A lot of buzz centered around senior guard Cassius Winston’s decision on whether to stay at Michigan State or test the waters of the NBA Draft. Winston ultimately decided to return, but Tillman’s play elevated him into that conversation as well. Only entering his third season, Tillman didn’t feel the time was right to look that deeply into it.

“To be honest, I didn’t really feel like my name was out there enough to test the waters,” Tillman said. “Obviously we didn’t finish the job in the Final Four, but I felt like individually, I wasn’t at that level yet where it was OK for me to test the waters. So I was like, ‘OK well, I’m not going to force it.’”

Tillman got married to his longtime fiancee, Tamia Todd, this past May. The two went on their honeymoon shortly after, and ran into former Michigan State point guard and now graduate manager Tum Tum Nairn in the Bahamas, an unexpected surprise. Nairn gave the newlyweds a tour of his hometown and took them out to eat. Once the trip was over, it was back to work for Tillman.

“The summer was a grind after the honeymoon, (with) getting my weight back down from eating good,” Tillman said. “But then, working on my individual post game and different moves that I could do. Just being more versatile, being able to stretch the floor out, working on a lot of pick and pop shooting. Working on a lot of ball handling stuff as well.” 

Former Michigan State big man Nick Ward had been the go-to guy in the post for the past couple of seasons, and Tillman wants to take aspects of his game and combine it with his own.

“To be more of a post-scorer, that was a big goal of mine,” Tillman said. “That was the one thing that I couldn’t do that (Ward) was so good at. So the whole summer I was like ‘OK, if I could do what (Ward) was good at, plus what I’m good at, then we’re going to be a really good team. So teams like Texas Tech won’t be able to just guard the ball screen.’ That was my goal, just to work on my post moves, my footwork, my reads, my patience and my strength in the post.” 

As far as balancing married life and being a college athlete, Tillman has gone all-in and says he takes both roles  seriously, stressing how much he has grown over the past couple of years. A father to a two-year-old daughter already, Tillman and Todd are expecting another child in late February.

“If I’m going to be a dad, I’ve got to accept this role,” Tillman said. “I can’t just want to be a college student and be out all night, and be a dad too. It just doesn’t work both ways. I’ve fully accepted the role of being a father and, with that, the regular college life wasn’t my life and I adapted to it real easily.” 

With his second child due in the heart of the season, it could put Tillman’s status for a game or two up in the air. He has already talked to Head Coach Tom Izzo about the situation, and Tillman hopes the baby will come sometime between Feb. 21-28, where the only game the Spartans have is a home matchup against Iowa.

For now, Tillman will focus on the upcoming season, with tough opponents such as Duke and Kentucky looming early. Despite all the preseason attention he is getting from his stellar play last year, Tillman said he is trying his best to block out the noise and keep things simple, starting with deleting his Twitter account.

“For me personally, I try to do the same thing that got me here,” Tillman said. “I’m working as hard as I can, being as vocal as I can and controlling all my controllable things. I’m not trying to do anything out of the ordinary, but (still) trying to add little bits and pieces to my game.” 

Tillman is in line for a breakout season, and the reigning Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year will be a force to be reckoned with for the Spartans following an eventful offseason.