“We’ve got some guys who need to figure out who they are and what they are,” he said. “A good coach should be able to define roles, and we’ve had so many injuries. With Valentine, I don’t know what he thinks his role is. I know what I think it is, but I haven’t done a good job defining it.”

Valentine nearly had a double-double Saturday afternoon against Minnesota, scoring nine points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the 87-75 overtime win.

Izzo has been publicly upset with the way Valentine played in the first three games of the Big Ten season, but he said the guard came to play in the second half against the Gophers.

Valentine scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds in the second half and overtime.

“Guys struggle, and it’s because of all this freshman crap,” Izzo said. “Everybody tries to be a superstar. I’m a big (New England Patriots head coach) Bill Belichick fan. He’s got three words: do your job. Don’t try to be somebody else. I think sometimes (Denzel) tries to be something he’s not.”

The Lansing native is one of the hardest workers on the team, and if Izzo doesn’t define a role, his dad, former Lansing Sexton High head coach Carlton Valentine, will.

Valentine said his dad isn’t trying to hurt him, he’s trying to help him, and he needs to come out every game with a different mindset than he did Saturday.

“(I’m) trying to do too much at times,” Valentine said. “Figuring out when to go and when to not go. It’s difficult at times because our team is so good — we have so many weapons. (Being aggressive) gets me in trouble sometimes, but it’s good for me sometimes. I’m trying to balance it in the right way right now.”

While Valentine is doing his best to take what he sees in practice into game situations, Costello is just trying to get back on the floor consistently.

The forward is still recovering from a bout with mononucleosis that kept him out of the last four games before the Big Ten season started.

Now that he’s coming back, he’s already trying to add another facet to his game.

Izzo shared a story in which Costello pulled him aside after practice to ask if he could try and work on his three-point shot. With senior forward Aderian Payne skilled from beyond the arc, the Spartans will be without a big man who can stroke the long ball next year.

Izzo was quick to shut the door on Costello — at least this season.

“I went back to saying no, no, no, but I said ‘Let’s not worry about that next year, and worry about what you can do to help this team win,’” Izzo said. “(Costello) is the best kid in the world, the smartest kid on my team. That’s kind of the mentality of kids these days. They see so much crap out there.”

Costello said for the team to play consistently, they need to focus on doing the same thing in practice and preparation for games when they’re doing well as when they’re feeling down.

“It’s taken a lot of time,” Costello said. “Going back to people being hurt, people being sick and not having the whole team here all the time. Once we get the whole team back, we’ll start meshing and start doing OK.”

Costello scored seven points and had eight rebounds, more than in his last three games since returning to the court after mononucleosis.

To Izzo, there’s too much pressure on young players these days, but he knows the potential to shine is there when he and the players figure out who they really are.

“Everybody’s trying to be something they’re not ready to be,” Izzo said. “I love my team, I really do. If everybody is who they are, we get everybody back, we’re going to be good. We’re going to be real good.”