Isaiah Dahlman, a 6-foot-6 swingman from Braham, Minn. has verbally agreed to play basketball with MSU starting next season.
Dahlman, a senior in high school, averaged 28 points, six rebounds and five assists last season and led his team to a 33-0 record and the Minnesota Class 2A title.
He is the first commitment MSU men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo has secured from the class of 2006.
"He's definitely a top 100 player," said Chris Monter, midwest recruiting analyst for the recruiting service Collegebasketballnews.com. "He needs to work on his off-hand, but he can shoot from the outside, has a good handle, a good basketball IQ, and he's a winner. He fits in with the Michigan State system."
Dahlman's stock has fluctuated wildly this summer. He is listed as the 15th best small forward in the country by Collegebasketballnews.com and is considered by some to be the top high school player in Minnesota.
But a poor showing at many prominent summer camps has dropped his stock in some circles.
Monter said Dahlman's summer struggles can be attributed to overcommitting himself.
"One thing he did was maybe play too much this summer," Monter said. "He kind of got worn out. Most national people don't see him throughout the year. The fact that he was so highly hyped and then didn't play so great, that's why lot of people dropped him quite a bit."
At the suggestion of Izzo, Dahlman scaled back the number of events he was scheduled to take part in, and is now focused on playing wide receiver for his high school football team, Monter said.
Dahlman is expected to sign a national letter of intent on Nov. 9, the first day high school basketball players can make their college choice official.
MSU only has two commitments for this coming season - Montreal, Quebec shooting guard Maurice Joseph and Lima, Ohio point guard Travis Walton - and Monter said he's not aware of any other players the Spartans might add.
But Collegebasketballnews.com reports that MSU is in the running for several other prominent members of the class of 2006, including Canton, Ohio small forward Raymar Morgan, Belleville shooting guard Leon Freeman and Flint center Tom Herzog - all ranked in the top 15 nationally at their positions.
