Four-star guard A.J. Hoggard makes his pick

Four-star senior A.J. Hoggard celebrated his Sunday in style by ending his college recruitment.

The native of Pennsylvania who attends Huntington (W.V.) Prep and ranks No. 71 nationally in the class of 2020 has given a verbal commitment to Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans.

“The vibe that they have been giving me since day one and how (Tom) Izzo handles his guards, along with the production that they have had from the guard position," Hoggard told Rivals.com. “To come in as a freshman and get to play, it is always big and to come into a spot for Cassius (Winston), it is going to be huge for me.”

Hoggard is a throwback guard who looks designed to play in the Big Ten.

He has great size at around 6-foot-3 and his 200 pound frame is going to serve him well at the highest level of college basketball. Hoggard is a physical grinder who has shown at both Huntington and during the summers with the PSA Cardinals that he's a crafty creator for himself and others off the dribble. He also plays with an edge to him that rubs off on teammates and his size will allow him to play at either the one or the two to get the maximum number of ball handlers on the floor.

MSU's winning pedigree also played a major part. "Winning is everything to me and I don’t like losing," Hoggard stated. "To come into a position where I have to make sure that I have my hard hat on every night to win games and bring the team wins, that is what I strive for each time that I step onto the floor: to win."

With Hoggard now in the fold, the Spartans have a strong three man recruiting class that moves into the top five of the 2020 team rankings. He joins homegrown top 50 point guard Jalen Terry and rugged top 40 big man Mady Sissoko as early commitments to Michigan State.