Ranking the transfers of Tom Izzo’s era with Michigan State basketball

Ben Carter spent time at Oregon and UNLV before making his way to East Lansing for a redshirt year and one full season.

The first transfer Tom Izzo took in, Chappell started his collegiate career at Duke from 1996-98, and then transferred to MSU to play from 1999-2001. Chappell was a key bench role player on Izzo’s 2000 National Championship winning team.

Harris came to MSU via West Virginia, and came with a lot of hype. While never fully amounting to the hype, Harris was a solid player during the two years he played in East Lansing.

A transfer from Marquette, Hauser’s third and final year in East Lansing was special, helping the team make a run to the Sweet 16. Truthfully the middling nature of his ranking boils down to the disappointing first two seasons he had at MSU, but those have been easy to forget with the way he finished.

Brandon Wood played for both Southern Illinois and Valparaiso before spending a graduate year in East Lansing. His year in 2011-12, Wood averaged 8.8 points per game, and the team won both the regular season and tournament championship in the Big Ten, while earning a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. This specific Spartan team would not have been able to have the success they did without Wood’s addition to the back court.

Arguably the best 3-point shooter in the history of Michigan State, Forbes was a lethal perimeter weapon for the Spartans. A transfer from Cleveland State, Forbes helped the Spartans get to the 2015 Final Four and really elevated the game of Denzel Valentine and Travis Trice.