MSU basketball, football made-up mailbag: Why does Tom Izzo always lose recruits to Duke?

The Michigan State basketball and football made-up mailbag returns this week, beginning with a narrative that isn’t so made up. 

Let’s get started.

Why does Tom Izzo always lose out to Duke on top recruits? — An unsatisfied Millennial who’s never heard of Quinton Brooks, Daimon Bethea or David Hart

I’m glad this question came up. I’ve been hearing this a lot since Vernon Carey Jr. chose Duke over Michigan State last week. 

There are three answers to this question:

1. He doesn’t.

2. It’s Duke. How many teams are beating the Blue Devils head-to-head for recruits right now?

3. Think of it like this: MSU was again among the final two schools for one of the nation’s top recruits, just Duke and the Spartans, with North Carolina at No. 3. That’s insane. Insane in a good way for MSU. Put that in perspective with yesteryear and you’ll be amazed that the Spartans being in such a position is even conceivable. 

Let’s begin with the first point.

Duke wasn’t among the finalists for legendary Spartan recruits Miles Bridges, Jaren Jackson Jr., Gary Harris, Delvon Roe, Jason Richardson or Mateen Cleaves, but they were all top-tier national prospects, Izzo’s first choices, coveted by behemoths of the sport. And if you’re looking for players Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski specifically wanted that wound up at MSU, here’s a list: Kelvin Torbert, Paul Davis, Shannon Brown and Marcus Taylor.

Recently it’s gone Duke’s way: Jabari Parker, Tyus Jones, Jahlil Okafor and now Carey. 

But, to point No. 2, who’s really beating Duke for recruits right now? Not blue bloods Kansas or Kentucky or North Carolina. Krzyzewski has the machine rolling. 

Now to the most important point and a little perspective: There was a time when MSU was settling for junior college transfer big man Dejuan Wiley after missing out on Canadian center Jamaal Magloire, and when landing the 100-meter champion of Findlay, Ohio (A.J. Granger), was the big freshman big man in the class. Back then, being in the top two for a big-time recruit meant that recruit was playing his high school ball within a four-hour radius. And “big-time” was a relative term. 

That the Spartans were in the mix for a center out of Miami, ranked among the top couple players in the nation, is an incredible feat, even if it didn’t bear fruit. That’s like being in the hunt for the most sought-after defensive tackle in SEC country, and losing out to only Alabama. It still stings — because you don’t get the player and you were oh-so close. But, man, that’s good company for a program where winning and recruiting well isn’t a birthright. 

We’ll see where five-star big man Isaiah Stewart lands. The MSU-Duke, Izzo-Krzyzewski recruiting narrative, however much an overreaction, may still receive a jolt yet.

If you were to do a Big Ten basketball power rankings right now, how does it look? — B. Quinn, coming up for air after a deep dive

Differently than I anticipated, especially for teams like Ohio State and Wisconsin, which have been impressive early. 

Here’s how I see it right now, with every team having played the bulk of its non-conference schedule and two Big Ten games:

1. Michigan (10-0 overall, 2-0 Big Ten)
2. Michigan State (8-2, 2-0)
3. Wisconsin (8-2, 2-0)
4. Ohio State (8-1, 2-0)
5. Nebraska (8-2, 1-1)
6. Iowa (7-2, 0-2)
7. Maryland (8-2, 1-1)
8. Indiana (8-2, 2-0)
9. Purdue (6-4, 1-1)
10. Northwestern (7-3, 0-2)
11. Minnesota (8-2, 1-1)
12. Penn State (5-4, 0-2)
13. Rutgers (5-4, 0-2)
14. Illinois (3-7, 0-2)

Michigan looks like both the best team and the team with the highest ceiling. But MSU has shown enough to believe it could win the league and, with the right matchups, make a Final Four run. 

Wisconsin has the road win at Iowa that, to me, is the best in-league road win yet, so I’d put them above Ohio State, but you can argue that either way. Northwestern, even at 0-2 in Big Ten play, one could argue should be higher. The Wildcats have a two two-point losses — at Indiana and against Michigan. If you lose by two on the road, in college hoops, you’re probably better than the team that beat you.

It’s a deep league this year, with at least 10 teams with a shot at the NCAA tournament. It should make for a compelling Big Ten race, with an equally intriguing second and third tier of teams jostling for postseason position.

Where does Felton Davis rank among the receivers you covered at MSU? — Jay “DatBull” Harris

Third. I’ve been covering MSU for seven seasons, so that’s a limited span and this hasn’t been a hall-of-fame era for wide receivers in East Lansing. No Charles Rogers, Plaxico Burress or Andre Rison types. Here’s how I’d rank the top 10 receivers over the last seven years.

1. Aaron Burbridge
2. Tony Lippett
3. Felton Davis
4. Cody White
5. Bennie Fowler
6. R.J. Shelton
7. Darrell Stewart Jr.
8. Keith Mumphery
9. MacGarrett Kings Jr.
10. Donnie Corley

Had Davis not torn his Achilles midseason, he might have climbed even higher — if he’d had another moment like he did at the end of the Penn State game and rescued MSU’s offense from its abysmal November. Burbridge’s senior season in 2015 was the only time we really saw his full array of athletic gifts. But he was a prolific target that season, with a school-record 85 catches for 1,258 yards, which ranks fifth all-time at MSU for a single season. Lippett a year earlier had a dominating stretch until he began playing on both sides of the ball late in the season. Still, he finished with 65 receptions and 1,198 yards. 

Davis wasn’t on pace for those numbers. Had he not been hurt, he was looking at about 55 catches and 800-some yards this season after similar numbers as a junior. He had become a bona fide star, however, and a reliable clutch target. He might wind up with a better NFL career than anyone on this list, if he fully recovers. 

Your appreciation for road games in college basketball shines through in your explanation of your Associate Press Top 25 ballot. What road venues would you like to see MSU visit in the non-conference season? — Mike in Durham

1. Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse
2. All the in-state Division I schools — Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Detroit, Oakland — one each year
3. Kansas’ “Phog” Allen Fieldhouse
4. The Belfast Classic, Northern Ireland
5. Utah State’s Smith Spectrum
7. Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium
8. Northern Michigan, an exhibition game in Marquette
9. Miami, each December
10. Give a low-major program that plays all of its non-league games on the road a home game once in a while. MSU at Grambling or something like that. That would be really cool.

There’s no place like Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where they filmed the state championship game in the movie “Hoosiers.” That’s not why it’s great. If you walk in for a morning practice or pickup game with the sun peaking through the upper windows, you’ll think you’re in heaven. Just in case I don’t get in, I plan to be buried under the court.  

I love the idea of an annual in-state game at one of the mid-major programs. Most years it would be a low-risk game for MSU, yet still a road game, and would come with a ton of goodwill within those fan bases and communities. 

The eight-team Belfast Classic played the week after Thanksgiving this year wouldn’t be a true road game, but, well, it’s Northern Ireland, so it makes the list. 

If you’ve ever heard the chant, “I Believe That We Will Win,” it didn’t begin with Utah State’s student section, but it was there long before U.S. Soccer fans had it. It’s an incredible environment for college hoops.

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• Couch: Duke, Kansas, Tennessee left off AP top 25 ballot

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.