HOLT, Mich. -- The Moneyball Pro-Am only gives a small early glimpse of basketball before the season arrives, but it offered Michigan State a useful look at its freshman class last week at Holt High School.
That group is a big reason for all the preseason buzz around the Spartans. Michigan State signed four top-100 recruits, and 247Sports has the class ranked No. 5 nationally. All four freshmen played during the first week of the pro-am, with no games scheduled this week because of the Fourth of July.
The headliner so far has been Jasiah Jervis, and it’s easy to see why Michigan State expects him to matter quickly. The 31st-ranked prospect in the 247Sports Composite looked every bit the borderline 5-star he was coming out of Archbishop Stepinac. Through two games, he leads the event with 71 points.
Jervis opened with 27 points last Tuesday, then came back two days later and exploded for 44, which was the highest single-game total in the event through Week 1. At 6-foot-4, he looks like the kind of combo guard the Spartans were missing last season - a backcourt scorer who can handle the ball, create his own shot and give Jeremy Fears Jr. some needed help. He may even end up functioning as Michigan State’s third point guard because of how comfortable he is with the ball.
Carlos Medlock Jr. fits the same general mold in a different way. The 5-foot-11 point guard has a crafty scoring game at all three levels, but the jump shot is what really stood out. It has the kind of look that makes you assume it’s going down.
Medlock played only on opening night before sitting out the second game with what appeared to be a minor hamstring issue. In that lone appearance, he scored 22 points against Jervis and Team Faygo.
One sequence summed him up well: Medlock and Jervis went essentially one-on-one, with Medlock starting on the left wing. Jervis defended him well and forced a tough fallaway from the right elbow, and Medlock still buried it.
There’s a little bit of an “it” factor there. Medlock has spent his career finding inventive ways to score because of his size, and that seems to have helped him build a deep offensive bag and one of the smoothest jumpers on the roster.
Ethan Taylor is still more of a work in progress, but the 7-foot-1 freshman already has a skill that jumps off the page. He’s not the most polished player in the class, and he’ll likely spend time this season as one of Michigan State’s backup centers, but the ceiling is obvious.
What stands out right now is his passing. The loose setting of the pro-am lets players try things they might never attempt in a real game, and Taylor has shown a real feel for difficult crosscourt passes.
He probably won’t be firing 80-foot outlets in November, but a big man who can jump-start a break with a sharp outlet pass has real value. Add in his rebounding potential because of his size, and there’s a lot to like, especially with Fears as his teammate in the event.
Those two together could make for some very fast possessions.
Julius Avent may have done the most to raise his stock. He’s the lowest-ranked freshman in the class, but his 70 points through the first week are just one behind Jervis for the event lead.
Still, the scoring numbers weren’t the main thing that caught the eye. Avent looked like a player beyond his years.
He uses his physicality to get to the rim and operate in the mid-range, but he doesn’t overdo it. Plenty of young players try to bully their way through possessions in the post; Avent keeps his frame square and doesn’t let frustration wreck his technique if he doesn’t move anybody.
That kind of composure says a lot about his coachability and how he might translate at this level. The points are nice, but the steadiness may be the best sign of all.
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