- Last Season: 30-5, Lost in second round of NCAA Tournament
- Notable Losses: Miles Bridges, Jaren Jackson
- Notable Additions: Marcus Bingham Jr., Foster Loyer, Gabe Brown
Under the watch of Tom Izzo, college basketball fans have certainly grown accustomed to seeing the Michigan State Spartans as a team bursting with NBA lottery picks, and that was certainly the case last year with Miles Bridges and Jaren Jackson in the frontcourt. Of course, neither Bridges nor Jackson are in the collegiate ranks any longer and, as such, the Spartans are going to have a different complexion to them than many are used to seeing.
With those two lottery picks now in the professional ranks, the show in East Lansing has two new leaders, namely, point guard Cassius Winston and center Nick Ward. The pair of juniors were big last season, even playing alongside the two star teammates. Winston averaged 12.6 points and 6.9 assists per game while Ward put up 12.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. The Spartans will also return guard Josh Langford, another junior who averaged 11.7 points per game a season ago.
Langford’s scoring will be critical for Sparty this season as they’ll need him to take a step forward and occupy a larger role in the offense. The same can be said of senior guard Matt McQuaid and sophomore forward Xavier Tillman. Both have played well in limited roles but will have to do more this season.
What will take Michigan State over the hump — aside from having Izzo holding the clipboard — will be their freshman class. Though there’s no identifiable star right now, one of their three top-100 freshman in Marcus Bingham Jr., Foster Loyer and Gabe Brown has the potential to step up and give this team a boost.