Michigan State Adds Top 150 Player

Maurice Joseph wanted to make sure he made the right college decision and not rush into a commitment to soon. Late Wednesday night, the 6-foot-5, 180-pound shooting guard from the Champlain School in St. Lambert (Que.) realized that he knew where he wanted to go and called Tom Izzo and pledged to the Michigan State head coach to make it official.

Joseph, the No. 138 ranked player in the class of 2005 by Rivals.com, couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play for the Big Ten power, Champlain head coach John Dangelas said.

“Obviously it’s Michigan State,” Dangelas said. “With their tradition and history it says enough. But also, they coach guys who get into the league and they’ve done that for many years. He’s a big guard and can shoot and we feel like he can get to the league, too.”

The Spartans rugged, get-in-your face style of play was another appealing trait for the guard.

“He’s a defensive-minded player and they like to have that attitude (at Michigan State),” Dangelas said. “Maurice takes pride in defense and the fact they run NBA stuff like down screens, screen and rolls and other things like we do makes it easier. He wanted an easy transition into college.

“Maurice wants the best and he’ll get it from guys like Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown at least for a year. They run a lot of three guard sets and it should give him an opportunity to play a lot. I think Maurice is a lot like Chris Hill.”

Joseph will play at the War on the Shore and Slam Dunk to the Beach with his Champlain School teammates in the winter.