As the off-season rolls along in the world of Michigan State Athletics (namely basketball, football, and ice hockey), here at TOC we will be kicking off a series individually previewing each of MSU Basketball’s incoming group of recruits. Head Coach Tom Izzo’s 32nd recruiting class of his Hall of Fame career will play no small role in determining the ceiling of the 2026-27 MSU basketball squad; a team is already facing unprecedented pressure to return to the mountaintop, and finally claim Izzo his elusive second national championship.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, it’s worth remembering why expectations in East Lansing have reached a feverous level. Never mind that the Final Four will return to the state of Michigan in 2027, or that MSU’s rivals just claimed the 2026 national title. Disregard the fact that the Spartans will return an All-American caliber point guard in Jeremy Fears Jr. and a veteran backcourt. For many State fans, 2027 has long been circled as “the year,” not just for the pieces returning and hopes of claiming a ring in the Motor City, but because of four young men by the names of Jasiah Jervis, Ethan Taylor, Carlos Medlock, and Julius Avent.
This unit of incoming freshman at one time combined to command the number-one position in several college basketball recruiting rankings, and have remained a staple at the tip-top of nearly every site’s list of teams by incoming talent. As of April 22nd, 2026, Michigan State lays claim to the number 3 recruiting class in all of college hoops on 247Sports and ESPN, and the number 7 class according to Rivals (coincidentally, Rivals has just moved to my least favorite of recruiting ranking websites).
Regardless of nominal rankings, it is no secret that Tom Izzo will be bringing in one of the most strong group of recruits in recent memory. From the towering Ethan Taylor, to his teammate and McDonald’s All-American Jasiah Jervis, and fellow future Spartans in Medlock and Avent, the hope is that these big name freshman will be able to help the Spartans reload quickly in 2026-27. Between this group, and ideally some help by way of the transfer portal (check out Robbie’s portal wish list), there is real optimism that this next Spartan team could be the ones to elevate the program from a March Madness staple and second weekend contender to a serious force in the national championship conversation. Now that the stage is set let’s dive into the first of these four soon-to-be Spartans. Without further adieu, I present to you, Carlos Medlock Jr.
Carlos, or “C.J.” is a 5-foot-11, 165lb four star point guard from Wayne, Michigan. While undersized, Medlock has no shortage of athleticism and explosiveness- but more on that later. Tom Izzo and MSU won his commitment over in state rivals in michigan and Central Michigan; and additionally Iowa and Creighton who were, among others, in the mix for Medlock.
The son of standout Eastern Michigan Eagle from 2005-10, Carlos Medlock Sr., Carlos Jr. spent his first three years of high school ball playing for the Wayne Memorial High School Zebras, where in his junior season, Medlock led WMHS to a second-place finish in the MHSAA’s Division 1 Tournament. C.J. established himself as a high volume, score first PG in 2024-25, averaging an impressive 24.5 points per game in his junior campaign. Thanks to the Zebra’s run to the state title game, Medlock does have familiarity playing high-level hoops in the Breslin Center, as MSU has remained the traditional host for the boys basketball state finals in Michigan. CMJ put up a ridiculous stat-line of 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists in the state semifinal against Flint Carman-Ainsworth, along with a team-leading performance of 14 points against East Lansing in the low-scoring championship bout that would ultimately bring Medlock’s MHSAA career to an end.
Rather than seek revenge for the title game loss in his senior season, Medlock would leave the state of Michigan to play his final year of high school ball (2025-26) for nationally ranked Link Academy, located in Branson, Missouri. For some background on Link (where Medlock teamed up with fellow future Spartan, Ethan Taylor), the program is relatively young, bursting onto the prep basketball scene in 2021. Since then, the Link Lions have quickly become a factory for Division I talent, playing a grueling travel schedule, on par with prep schools like IMG and Montverde Academies.
By trading the familiar gyms of the Kensington Lakes Activities Association (Medlock’s conference at Wayne Memorial) for the cutthroat competition of the Nike EYBL Scholastic circuit that Link competes in, Medlock bet on himself to improve his recruiting profile at the national level against the country’s best. The transfer proved to be a great decision for the young point guard, as C.J. rose from a regional standout to a top-50 recruit in the nation in his time at Link Academy.
Over the course of his single season in Missouri, Medlock led his team of nearly all blue-chip talent in not only points per game at 16.9, but also in 3-point field goal percentage at 44%. His time at Link established C.J. as a player who didn’t just demand the ball and heavy usage to produce results, but maximized every possession, and proved his efficiency in a pro-style system, surrounded by high major teammates. For more on CMJ’s stats at Link- here is the Nike EYBL’s official compilation of team stats for the 2025-26 Lions.
What do the recruiting experts of the world have to say about our very own Carlos Medlock?
As far as rankings go, Carlos is a four-star prospect across the board, and most of the major sites are relatively in agreement with where he stacks up amongst his class. Rivals has our guy as the 52nd-best player in the nation, and ninth best point guard. 247 Sports sees Medlock as the 46th or 47th-best player nationally and fifth best point man, and ESPN similarly has CMJ at 47th overall, but as the 10th best PG.
Those are just numbers. 247’s director of scouting, Adam Finkelstein, has called Medlock extremely talented and creative with the ball, in a way that makes up for his lack of size at the PG spot. He continues- “He has total command of his handle, can play at full speed with complete control, and can breakdown defenders almost at will. He’s got an assortment of acrobatic lay-ups and clever tricks in the paint, but can also rise-up and dunk on unsuspecting defenders. When the game slows down, he’s still almost impossible to corral as he’ll split ball-screens and create space for tough pull-ups or step-backs off the dribble.”
The rest of evaluation sites agree- C.J. Medlock Jr. is an offensive-minded, scoring threat at the point guard spot. However, how does he fare on the other end of the floor? As we Spartan fans know, it is often the defense of young players that earnsthem a spot in Coach Izzo’s rotation.
“He’s got the speed and quickness to be a pest,” Finkelstein continues, “He can get underneath opposing ball-handlers and create a lot of pressure (1.9 steals), but his size will become more of a limitation as he moves up in level, both from the standpoint of being less switchable and less able to disrupt bigger guards once they’re able to get to their spots.”
Now, to the moment you’ve all been waiting for, let’s review some of Medlock’s game tape. A big shout out to the MSU Hoops Youtube channel for cutting together some clips of Carlos during his AAU ball days prior to the 25-26 season.
Below is a series of Medlock driving and finishing in the paint, often amongst the trees. As size is one of the most mentioned concerns with CMJ, it is beyond reassuring to see that the fiery guard has a deep package of layups, floaters, and leaners that he can create space for and finish athletically.
Another thing to point out in these videos is C.J’s ability to handle the basketball, push the pace, and oftentimes split more than one defender. The shades of a crafty scorer definitely shine through.
Our next series of highlights showcases Medlock’s shooting ability from deep. As mentioned earlier, he knocked down nearly 45% of his long balls at Link Academy. However, as this next stretch of clips shows, they were likely not all because CMJ got easy, clean looks from three. He has a great ability to generate his own rhythm and drain often difficult off-the-dribble threes.
It has been a while since we have seen a sharpshooting point guard who not only can create his own shot, but looks to let it fly when he gets any amount of space. I’m sensing some shades of Tyson (sky)Walker in the young padawan, Medlock.
Now, for some video from Medlock’s most recent season at Link Academy. This next play showcases once again his ability to find a step in, off-the-dribble three, this time off of a high dribble hand-off or ballscreen from a big man. These late shotclock two man playcalls are a staple in MSU Basketball, and once again this style of nearly running into a pull-up three point jumper calls to mind former Spartan star, Tyson Walker.