Fewer teams had a more surprising season than Michigan State, which began the 2024-25 campaign unranked and ended up with a Big Ten regular-season championship and a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Even though the numbers suggested that the Spartans were a championship-caliber team, Michigan State's lack of perimeter shooting ended up doing them in during a 70-64 loss to Auburn in the Elite Eight.
Unlike most of the transfer-heavy teams in the modern college basketball world, Tom Izzo built his Spartans from traditional recruiting with just one starter (center Szymon Zapala) coming to East Lansing via the portal. Michigan State was a team that beat opponents through its depth and physicality, though that depth will take a significant hit next season with four key rotation players set to depart the program.
Michigan State basketball players who won't be back next year
The Seniors
Izzo had three key seniors in his rotation: guard Jaden Akins, forward Frankie Fiddler and Zapala, each of whom was celebrated on Senior Day at the end of the regular season. Akins was the Spartans' leading scorer, averaging 12.8 points per game, while Fiddler provided some spark off the bench as an energy player with a mean streak on the defensive end.
Zapala was a strong rim protector defensively, which is an important element in the Spartans' frontcourt-focused system. Akins and Zapala were starters throughout the NCAA Tournament, creating two big holes in the lineup that Izzo will need to fill next season.
Jase Richardson's Pending NBA Draft Decision
No one expected a ton out of Richardson, a legacy recruit after his father Jason played for Izzo two decades ago, but he played his way into significant minutes very quickly. Richardson was by far the most dynamic offensive player on Michigan State's roster, averaging 12.2 points per game while shooting over 50 percent from the floor and making the kinds of special plays an NBA-caliber talent makes against collegians.
Most mock drafts have Richardson as a potential lottery pick, offering him little incentive to stay for his sophomore season in East Lansing. Izzo also has made it a point not to stand in the way of players with NBA potential, often helping them get accurate information on where their draft potential stands in the NBA, so unless Richardson really wants to get more of the collegiate experience (or gets offered a bigger NIL package that makes it worth staying in school) he should be going pro.
How will Michigan State fill these roster spots?
It is tough to guarantee whether anyone else on the Spartans' roster will feel the urge to test the transfer portal waters, but Izzo's history of finding players who like to matriculate through the program leads us to believe that anyone on the current roster with eligibility will have a home in East Lansing in the fall. The Spartans have two four-star recruits committed for next season, forwards Cam York and Jordan Scott, so that should leave Izzo with two scholarships available for portal additions.
Knowing Michigan State's preference to play through the post, expect one of the potential additions to be a big man to help fill Zapala's shoes as a rim protector. Seeing how the Spartans lost in the Elite Eight could also inspire Izzo to search for a perimeter shooting threat with his other open roster spot, potentially diversifying their offensive approach and creating more space for attacking the rim.
The good news for the Spartans is that four of their key rotation players from this season (Jaxon Kohler, Tre Hollomann, Carson Cooper and Coen Carr) will be upperclassmen at the start of the 2025-26 campaign. In an era of college basketball where experience is rewarded, Michigan State will have a good foundation to build on this season's success and pursue a run at Izzo's ninth Final Four trip.