NCAA Basketball: Top 25 most impactful freshmen for 2019-20 season

11) Malik Hall, PF/SF, Michigan State

Barring something unforeseen, Michigan State will go into next season as the No. 1 team in the country. However, they have a major hole when it comes to their frontcourt depth – a problem that was made worse by Nick Ward’s decision to leave school early

Xavier Tillman and Kyle Ahrens are the only returning big men from the rotation and the recruiting class is short on solutions as well.

Except for Hall, who will likely get thrown into that fray as well. The 6-7 forward can play both inside and out, giving him the kind of versatility that will be valuable as the Spartans figures to go small a lot next year. With consistent three-point range, good ball-handling ability that allows him to attack the rim, solid defense and quality rebounding, Hall can do whatever Michigan State needs from him.

Because of that, I expect Izzo to be able to rely on him right away as the kind of glue guy that makes teams successful. He’ll end up playing a lot of small-ball four, and he has the strength to defend opposing players at the position while also posing a matchup problem on the other end.