Tom Izzo is back in the middle of another recruiting fight with Michigan, and this one already has the look of a real heavyweight matchup.
On Thursday, Michigan State and Michigan both landed on the final five for Kamsi Awaka, a four-star center from New Jersey who was recently offered. Florida, Arizona and UConn also made the cut for the 2027 big man, and he has not announced a decision date yet. The expectation is that he’ll take his official visits before choosing a school.
Awaka is the first recruit in the 2027 class to put both the Spartans and Wolverines on his final list, which makes sense given how national Izzo has gone on the trail. The Michigan State coach has offered prospects from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Florida and Kansas. That kind of recruiting footprint makes overlap with Michigan harder to avoid.
It also stands out that Izzo has only made one offer to an in-state player so far, and that was Kingston Thomas, the three-star legacy recruit.
For Michigan State, Awaka checks a lot of the boxes Izzo has always valued in his frontcourt. Think toughness.
Think physicality. That’s been the template for so many of his centers over the years, from Derrick Nix to Nick Ward to Xavier Tillman, and Awaka looks built in that same mold.
At 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds, he’s the kind of post presence that can wear on defenders. His 7-foot-4 wingspan gives him real rim-protecting punch, and he can also be a useful piece in pick-and-roll action.
He’s not projected as a floor-spacer early, but Izzo has a track record of developing that part of a big man’s game. Tillman, after all, was taking threes by the time he was a junior.
Awaka is more of a back-to-the-basket scorer than anyone Michigan State has had at center since Tillman, and that makes him a particularly intriguing fit for Izzo’s system.
It’s not clear whether Awaka or Jaydn Jenkins sits atop Michigan State’s center board in the 2027 class. Either way, Izzo has another chance to go head-to-head with Michigan for a coveted big man.
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