Michigan State Basketball: 5 keys for a successful 2018-19 campaign

Xavier Tillman emerges as a high-quality option

Ranked at No. 112 in the 2017 recruiting class, Xavier Tillman was a highly-touted big man out of high school with expectations of being a solid player for Michigan State. Yet, with a stacked rotation this past season, it was hard for Tillman to carve out a significant role during his first year on campus. However, this only means that his potential to be a star was put on hold for a year.

Now entering his sophomore campaign, Tillman should see plenty of minutes either as a starter or key reserve in the frontcourt. Even though it seems likely that returning junior Nick Ward will be a starter this season, Tillman could easily make a push for that role considering his all-around game might balance out the lineup better than Ward’s excellent scoring.

During this past season, Tillman played a minor bench role for the team, averaging just under 10 minutes per game. In these limited minutes, the 6-foot-8 big man recorded 2.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. While obviously this was a small sample size to draw from, these statistics increase to respectable numbers of 13.0 points and 12.1 rebounds on a per-40-minutes basis.

In 2018-19, Tillman will hopefully emerge as a strong interior presence who can be an elite rebounder, sound defender, and quality finisher around the basket. If he is able to provide 15-20 high-quality minutes per game, then the Spartans should be in great shape.