Michigan State hoping to land 4-star Xavier Tillman Friday

Xavier Tillman, one of the best basketball players in the state, will make his college choice Friday morning. And Michigan State is hoping the four-star big man will become Tom Izzo’s second recruit for 2017.

Tillman is expected to choose between the Spartans, Purdue and Marquette at a ceremony around 12:50 p.m. at Grand Rapids Christian High.

The 6-foot-9, 250-pound power forward/center is ranked the No. 75 player in the nation for the class of 2017 according to ESPN.com. He’s ranked No. 85 by 247Sports, No. 86 by Rivals.com and unranked by Scout.com.

MSU already landed 6-10, 255-pound power forward/wing Jaren Jackson Jr. He is ranked No. 15 in the nation by Rivals, 26th by ESPN and 27th by both 247Sports and Scout. He’s more of stretch-4 perimeter threat than Tillman.

Izzo looking to add 4-star big Xavier Tillman for 2017 class

Tillman averaged 11.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game this summer for the Spiece Indy Heat AAU team, for which he was a teammate of Jackson and 2018 MSU target Brandon Johns from East Lansing.

Five-star swingman Brian Bowen, who plays alongside Jackson at La Lumiere School in La Porte, Indiana, listed the Spartans as one of his six finalists on Twitter high on his radar. The 6-7 Saginaw native and cousin of Jason Richardson plans to choose between MSU, Arizona, UCLA, Texas, North Carolina State and Creighton.

ESPN ranks Bowen No. 13 in the class of 2017. He’s No. 14 by 247Sports, No. 20 by Scout and No. 22 by Rivals.

MSU also welcomed four-star Nojel Eastern for official visits during the Wisconsin football game. The 6-6 guard from Evanston, Illinois, is rated No. 59 in 2017 by 247Sports, No. 75 by Rivals, No. 78 by ESPN and No. 90 by Scout.

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Izzo has four scholarship available in 2017 after Jackson’s commitment. The Spartans will graduate Eron Harris, Gavin Schilling, Alvin Ellis III, Ben Carter and Matt Van Dyk after the upcoming season.

MSU begins practice officially Friday with Izzo’s highest-ranked freshman class: swingman Miles Bridges, shooting guard Joshua Langford, point guard Cassius Winston and forward/center Nick Ward.

Contact Chris Solari:csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@chrissolari.