Tom Izzo has big plans for Michigan State in the Big Ten, transfer portal or not
By John Fanta
FOX Sports College Basketball Writer
MINNEAPOLIS — If there was one thing clear about Day 2 at Big Ten media days in Minneapolis, it’s this: Michigan State has a chip on its shoulder.
It didn’t take long to find the Spartans, who brought a conference-high five players to the event. That’s saying something, especially when considering the fact that Hall of Famer Tom Izzo only has 10 scholarship players on his roster for the 2022-23 season.
Izzo did not tap into the transfer portal over the offseason following an up-and-down 23-13 campaign that ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the 28th-year head coach is relying on his returning players to take the next step.
"We’re a developmental program. We’ve been that way since I’ve been here, and during COVID you couldn’t do that. That hurt us," said Izzo.
"I chose not to go out like some of our fans wanted us to and replace the guys I had," he added. "I believe in them. We’ve got improvement from (Joey) Hauser and (Malik) Hall, and Tyson (Walker) and a lot from AJ Hoggard, and probably as much from Jaden Akins as anybody. We have some versatility. We have some experience."
Izzo's confidence permeated through his players as well.
"We didn’t like the way things ended last year. Michigan State’s not used to losing," said Hoggard, who Izzo has tabbed as the Spartans' leader. "We ended the year with a chip on our shoulder, and everybody bought into that chip, and it led right into our summer. We all just bought in and wanted to come back, and finish things off differently."
"We want to be one of those last teams standing. We want to be in that Final Four. We want hardware."
The Spartans lost their top three scorers from last season — Gabe Brown, Marcus Bingham Jr. and Max Christie, and with their current roster makeup, Izzo will have to play smaller this season.
Graduate forward Hauser and senior Hall have spent a lot of time rotating in for one another, but this year, they will spend a lot of time on the floor together in a more versatile front line.
"Being here with Malik for our third season now, we’ve never really been on the floor together," said Hauser. "After talking to Coach a little bit, we had some ideas about Malik and I being on the court more often together. We think it gives us size at the three position. I think the frontcourt will do really well for us."
Of the other options in the paint, Mady Sissoko (4.5 minutes per game last year) and four-star freshman Jaxon Kohler will also get opportunities. Despite the lack of certainty on the interior, playing smaller gives the Spartans a different dimension, and it resonates with the returning players that they are the ones being counted on.
Joey Hauser will be key to Michigan State's success in the coming season. (Photo by Adam Ruff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
"He believes in us, and he knows we’ve got a sour taste in our mouths with the way last year ended," said Hauser when asked about the fact that the Spartans only have 10 scholarship players. "This summer, he chose not to bring in a transfer because he knew his guys would be ready to go. He trusts in us."
"I feel like we have a lot to offer, and I feel like a lot of people don’t know what we have to offer yet," said Hall. "I think it will surprise a lot of people, what we have to do this year."
Hoggard will charge the Spartan guards alongside Walker, whom Izzo is high on after he went through a complete offseason program after transferring from Northeastern in 2021. Sophomore guard Akins is also projected by Izzo as a breakout candidate, but the most pivotal thing for him is to get back on the hardwood. Akins suffered a stress reaction in his left foot in September and is still working his way back to practice. Izzo said he will be out for a few more weeks, although the expectation is that he will be available for the season opener.
"We’ve got the best backcourt in the Big Ten," said Hoggard, who averaged 13.0 points and 5.3 assists over the final three games of last season, showcasing that he could be the program's alpha. "We’ve got a lot more options. Who are you really keying on? There’s a lot of guys who can do different things for us. We have versatility, and we’ve got experienced guys who have been through it."
The Spartans are picked fourth in the Big Ten preseason poll behind Indiana, Illinois and Michigan, but the upperclassmen are looking at it from the lens of what’s been normal in East Lansing: Michigan State has a plan to do what it did in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and that’s to be the Big Ten regular season champs.
The plan isn’t to do it in a sexy or flashy way — roster overhaul isn’t what Izzo believes in.
"If you want to rip me on it (not going to the transfer portal) or if you want to applaud me for it, just don’t give me the old school BS. That’s BS. It’s not old-school," Izzo said. "That is what I feel I’ve promised my guys. I think they appreciate that. My best recruiters are my former players, and you know why? Because I’m a loyal head coach. I’m not saying guys aren’t loyal, but I’m tired of hearing all of this stuff. My guys? I’d die for my guys. At the end of the day, they know what I could do. If I have a bad year and fans are mad, that’s on me. But I do believe we are looking at quick fixes like with everything in society, and I don’t plan on that happening here. I think I’ll survive it.
"We’ve gotten back to that (our identity). Chemistry, camaraderie and culture are really, really important to me. New era? Maybe it won’t work. But it’s the way I do things."
Whether that method works in a league with several offseason changes will be fascinating to watch. But Izzo and his returnees are confident in who they are, and the Spartans had a tone in Minneapolis familiar to anyone who has followed them over the last two decades — that they’re ready to re-emerge with another deep March run.
Read more:
- Tom Izzo: A constant in college basketball's era of change
- Big Ten Media Days, Day 1: Iowa's familiar face, Mike Woodson's drive, more
- Even in deep Big Ten, Indiana is easy pick to rule the hardwood
- 40 storylines to watch as 2022-23 season nears
- Counting down the top 15 teams: TCU at No. 11
John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
