Michigan State Basketall: Key rotation players entering 2019-20 season
By Ryan Kay
Top Underclassman Contributors
Name: Rocket Watts
Year: Freshmen
Position: Point Guard/Shooting Guard
Projected 8th Man
Fair or not, Watts to a lesser extent is the most anticipated freshmen since Jaren Jackson Jr. He appears to look like a taller version of a hybrid of former Spartans Korie Lucious and Kalin Lucas. He is coming in as a consensus top-30 recruit with a very high upside. He will play one way or the other but the questions are how many minutes will he average per game and will he play more minutes at the 1, 2, or even 3 spot?
He is definitely talented enough to be the back up point guard but how many minutes will that get him per game? Even at the shoot guard position, assuming Langford is healthy all year and Henry continues to emerge as a star player for Michigan State, where will the minutes come from? Either way, Watts will see the floor and Spartan fans are eagerly waiting to see what he can do.
Name: Marcus Bingham
Year: Sophomore
Position: Center/Power Forward
Projected 9th Man
Bingham gets the nod over Thomas Kithier due to his size and higher ceiling. No disrespect to Kither, but Bingham is taller and more athletic and as witnessed in the Spartans Final Four game against Texas Tech, Michigan State needs Bingham to step up against the growing trend of taller and more athletic big men in division 1 basketball.
At just under 7 feet tall with the ability to shoot from the outside with a 7-4 wingspan he will have a full off-season to add muscle and work on his defense. With Nick Ward declaring for the NBA draft, Bingham has the perfect opportunity to see the largest increase of playing time than anyone on the Spartan roster. Along with Brown, you can easily see Izzo and his coaching staff putting in a ton of hours trying to get him ready for next season.