Mar 1, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Miami (Fl) Hurricanes guard Divine Ugochukwu (99) with the ball as North Carolina Tar Heels guard Elliot Cadeau (3) defends in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Ugochukwu Has Benefit Other Spartans Don't

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated Jul 19, 2025 5:58 PM ET

Michigan State is going to have to go through some of the toughest competition it will see all season before it even gets to Big Ten play next season.

The Spartans are slated to take on Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke and Arkansas, four teams that could all be in the preseason Top 25.

As far as the Big Ten matchups go, most of the starters will be familiar with what they're going up against. But in terms of the non-conference schedule, there's going to be a little less familiarity.

One Spartan in particular, though, has seen some of these non-conference before. Transfer sophomore point guard Divine Ugochukwu came over from Miami (FL), which, of course, plays in the ACC.

"Playing against Duke again, UNC, we play Arkansas this year," he said. "So, playing against the top competition in the country, we're trying to prepare as much as we can for it."

Ugochukwu had a solid outing in the Hurricanes' blowout loss to Duke at home last season when he posted 6 points, two assists, three steals and a season-high 10 rebounds.

The very next game, Miami faced North Carolina, another dismantling of the Hurricanes, who won just seven games, their worst season in over 30 years. Ugochukwu recorded 3 points, three assists and a steal.

While these teams will look a little different than they were last season, any help you can get when a player knows of a team's tendencies or at least has experience going up against them is always welcome. And it may be beneficial for the young point guard as he transitions to playing in what could very well be the toughest conference in college basketball.

"It's going to be great," said junior forward Coen Carr. "I feel like we're going to play a lot of different teams that play a lot of different ways and have a lot of different lineups, so I feel like that's big when you get into Big Ten play and also March Madness.

"So, I just feel like us having that schedule, it's going to be tough obviously, but we just got to take it one game at a time."

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