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Predicting Michigan State Basketball Starting Five Lineup

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Luke Joseph | Last updated Oct 20, 2025 2:00 PM ET

In his 31st year as the Michigan State Basketball head coach, Tom Izzo has had an unexpected year of players transferring out to different programs, as well as bringing transfers in.

In this new era of NIL and the transfer portal, coach Izzo has been vocal about how he does not like to use the transfer portal. The past two offseasons, it seems that Izzo has started to use it more to rebuild his team.

Last offseason, Izzo brought in Senior forward Frankie Fidler, and Center Szymon Zapala. This season, Izzo brought in double the amount of transfer players as he was able to bring Junior forward Kaleb Glenn from FAU, Senior Trey Fort from Samford, sophomore Divine Ugochukwu from Miami, and Denham Wojcik from Harvard.

With the season getting ready to start as Michigan State will play against Bowling Green in an Exhibition match on October 23rd, let's look at what the starting lineup could look like for this upcoming season.

Point Guard - Jeremy Fears Jr

Jeremy Fears has been the vocal leader for Michigan State since he stepped foot onto campus as a true freshman.

He wears his heart on his sleeve and is the ultimate competitor as he will be a pest on defense and will always take a challenge head on and not run away. Fears is a great playmaker, as he is always looking to find the open man who is open for a three or for a lob as someone cuts to the basket.

Fears just needs to improve as a scorer and shooter as he averaged 39.7% from the field, as well as 34.2%. While he is not a great scorer, he did get to the line a bit as he averaged 3.9 free throws a game and made 2.9.

Shooting Guard - Trey Fort

Michigan State has been a poor shooting team the past couple seasons. Since Matt McQuaid left in 2019, the Spartans haven't had a true pure three-point specialist, Trey Fort can be the three-point specialist the Spartans have needed for quite a while. Shooting 37% from three should give the Spartans respectability from the opponent to cover the outside.

Small Forward - Coen Carr

We’ve all seen the high flying dunks and the out of this world athleticism from Coen Carr. Whether he sprints down the court for an ally-oop, or going for a block, he is the most athletic basketball player Tom Izzo has ever had in his coaching career.

If Coen Carr gets a respectable jumpshot, he could possibly play himself into being a first round pick in the upcoming NBA draft.

Power Forward - Jaxon Kohler

Kohler has been a great player for the SPartans offensively. His footwork down low in the post is one of the best in the country and reminds me of former Gonzaga forward Drew Timme. His defense isn't the best but he can hold his own in the post.

Center - Carson Cooper

Carson Cooper is the Yin to Jaxon Kholers yang in terms of their skill sets. Cooper is a good shot blocker and a good defender, as well as being a reliable lob threat. However he is not the best post player.

Overall this team should be a top 25 team in the country as they are ranked 22 in the AP preseason poll. While there isn't great shooting other than Trey Fort, Izzo has always seemed to find a way to win regardless of the poor shooting from his teams.

Don't forget to give us a follow on X @MSUSpartansOnSI as well.

This article first appeared on Michigan State Spartans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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