The top-15 prospect picks MSU over heavy recruitment from Duke, Illinois, Northwestern and many others.
Tom Izzo is on a heater.
One week after securing the commitment of five-star super recruit Emoni Bates, Izzo and the Spartans landed another five-star pledge from Rolling Meadows (Ill.) shooting guard Max Christie.
Christie announced his decision on a Twitter interview with Andy Katz of Fox and Big Ten Network.
Christie told Katz that his relationship with Izzo was a big factor in his pledge. “My relationship with coach Izzo, I felt like it was great. I felt like it was a place where I was needed and a place that I wanted to go to.”
Christie also said he and his family enjoyed the process of going through virtual visits because they could include his family and the entire coaching staff. MSU is the only school Christie took an official visit to with COVID-19 shutting down visits. He was on campus for a weekend to watch Michigan State beat Ohio State on senior day.
Christie, listed at 6-foot-6, is ranked by the 247Sports composite rankings as the top player in Illinois, the top shooting guard in the nation, and the No. 13 overall recruit in the country. Christie chose the Spartans over co-favorites Virginia, Villanova, Purdue and Ohio State among many other offers. Duke was thought to be in the lead for much of Christie’s recruitment, but Izzo and co. were able to complete the turnaround the last handful of months.
Christie is the fifth-highest ranked recruit Tom Izzo has secured in the “composite rankings” era (post-2002) behind Bates, Shannon Brown, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Miles Bridges.
On his 247Sports plater evaluation, Christie is–funnily enough–compared to Gary Harris, who spent two years with MSU before being drafted in the NBA lottery by the Denver Nuggets.
Of Christie, recruiting analyst Brian Snow writes, “He has good size and length, and while he needs to get stronger, that will come in time. Right now is at his best as a shooter, where his height and long arms allow him to shoot over nearly every defender. But if a bigger player is on him, he is also athletic enough and good enough with the dribble to go past them. A highly skilled prospect who can play anywhere on the perimeter. Hard worker who shows tremendous IQ on the court. Has the making of being an impact wing at the college level and a first-round NBA draft choice.”
Snow projects Christie as an eventual first-round draft pick.
Christie is technically the second player in the 2021 class to pick MSU. Fellow shooting/combo guard Pierre Brooks committed to the Spartans back in April. Although Bates is right now in the class of 2022, there is thought that he will reclassify and join the class of 2021, which would make that class Izzo’s best ever.
Max may not be the only Christie to don the green and white. MSU has an offer out to Max’s younger brother Cam, a class of 2023 prospect.
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