Next year I will be going Michigan State university. Once a spartan. Always a Spartan
— Big Sauce (@Biggs_Swanigan) April 10, 2015
Many believed that Swanigan, the No. 17 overall recruit in the Class of 2015, was going to land at Cal, and would later be joined by Oakland native Ivan Rabb, a 6-foot-9 power forward ranked No. 8 overall by Rivals.
Besides the Golden Bears, Arizona, Duke, Kentucky and Purdue were also being considered by the Fort Wayne native.
For Michigan State, on the heels of Tom Izzo’s seventh Final Four appearance, this is a big get. This serves as the first Sparty recruiting class since 2012 to have a McDonald’s All-American as Swanigan joins Deyonta Davis, another five-star big man. The class rounds out with four-star shooting guard Matt McQuaid and Kyle Ahern.
The Spartans lose Branden Dawson and Travis Trice, but do return the talented Denzel Valentine along with Lourawls Nairn, Bryn Forbes while also adding West Virginia transfer Eron Harris, who averaged 17.2 points per game during the 2013-14 season.