Freshman point guard Brandon Cotton has not made an official decision about his status on the MSU men's basketball team, but head coach Tom Izzo said Cotton is probably not on the team right now.

"It's going to be his decision now if he can come back and just go to school, or he may be transferring," Izzo said. "I don't know exactly what he's going to do. I don't plan on him being back here as a player right now."

Izzo met with Cotton on Wednesday to try and resolve the situation, but a final decision still hasn't been made.

"I feel like the kid and I and his mother made the best decision for the moment we could make," Izzo said. "I don't think he has another school he's dying to go to right now. I thought at one time that was the case. I don't think he knows what he's going to do right now.

"I can't say that he said, 'I definitely, 100 percent don't want to be here.'"

Izzo said it's possible Cotton would still attend MSU strictly as a student.

"I am not going to eliminate him from his education and all those things," he said.

During his short time at MSU, Cotton has endured a variety of problems, both basketball-related and personal. He was battling a foot injury early this season, which slowed his progress on the court. Cotton also did not travel with the team to Syracuse for its last game, instead returning to his home in Detroit to attend the funeral of his uncle.

Izzo said that while he's given thought to what he could've done differently for Cotton, he doesn't regret anything.

"I can't play a kid who was hurt. I can't coach a kid who was hurt," he said. "It was just a tough, tough, tough situation."

Cotton, who attended Detroit DePorres and was a 2003 McDonald's All-American, has played in only three games this year. He is averaging 1.0 point and 5.3 minutes per game.

Freshman guard Shannon Brown, who also was a 2003 McDonald's All-American, said he and Cotton were in the same situation coming in to MSU. Although the two began the season in a similar fashion, Brown has emerged as key player in the team's rotation while Cotton struggled to recover from his injury.

"I guess he was just a little impatient," Brown said of Cotton. "That's what every freshman is - impatient. You want it a lot."

Despite Cotton's uncertain future at MSU, the team is focusing on Saturday's Big Ten opener at Wisconsin.

"It's time for me to move on to Wisconsin, and it's definitely time for our players," Izzo said.