherrell is still the dream for the Spartans. He ranked inside the top 20 in the SEC in offensive and defensive box plus/minus. His total box plus/minus was 9.6, which was ninth in the entire SEC.
Yigitoglu: Lob Threat, Runs the Court
If Michigan State is looking for someone who can fit the Carson Cooper role well, Yigitoglu is a good guy to call. He's taller than Cooper at 7-foot-2, but there are some similarities between the two players.
Firstly, Yigitoglu is a lob threat off pick-and-rolls. That's one of the best things MSU had going with Cooper and Fears, and the transition would be pretty seamless here.
Yigitoglu can also play extended minutes for someone his size, averaging 28.9 minutes per game this season. He can run the court well for a really big guy, which is a non-negotiable for someone in the Spartans system.
Personally, I think Sherrell is the high-ceiling add, but Yigitoglu fits the Spartans' system the best.
Bonke: Great Rebounding
The best rebounder of the bunch is Bonke. He averaged 8.3 rebounds per game this past season at Charlotte. According to KenPom, Bonke also ranked 40th in offensive rebounding rate (14.5%) and 53rd in defensive rebounding rate (23.7%).
Bonke can also stretch the floor a bit, but not as much as Sherrell. He's also a lob threat, but not quite as much as Yigitoglu. There is also a bigger question about how his game translates into the high-major level, coming up from an extremely average team in a one-bid league. Bonke spent his 2024-25 season at Providence, where he played sparingly.
A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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