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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Andrew Brewster

Projecting the 2023-24 Michigan State basketball rotation after roster finalization

Steven Izzo Michigan State Tom Izzo AJ Hoggard Jaden Akins MSU Coen Carr Jaxon Kohler Xavier Booker Basketball

With the decision of Jaden Akins and A.J. Hoggard to withdraw from the 2023 NBA draft, the 2023-24 Michigan State basketball roster looks to finally be finalized after a few months of questions following MSU’s loss to Kansas State in the 2023 NCAA tournament.

This is a roster that is projected to be competing for an NCAA championship, but what will that rotation look like? With a lot of talent both returning and incoming, it should be interesting to see where everyone slots in. We took our best stab at projecting what that rotation might look like below.

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Starters:

G: A.J. Hoggard

Stats: 12.9 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 5.9 Ast

Analysis: Is A.J. Hoggard flawless? No, not that any player is, but his flaws can be all too apparent sometimes. However, A.J. Hoggard is still, unless Jeremy Fears comes into the season way further ahead than expected, the best pure point guard on this team, and that will make it hard for Izzo not to start him. It’s possible that Hoggard could be the odd man out and have to come off the bench, while still playing starter minutes, but I would still be pretty surprised to see that.

G: Tyson Walker

Stats: 14.8 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 2.9 Ast

Analysis: Michigan State will get their leading scorer back in 2023-24, and that’s great news for Spartan fans. Tyson Walker is one of the best shot-makers in the country, and if he can improve his facilitating skills a little, it could allow Izzo to have Hoggard come off the bench and bully other team’s second units, but I do expect we see them both in the backcourt on opening tip.

G: Jaden Akins

Stats: 9.8 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 1.2 Ast

Analysis: Although some fans might want to see a more traditional small forward at the 3-spot, I think it’s just too hard to justify taking Jaden Akins out of the starting lineup. Akins, although undersized at this spot, is arguably Michigan State’s best defender, MSU’s best returning shooter, and their best returning athlete, overall (although Coen Carr will take that title next year). If anything, I think it would be Hoggard or Walker who starts off games sitting if Izzo wants to stagger his talented guard trio, not Akins.

F: Malik Hall

2022-23 stats: 8.9 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 1.2 Ast

Analysis: And now we get to the more divisive part of this rotation. While Malik Hall has been solid player for MSU in his career, he’s a bit of a ‘tweener’ and has had some struggles at times for the Spartans. There are some people out there who would like to see Izzo insert the talented freshman Xavier Booker into this spot. However, and this will be a recurring theme, Izzo seems to value experience if there is a tough decision to make with his rotation, and I would still be surprised not to see Malik Hall starting the year in this spot next season.

C: Mady Sissoko

2022-23 stats: 5.1 Pts, 6.1 Reb, 0.5 Ast

Analysis: This is arguably the most debatable spot in the lineup, with names like Jaxon Kohler, Carson Cooper, and even freshman phenom Xavier Booker all in the mix here, but Izzo seems to value experience in his big men, and he’s spent a lot of time developing Mady and expect to see Sissoko at least start the season in this spot.

In the Rotation:

G: Jeremy Fears

Stats: NA

Analysis: Don’t sleep on Jeremy Fears. Michigan State has an absolute dawg coming in next year. Tom Izzo recently compared him to Mateen Cleaves and Magic Johnson for his leadership abilities and toughness. Don’t be surprised if he’s a fixture this year, even as a freshman in a veteran group.

G: Tre Holloman

Stats: 1.3 Pts, 0.8 Reb, 0.9 Ast

Analysis: This is a tough one. Tre Holloman showed that he can hang on defense last year, but his offense made him a complete non-threat to opposing defenses. I think Izzo will use him for his defense in certain games, but I am expecting Fears to take a big chunk of his minutes. To be honest, I thought Holloman might be a transfer threat, but he could be a much bigger contributor down the road if he can improve his offense.

F: Coen Carr

Stats: NA

Analysis: Put simply, Coen Carr is a beast. It’s been a breath of fresh air to have Jaden Akins on the team these last few years to provide the Spartans some big-time athleticism, and now they will get even more of that from Carr, who might be the best high school dunker since Zion Williamson.Carr is also the pure small forward this roster has been missing for years now, and might earn a good share of minutes just to bring better balance to the rotation.

F: Xavier Booker

Stats: NA

Analysis: I would think that, if he can improve his conditioning, Xavier Booker will be starting for Michigan State, somewhere. Booker is one of Izzo’s biggest recruits ever, someone with real NBA superstar potential, but he is raw, and has had struggles in high school, and also needs to build muscle before he can play the center position, which is probably his best fit. I think Izzo will ease him into the rotation and see how things go before throwing him to the wolves as a starter.

F: Jaxon Kohler

Stats: 3.0 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 0.3 Ast

Analysis: Jaxon Kohler is such a Tom Izzo it’s not even funny. A solid rebounder and great, natural scorer around the basket, Kohler’s only downside is that he came to MSU about 20 years too late. You don’t see many power forwards these days who can’t shoot threes, but Kohler is just a little undersized and not quite athletic enough to be a pure center either. He provides the most offense of any of the three players who played center last year, but probably the worst defense. However, he can provide a nice punch off the bench for MSU.

C: Carson Cooper

Stats: 1.6 Pts, 0.9 Reb, 0.1 Ast

Analysis: What a revelation Carson Cooper was last year for Michigan State. A completely overlooked center out of IMG Academy, Cooper was able to really help out an undersized MSU team last year with some strong minutes. He has a major claim for the starting center spot and might take it unless Izzo favors Sissoko’s experience there.

Reserves:

F: Gehrig Normand

Stats: NA

Analysis: Of this group, I think Normand is the only one likely to see non ‘garbage time’ minutes. However, I’m not expecting to see too much of Normand… yet. With Tyson Walker, Jaden Akins, and A.J. Hoggard all coming back, and no major transfers from players like Tre Holloman, I think Normand will have to wait a year before he takes his place as a prominent member of the rotation. But this is no benchwarmer, Norman is a great recruit and someone I expect to compete for a starting role down the road.

G: Davis Smith

Stats: 0.2 Pts, 0.2 Reb, 0.0 Ast

Analysis: The son of Steve Smith, Davis a beloved member of the roster but someone who wouldn’t be expected to play outside of blowouts.

G: Nick Sanders

Stats: 0.0 Pts, 0.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast

Analysis: Another son of a famous athlete (Barry), Nick Sanders also won’t be expected to play except for the closing moments of big wins or losses.

G: Steven Izzo

Stats: 0.0 Pts, 0.3 Reb, 0.0 Ast

Analysis: Last, but certainly not least, we have Steven Izzo. Steven is MSU’s resident hype man and his time with the program will always be a treasured time for MSU fans.