It seems imminent Brandon Cotton will transfer from MSU.
At his weekly press conference Monday, MSU head coach Tom Izzo said the freshman point guard still was confused as to what he was doing, but mentioned Cotton's name when talking about college basketball transfers in general.
"As of last night, it was still up in the air (if Cotton would start school Monday)," Izzo said. "There are some schools that have called him."
Players transferring might be new to Izzo, but it isn't for the Big Ten. Some transfers in recent Big Ten history include Minnesota's Ben Johnson, who transferred from Northwestern; Tony Stockman and J.J. Sullinger, who joined Ohio State last year after transferring from Clemson and Arkansas, respectively; and Sharif Chambliss, who transferred from Penn State to Wisconsin.
"People are just impatient in general, not just Brandon Cotton, but a lot of people," Izzo said. "Coaches realize, for the most part, there is a growth period and the players and outside people don't. Fans think the answer to everything is replacing a (struggling) kid with a freshman."
D-minus
It's no secret the Spartans have struggled defensively this season.
Izzo points to injuries as one reason, but refuses to make excuses.
"There is no question we're still searching for an identity, but we always used to have one; we've always been a team that could defend," Izzo said. "For the first time in nine years I've been here, we haven't been able to hang our hat on the staple of our program and that is disappointing to a coach."
Inside, sophomore center Paul Davis and senior center Jason Andreas have been asked to carry most of the load, but neither have shown the toughness and grit Izzo desires.
"Some of it goes to the teams we've played - some of it,"Izzo said. "But 90 percent is on the shoulders of the coaches and players."
He said to make up for the lack of big men in the post, his team needs to keep the ball outside the 3-point line.
Teams are shooting 48.8 percent from the field against the Spartans this year, up from 40.3 last season.
It's one question Izzo still is searching for an answer to.
"I thought our strength could be, should be and still will be a better job of defending on the perimeter where we have our best athletes - not let them get to those inside guys," Izzo said.
"We have to reverse the roles and that is what I'm looking for - these perimeter guys to start taking pride in doing their job."
