Head men's basketball coach Tom Izzo argues a call at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio on March 17, 2023. The Spartans beat the Trojans 72-62 in the first round of March Madness.
For well over two decades, Michigan State men’s basketball and head coach Tom Izzo have been synonymous with March Madness and the Final Four, but the last four seasons have been rocky by program standards.
Although Izzo’s 26-year NCAA tournament streak is still alive, the longest in college basketball, the Spartans have also tied their longest Final Four drought under Izzo and recently struggled to make the tournament.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the highest-ranked MSU team entering March Madness was a 7-seed. Two of the four years (2021, 2024) had the Spartans sweating on Selection Sunday, unsure if their name would be called.
Underwhelming seems to be the word that best fits the Spartans of the early 2020s. MSU basketball has not lived up to its reputation in recent years, which can be attributed to a number of reasons.
I found three main problems that have contributed to the current state of the program.
Lack of a go-to guy
Izzo doesn't reach eight Final Fours in 20 years without consistently having a go-to, star player with the ability to lead vocally and take over when needed.
In the last 20 years, MSU has seen this type of player in guys like Mateen Cleaves, Draymond Green, Denzel Valentine and most recently, Cassius Winston. Since Winston’s departure for the NBA in 2020, East Lansing has yet to see a player with the same kind of leadership and ability to get the job done when it matters most.
Last season, guard Tyson Walker was the MSU player closest to being a guy who could put the team on his shoulders on any given night. However, when combining the lack of success by program standards, impact on each game and accolades, I can’t place Walker on the same level as a Winston or Cleaves.
A telltale sign? MSU hasn't produced an All-Big Ten First Team player since Winston in 2020. The closest it came was with Walker, who earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors last season.
MSU has also struggled to produce NBA talent. Its most recent draft pick was wing Max Christie, an MSU one-and-done, in 2022. Even then, Christie was drafted more because of his potential than he was for his production at MSU.
For MSU to regain its respect as perennial contender, having a go-to guy is necessary. The coaching staff needs to find that guy. Every national championship team of the last decade has had one.
The question now is, who could that guy be for MSU this winter?
Modern-day recruiting and the transfer portal
For the last couple years and certainly the last 18 months, the hottest topic in college sports has been the transfer portal and rise of NIL deals that affect recruiting.
The transfer portal's brought a lot of excitement for power conference schools that don't have the kind of program pedigree MSU does. Izzo has been blunt about his general disdain of the portal and how he believes it hurts the integrity of not just college sports, but the student-athletes involved.
Until this past offseason, Izzo was unheard from in the portal. MSU was the only power conference team to not use it in 2022 and 2023. I'll get into more details, but this really hurt its past two seasons, which were marred by lack of depth and functionality at center.
This offseason, MSU acquired transfer forward Frankie Fidler from University of Omaha and center Szymon Zapala from Longwood University.
What Izzo needs to show in coming years is a sense of urgency with the portal like he did this offseason. The narrative that Izzo doesn't utilize transfers is a misconception. After missing out on key recruits in 2014, he grabbed Bryn Forbes from Cleveland State. Forbes wound up one of the best shooters in program history and helped MSU on its unexpected Final Four run in 2015. Izzo also picked up Joey Hauser and Walker from the "old-school" portal.
MSU is still one of the premiere recruiting destinations in college basketball. However, in the span of a week in September, Izzo lost out on two top-20 recruits in the 2025 class. I don’t see this as a culture or brand problem. What I see is a new generation of athletes mesmerized by NIL figures offered by lesser-known basketball schools.
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While Izzo and company can't control a lot of what goes on regarding NIL, college basketball is changing and it's not going to wait on one of the best to ever coach the sport.
Insufficient center play
With names like Jaren Jackson Jr., Xavier Tillman and Adreian Payne, it was easy for MSU basketball to keep its physical, rebound-centric identity from year to year.
However, in the past two seasons, MSU's center play has been nothing short of lackluster.
Guard play and even wing play has been solid for the Spartans. There’s consistency in spreading the ball and making plays on the perimeter, however, the frontcourt has had glaring issues with talent and depth. Last year, centers Carson Cooper, Mady Sissoko and Jaxon Kohler could all do different things, but none of them were Big Ten starting caliber. Not with the way big men have dominated the league for years.
This year, offensive deficiencies from Cooper can be remedied through bigs Kohler and sophomore Xavier Booker. With Cooper out, MSU loses arguably its best paint presence. Spartan fans know all too well what it's like to be outmatched inside game after game, like MSU was last year against Purdue, Wisconsin, Indiana and North Carolina.
