Tom Izzo and Michigan State basketball have yet to be linked to a single transfer center and that’s a major concern.
We are a few weeks into the offseason and Michigan State basketball has been targeting a few transfer wings.
When interviewed a few times this offseason, Tom Izzo said that his top priority in the transfer portal would be adding a wing with size who can also shoot. He’s been trying to do that by reaching out to J’Vonne Hadley, Frankie Fidler, and Keyshawn Hall. Izzo is looking to add a player who can play the three and who can defend and shoot at a high level.
There’s nothing wrong with this portal strategy because, yes, the Spartans need a wing with size who can shoot. The only problem is that Izzo is only focusing on this position and completely neglecting the center spot.
Just last week, Mady Sissoko entered the transfer portal, leaving the Spartans with Jaxon Kohler, Carson Cooper, and incoming freshman Jesse McCulloch as the only centers on the roster. That may not seem horrible because there’s still hope that Kohler can be the ‘Baby Jokic’ type player that we expected coming out of high school and before he suffered a foot injury before this season. But completely neglecting the biggest need on the roster heading into a critical offseason is concerning.
We just witnessed one of the least productive seasons from the center position in the Izzo era and it lost a player who started half the season. If Izzo things that’s magically going to improve with no additions, he may be in for a rude awakening.
And I know what some of the comments will be saying about this criticism of Izzo not targeting portal centers: “I think a Hall of Fame head coach knows a little more than you do.” And that comment is right. Izzo has forgotten more than any of us will ever know about basketball, but anyone with eyes has seen the center position cost Michigan State games over the past couple of years. We’ve also seen how good Michigan State basketball is when it does have a true Big Ten-caliber starting center (Xavier Tillman, Adreian Payne, Nick Ward, Matt Costello). The program needs a big who can be relied upon to score 10-15 points and grab 6-8 rebounds per game. It does not currently have that.
With guys like Brandon Garrison, Great Osobor, Cliff Omoruyi, and Aaron Bradshaw in the portal, it’s a shame that Michigan State hasn’t been connected to any of them despite needing a top-tier player at the position to take the team to the next level.
Let’s hope Izzo doesn’t roll into 2024-25 with an even worse center rotation than he had this past season.
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