Michigan State basketball: Tre Holloman is major key to title pursuit

Tre Holloman has been a key to the Michigan State basketball puzzle so far this season and he remains important.

Tre Holloman. A name many thought would no longer be associated with Michigan State basketball after the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.

And there was some merit to that. As a freshman, he only averaged eight minutes per game, 1.3 points per game, and less than 1.0 per game in every other statistical category.

It wasn’t that he played badly in his minutes, the Spartans were just very deep at the guard position and were going to be just as deep the next year. So how could Holloman possibly carve out a role? Why wouldn’t he just transfer somewhere else and get more minutes?

Despite most thinking Holloman would transfer, I had a feeling he would play a big role in Michigan State’s next season.

In his limited minutes, Holloman showed flashes of excellence. His court vision was very evident when he played. And he displayed a nice mid-range jumper. He struggled from three, missing most pretty badly. But to me, it looked like more of a confidence issue than anything else.

Flash forward to today and Holloman, in fact, did not transfer. Instead, he’s become that very important piece to the Spartans team that I expected him to be.

So far on the year Holloman is averaging nearly 20 minutes per game, 5.6 points per game, 3.2 assists per game, and shooting 40 percent from deep.

He looks like a much more confident player than he did a year ago and I believe he’s our best passer since Cassius Winston.

Holloman may not start for Michigan State but he’s the very important sixth man coming in for either Tyson Walker or AJ Hoggard. And Holloman will continue to be a big piece for this Spartans team in their pursuit of a championship.