Antonio Pemberton made his move on Friday, Sept. 18, announcing that he will play for Michigan State basketball and becoming the first commitment in the program’s 2027 class. The highly rated point guard chose the Spartans after weighing seven other finalists, including Boston College, Creighton, Kansas, Marquette, Ohio State, Tennessee and UCLA.
The decision gives Michigan State an early anchor for a future backcourt and adds a guard who is already viewed as one of the top prospects in his class. Pemberton, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound native of Methuen, Massachusetts, is rated the No. 23 player and No. 5 point guard in 247Sports' composite rankings, a profile that made him one of the most closely watched names in the 2027 cycle.
Pemberton made the announcement on CBSSports.com from Masters Academy International in Massachusetts, where he transferred this year to follow Jason Smith after playing for him at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. His rise has been steady. Last winter, he won Gatorade Player of the Year for New Hampshire and averaged 16.8 points, five assists and 3.6 rebounds. In June, he took part in the NBPA Top 100 Camp and later earned second-team junior all-America honors from MaxPreps.com.
What Michigan State sold him was not just the name on the jersey. Pemberton said the energy, the love and the community from the coaching staff on and off the court pushed him to commit, and he added that the support from everybody at Michigan State was amazing. That matters because he did not lack options. Beating that field of finalists shows the Spartans were able to win an early recruiting fight that stretched across several major programs and leave little doubt about where he felt most at home.
There is also a timing piece that makes the commitment more than a simple addition to the board. Jeremy Fears Jr. tested the 2026 NBA Draft process in the offseason before returning for his redshirt junior season, and Tom Izzo already has four-star freshman point guard Carlos “C.J.” Medlock from the 2026 class. Pemberton could fit the roster path that opens after that, giving Michigan State a guard prospect who can develop into the next layer of the backcourt rather than forcing immediate minutes.
That is why this commitment lands as a start, not just a splash. Michigan State now has its first name in the 2027 class, and Pemberton arrives with the production, the ranking and the frame to matter down the line. For now, the next step is simple: he is committed to Michigan State. The harder part is the one the Spartans just began, figuring out how a guard with his shot-making and pace fits into a backcourt that is still taking shape.
