Michigan State Basketball: Spartans get Marquette transfer Joey Hauser

Michigan State Basketball was able to land a potential Big Ten star in transfer Joey Hauser. What can Spartan fans expect when he’s eligible to play?

When junior forward Nick Ward announced his intentions for the NBA draft with no intentions of returning regardless of draft stock, Tom Izzo and Michigan State Basketball went to the transfer portal for a replacement for the 13th scholarship. They were able to land Marquette transfer Joey Hauser.

The 6-foot-9, stretch four forward was named to the All-Big East Freshman team after red-shirting due to an injury this past season. Hauser started the vast majority of games last season shot an impressive 42.5% from beyond the three-point arc while averaging 9.7 points and 5.3 rebounds as a freshman for Marquette. He announced his decision of transferring to Michigan State via Twitter.

https://twitter.com/jjhouz24/status/1133463644258357249?s=19

Michigan State confirmed his transfer to the Spartans via their Twitter account.

Unless Hauser gets a waiver for immediate eligibility to play this season which is highly unlikely, he will sit out the 2019-2020 season with two years of eligibility left after this upcoming season. His biggest short-term impact will be as a highly skilled scout player for this season. His long-term impact is why his transfer makes sense.

After the 2019-2020 season, Joshua Langford (unless his gets a 5th year of eligibility), Cassius Winston, Kyle Ahrens, and both Xavier Tillman and Aaron Henry potentially leaving early for the pros will give Hauser an opportunity to start and play significant minutes for the 2020-2021 season. After a potential national championship run this upcoming season, the addition of Hauser will be able ease the transition for the following year.

Hauser transferring to Michigan State shows Izzo is thinking long-term. The Spartans could have easily took a less talented immediately eligible big man to help with this seasons embedding national championship but Izzo choose to target a more talented sit out a year player instead.

Michigan State’s future looks brighter with the addition of Hauser. The idea that Ward would come back or that the Spartans would get the best and most sought after immediately eligible big man was very unlikely. This move benefits both the Spartans and Hauser and Michigan State once again shows why it is the most consistent program in all of college basketball.