Tom Izzo hints at Jaden Akins return next season

Originally posted on Spartan Shadows
By Connor Muldowney | Last updated 4/5/24

Tom Izzo appeared on ‘The Drive with Jack’ this week and dropped some interesting hints, including a return of Jaden Akins.

Tom Izzo has been a busy man this offseason. Between checking in on Jesse McCulloch a day after the Spartans were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament to recruiting both the transfer portal and the 2025 class, Izzo has taken some time to appear on a couple of podcasts.

The first was the ever-popular Pardon My Take podcast which grabbed everyone’s attention. He said some interesting things about the portal, his history with the WAR drill, and kind of what went wrong this season.

Earlier this week, Izzo appeared on ‘The Drive with Jack’.

It sounded like he had a fire that we haven’t heard in a while, stating that he’s going to “find a way” to bring another national title to Michigan State. He also praised Jeremy Fears, saying he has “Mateen-like” qualities.

But the most interesting tidbit of information that Izzo dropped was a hint that Jaden Akins will return next season.

Izzo asked if he needs to go into the portal to replace Tyson Walker:

“Believe it or not, no. I think Jaden Akins will be able to do that.”

Take what you want from it, but that sounds like Izzo is almost sure Akins will be back next year.

More on the portal:

“I think we need… pic.twitter.com/yLTEKkAH2v

— Michigan State Content (@msucontent) April 5, 2024

Why is this so surprising? Well, Akins went through the NBA draft process last year likely with the intention of 2023-24 being his last season with Michigan State. After a disappointing year, he will likely head back to East Lansing to improve his stock.

Izzo believes that Akins can slide into that Tyson Walker role next season. That’s an interesting statement because that likely means he’ll be moving Akins back to his natural two-guard spot and the portal will be used for a wing.

He even went on to say that Michigan State needs a bigger wing that can shoot it. And he even admitted that he would have to find that in the portal. That statement makes sense given the fact that the Spartans have been connected to three wing transfers now. J’Vonne Hadley was the first (trending toward Iowa State), followed by Frankie Fidler, and now Keyshawn Hall.

The recent news regarding Michigan State basketball is encouraging and it’s showing that Izzo is sticking true to his word of getting the Spartans back to deep runs “or die trying”.

With Akins back and playing the two, the Spartans could be a problem next year (as long as they add a wing and potentially a center).

This article first appeared on Spartan Shadows and was syndicated with permission.

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