With the departure of seniors such as guard Denzel Valentine and forward Matt Costello, MSU basketball will be looking for someone to step into a leadership position and fill the shoes of the departing seniors.
While it could be soon-to-be-senior guard Eron Harris. who came on strong down the stretch for MSU and is one of MSU’s most talented returning players, the more likely option is will-be junior guard Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr., who boasted a phenomenal 4.76-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio before being limited by his injury.
Nairn’s development this offseason will be delayed however, as he was set to have a procedure done Thursday on his right foot to help him come back from the plantar fasciitis, which has been nagging him since last offseason. MSU head coach Tom Izzo said it’s not an operation, but the procedure will keep Narin out for four to six weeks.
Izzo said he doesn’t expect to have to challenge Nairn to take even more of a leadership role with next year’s team and said Nairn’s leadership ability was highlighted when Nairn was limited during the second half of the season because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
“It was Denzel that came up to me in February after (Nairn) wasn’t playing,” Izzo said. “Denzel had a few average practices for him. I said, ‘are you tired? You don’t seem to have the same life.’ He looks at me and says, ‘coach, I miss Tum.’ He said, ‘he got me going every single day’ and those of you that come to practices, that’s what he does.”
Nairn was the third captain along with Valentine and Costello and is a very vocal leader like MSU leaders before him, such as Mateen Cleaves, Draymond Green and Valentine.
Izzo said it will be a major key for Nairn to take the next step forward in his development as a player this offseason in order to be ready to lead the team. Izzo said it will be different than in past years since Nairn will not be the best player on the MSU team, like many team leaders have been before him.
“The problem that we have to solve is usually when your best player is your best leader, that’s always a little more valuable because he gets instant respect off the court and on the court,” Izzo said. “Tum isn’t our best player, he knows he’s not and I talked to him yesterday about different things he has to do and different things he could’ve done this year that maybe he didn’t do. So he is a unique human being, not a unique basketball player, but a unique human being. I think he’ll find a way to do that. Going to the movies, orchestrating those kinds of things, going out to eat — that’s no problem.”
Nairn’s biggest weakness in college so far has been his noticeable lack of a reliable jumpshot. Nairn shot just 37.9 percent from the field this season, which has allowed opposing teams to play off of him and double-team other players for MSU. While Nairn’s speed allows him to run the fast-break with ease, he will need to develop a jump-shot to go with his speed and defensive prowess to keep teams from cheating off of him.
“It’s getting the respect on the court as a player and getting the respect on the court as a player and off the court as a person, that I think he’s going to have to blend together, and we’re going to have to look to see who else can do that,” Izzo said. “Because that was a big part of this team.”
