HOLT, Mich. — Team LAFCU has a very strong case to be the most interesting team at this year’s Moneyball Pro-Am.
Michigan State basketball sends its players to the annual summer event, and the players certainly don’t seem to be randomly assigned. LAFCU has some unique prestige. Plenty of eyes are (understandably) on All-American point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., but he was paired up with a teammate about a foot taller than him: freshman center Ethan Taylor.
Why Taylor Picked MSU
Taylor is the second-highest-ranked recruit in MSU’s 2026 recruiting class, which is ranked fifth nationally, per 247Sports . He says he’s measuring at 7’1″ barefoot right now. I certainly buy that, having craned my neck up to talk to both Taylor and 7’2″ Charlotte transfer Anton Bonke. Taylor finished up ranked No. 38 in the class, including fourth among centers.
What makes Taylor’s outlook interesting is his senior season at Link Academy in Missouri. Even though Taylor was a borderline 5-star recruit, he was coming off the bench during his senior season. Taylor was also teammates with Carlos Medlock Jr. there.
“It was hard,” Taylor said about his year at Link. “It was hard at first, moving away from home [in Kansas] and not having my close people around me, but I built some friendships there that helped me get through it. Obviously, I would’ve liked to play more. I’m not going to go into detail about that.”…