EAST LANSING, Mich. – Josh Jackson sheepishly smiled.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had just amplified his voice by a few decibels, bringing the Breslin Center crowd from dead silence to an emphatic roar. His words were meant to close senior day ceremonies.

They also might have given Jackson a glimpse into his future.

“In the 21 years I’ve been the head coach, we’ve gone to seven Final Fours. But three of them, I thought we had a real legitimate chance to win going in,” Izzo began. “I’m putting my neck on the line. This is the fourth that we have a chance.”

In the stands, Miles Bridges and Cassius Winston reached out and gave each other a handshake and shoulder bump. Fans all around them were on their feet cheering.

A beaming Winston then turned to his left and extended his hand for another. He pulled his longtime friend Jackson toward him. Bridges then did the same.

Take that for what it’s worth. Nothing is ever quite as it outwardly appears in recruiting. However, there’s no secret the two MSU signees are trying hard to bring their longtime friend Jackson along with them.

And the Spartans have a chance there, too.

SPECIAL VISITOR

It might have been senior day for the Spartans, a time for those within the program to look back, but Saturday was even more important for the future.

Izzo already has signed four players for his 2016-17 recruiting class: point guard Winston from University of Detroit Jesuit High, swingman and Flint native Bridges from Huntington Prep in West Virginia, Alabama shooting guard Josh Langford and Ohio big man Nick Ward. All of them are top 50 recruits, making it arguably Izzo’s best recruiting class.

“It’s gonna be fun watching them next year, I’ll tell you that,” outgoing senior Denzel Valentine said.

Yet Izzo might not be done.

Adding Jackson, who is ranked No. 1 overall by rivals.com and No. 3 by ESPN, could solidify it as the nation’s best incoming class. The Southfield native took his official visit to Breslin to watch the Spartans trounce Ohio State, 91-76, in their home finale. The 6-foot-7 swingman, who is playing at Prolific Prep in Napa, Calif., has MSU among his finalists, along with Arizona and Kansas.

It remains a numbers crunch, though, for Izzo to add Jackson. MSU needs at least one player to leave to free up a scholarship for Jackson.

Recruits cannot speak to reporters while visiting campus, and coaches can’t discuss them until after they sign.

Their actions together, however, spoke volumes. There’s no doubt Jackson, Winston and Bridges share a special bond.

Remember, Bridges wore a shirt with #TheClass and all five players’ names on the back of it when he committed to MSU in October. He and Jackson go back to their 11-and-under AAU team days.

“He’s been my boy ever since. We’re really close,” Bridges said in October. Winston’s mom, Wendi, said the same about her son and Jackson.

CLOSE FRIENDS

All three high school players visited with the Michigan State team before and after Saturday’s game. They sat together, three rows above midcourt, in a closely clustered triangle for much of the afternoon. Occasionally, they’d thumb through texts or talk to family members. Very little action on the court evoked visible reactions from them.

Their interaction with each other, however, did.

The diamonds in Jackson’s ears glistened off the Breslin lights as he craned his neck backward to talk to Bridges. Bridges tapped Winston on the shoulder, pointing across the court, and all three of them shared a hearty chuckle.

When Valentine hit a 3-pointer midway into the second half, Jackson flashed another huge grin. When Bryn Forbes drained another seconds later, Jackson turned to Winston and gave him the timeout sign that Ohio State coach Thad Matta was about to call.

Then came the senior celebration. Almost all of the sellout crowd of nearly 15,000 remained in the stands around Jackson, Winston, Bridges and their families. Valentine, standing with his family as Izzo talked about his career, pointed briefly at Jackson, who subtly returned the gesture.

“If you weren’t moved by that,” Izzo said later of the ceremony, “I wouldn’t want you. … That’s what it should be all about, no matter if you’re a recruit, a mom, a dad, a little kid, a 90-year old mother like my mother that was here today. I’ll ask her what she thought of it.”

But as he said earlier this year, Izzo cares more about what 17-year-olds think right now than octogenarians (or nonagenarians, in his mother Dorothy’s case). As Jackson weaved between MSU players’ parents with Bridges and Winston and their families, he stopped to sign a few autographs along the way.

It’s the one autograph Izzo wants most right now. And he’s got a legitimate chance to get it.