HOLT, Mich. - Ethan Taylor hasn’t wasted much time making himself noticed at Moneyball Pro-Am.
The Michigan State freshman center has already put up 33 points across two summer games for Team LAFCU, and even in a setting where the official stat sheet only tracks scoring, it’s clear his impact goes beyond that. Taylor scored 10 points in his first outing against Team Tri-Star Trust, then followed with 23 more against Team BLT’s.
That production has come with a familiar summer-league caveat: Taylor doesn’t look like he’s trying to force anything. Among the four freshmen making their Moneyball debuts, he may be the one taking the most relaxed approach.
That doesn’t say anything about his competitive edge once the season starts. It just reflects the moment.
He’s fresh off representing Team USA at the U18 AmeriCup last month, he’s adjusting to life in East Lansing, and he’s still settling into a new world far from home.
Even now, Taylor’s presence stands out. He says he’s measuring at 7-foot-1 barefoot, and when he’s on the floor next to All-American point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., the contrast is impossible to miss. Team LAFCU has become one of the more intriguing groups at the event, and Taylor is a big reason why.
The freshman arrived at Michigan State with plenty of attention. He finished as the No. 38 player in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports, and ranked fourth among centers.
MSU’s 2026 class sits fifth nationally, with Taylor as the second-highest-ranked recruit in the group. He also came in with a story that makes his first summer in green and white more interesting than most.
His senior year at Link Academy in Missouri was not smooth. Taylor, who had been a borderline 5-star recruit, came off the bench that season. He was also teammates there with Carlos Medlock Jr.
"It was hard," Taylor said about his year at Link. "It was hard at first, moving away from home [in Kansas] and not having my close people around me, but I built some friendships there that helped me get through it.
Obviously, I would've liked to play more. I'm not going to go into detail about that."
Taylor also spent time with former Illinois star Keaton Wagler at Shawnee Mission Northwest. Wagler, who was the fifth overall pick by the L.A.
Clippers this year, was a 3-star recruit when he started college. Taylor’s path doesn’t have to look the same, but the lesson is there: a difficult high school season doesn’t have to define what comes next.
That’s part of what makes Taylor’s early comments so interesting. After his second Moneyball game, he said he feels like the people around him are pouring a lot into him right now.
"I'm really in a position where a lot is being poured into me," Taylor said last week after his second Moneyball game. "A lot is being focused on me: the resources, the love I feel.
I'm just getting better and better, stacking days. Of course, it's early, but I feel like I'm going to blossom here and skyrocket."
Michigan State wasn’t the only school in the mix. Kansas looked like the team to beat once Taylor became a clear MSU target, and that made sense given that the Jayhawks are his hometown team and remain one of the sport’s blue bloods. But his official visit to Michigan State, which lined up with the Izzone Campout, changed everything.
"I had a feeling," Taylor said about it. "Michigan State was really high on my list going into my visit, and then I get there...
It's just overwhelming amounts of love. So I leave, it's just, 'Boom, I've got to go.
I've got to be there next year.'"
The visit gave him a preview of one of the loudest traditions around the program. New players are usually sent crowd-surfing through the student section during the Izzone Campout, and Taylor got a version of that treatment a year early.
He’ll be one of the first, if not the first, to do it twice at Munn Field. Inside Breslin Center, fans were already chanting his name, and Tom Izzo had to act as if he had no idea what was going on because of NCAA rules.
For now, Taylor is still just getting started. He may not have much polish yet, but his size, passing ability and athleticism make him one of the more promising pieces in Michigan State’s future. And paired with Fears at Moneyball, he’s already giving people a glimpse of what that future could look like.
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