Michigan State hoops commits Tillman, Jackson Jr. unbeaten this season

Michigan State’s two basketball signees for its 2017 class have two big things in common.

Xavier Tillman and Jaren Jackson Jr. are McDonald’s All-American candidates, and neither has lost a game so far this season.

Tillman’s Grand Rapids Christian team is 6-0 after a 71-35 blowout of South Christian on Friday. The 6-foot-9, 270-pound power forward had 16 points and 11 rebounds in that game, and he is averaging 12.7 points with at least four double-digit rebound games.

Tillman and the Eagles play Friday at Thornapple-Kellogg.

Jackson and his La Lumiere School teammates are the nation’s best according to the USA Today boys high school rankings, sitting at 16-0 after defeating eighth-ranked Findlay Prep on Jan. 7, 69-54, in Henderson, Nevada. The 6-10 forward/center had 24 points and 17 rebounds in that game, then told USA Today his Lakers want to win the DICK’s Sporting Good High School national championship.

“We’ll see y’all at DICK’s Nationals. That’s all I want to say,” he said.

La Lumiere plays Sierra Canyon (Calif.) on Monday in the HoopHall Classic in Springfield, Mass.

The Spartans are also chasing Jackson’s teammate, Brian Bowen. The Saginaw native listed MSU, Arizona, Creighton, North Carolina State and UCLA as his finalists in September but has no definitive time frame for a decision. Bowen and Jackson are both on the midseason watch list for the Naismith Award, which goes to the nation’s top high school boys basketball player.

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

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