It was a long, hard offseason for Travis Walton.

Last season, the then-freshman guard was known primarily as a defensive stopper. But with the team's three leading scorers from last season gone now to the NBA, Walton spent many summer days throwing up 500 to 1,000 shots in the gym in anticipation of a bigger offensive role this season.

"There's no question I held him back some last year," said MSU head coach Tom Izzo at Media Day last week. "He has gotten better. He has worked harder on his shot. He's hoping he's going to get an opportunity to shoot the ball, no question about that. And yet, is he a shooter right now? Not yet."

Walton, who averaged 1.8 points a game as a freshman, was named one of this year's co-captains along with junior guard Drew Neitzel.

"I see myself being a leader, bringing a little toughness and doing whatever coach Izzo wants," Walton said. "That's why I came to this type of school. It's a big-time school, big-time education, and I'm ready for it."

Walton and Neitzel will be counted on to score much more than last season, when they combined for just more than 10 points a game.

"We spent a lot of extra time in there, so hopefully that'll pay off this year," Neitzel said. "Me and him are going to have to carry a lot of the scoring load on the perimeter. We're going to be playing a lot of minutes together, so we're going to have to learn how to feed off each other."

Walton and Neitzel are the only two returning players who appeared in every game last season, but they rarely were on the floor at the same time. How well they mesh will be critical to this season's success.

"We've got a good feel for each other," Walton said. "We've been spending a lot of time with each other, got to know each other a lot better personally, and I think that's going to help us out on the court."

Walton also spent part of August on the Big Ten Foreign Tour team, where he averaged a little more than six points and three assists per game.

"I have a lot of confidence from my teammates and a lot of confidence from the coaches," Walton said. "I'm excited for the upcoming season. I'm ready to come out here and show everybody that the team worked hard this summer and we worked hard in the preseason."

Now it's up to Walton to show the fruits of his summertime labor.

"He's been working on his shot very hard," Neitzel said. "His jump shot has got a lot more consistent... He can hit it — he's proven that. Now, he has to take the shots with confidence and knock them down."