Michigan State Spartans News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Mar 28, 2025; Atlanta, GA, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo in the first half of a South Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament against the Mississippi Rebels at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Brett Davis-Imagn Images

What MSU's Tom Izzo Likes About the 2025-26 Roster

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Jacob Cotsonika | Last updated Sep 27, 2025 11:00 AM ET

Depth was a big reason why Michigan State reached the Elite Eight, won the Big Ten regular season title by three games with a 17-3 record, and finished No. 7 in the final AP Poll last winter and spring. When it became time to win the game late in a close game, MSU naturally had an edge because its players simply hadn't played as many minutes as the other team.

Of the 10 players that were a part of head coach Tom Izzo's rotation, the Spartans lost six of them over the offseason. Jase Richardson became a first-round NBA draft pick; Jaden Akins, Szymon Zapala, and Frankie Fidler all exhausted their eligibility; and into the transfer portal went Tre Holloman (North Carolina State) and Xavier Booker (UCLA).

Regardless, Izzo --- who is about to put his 31st team out there as a head coach --- thinks that depth could be one of the strengths of the 2025-26 version of Michigan State men's basketball.

Returners

"Our four mainstays, the four guys that are back, that have all started in (Carson Cooper), in Jaxon (Kohler), in Coen (Carr), in Jeremy (Fears Jr.), I think have all made significant improvement," Izzo said on Monday. "What does significant improvement mean? I don't know. But I think every one of them is shooting it better."

Izzo also announced that the four returners to the rotation will be the team's captains this season.

F Jaxon Kohler (Sr.)

Kohler averaged 7.8 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game last year, and also showed some strides as a three-point shooter.

"Jaxon, I think, is in the best shape, which really helps him," Izzo said.

F Coen Carr (Jr.)

One of the most electrifying players in all of college basketball, Coen Carr is readying for a step forward in his role for his junior year. As a bench guy, he averaged 8.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks per game last year.

"Coen looks better than he looked before, and he's shooting it better," Izzo said.

G Jeremy Fears. Jr. (R-So.)

It's always big to get your starting point guard and returning distributor. Last year, Jeremy Fears Jr. started 36 games and averaged 7.2 points, 5.4 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.

There are four captains on this team, but Fears Jr. might be the captain of the captains.

C Carson Cooper (Sr.)

Last but not least is center Carson Cooper. He averaged 5.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per game last year and could be relied on for some nice defense.

"Coop can move his feet so well," Izzo said. "He's really improved a lot. And I'm really kind of excited to see how it is when practice gets going and you can scrimmage and you can do things on a little regular basis."

New Guys

Freshman Adds: F Cam Ward, F Jordan Scott.

Transfer Portal: F Kaleb Glenn (Florida Atlantic), G Trey Fort (Samford), G Denham Wojcik (Harvard), G Divine Ugochukwu (Miami).

Izzo's Overall Outlook

"We've got 11 or 12 guys that we can play," Izzo said. "We played 11, 10 last year. I don't know if it will be the same minutes, because last year they were all 22 to 18, 24 to 16. I think it could be more 28s and down, but I do think we'll play people."

One other player who returns from last year and will likely move into a serious spot in the rotation for the first time is Kur Teng. He appeared in 19 games during his freshman year, and will likely be relied on a fair bit for his shooting. MSU ranked 317th nationally in three-point shooting percentage (31.1%) last year.