Big Ten Basketball: Key player to watch on each team for 2020-21 season

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 12: Big Ten logo on the floor before the Big Ten Men's Basketball Final against the Wisconsin Badgers and Michigan Wolverines at the Verizon Center on March 12, 2017 in Washington, DC. The Wolverines won 71-56. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

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Big Ten Basketball Foster Loyer Michigan State Spartans (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

Michigan State – JR Foster Loyer

Yes, you read that right.

Michigan State needs a lot of different guys to step up and be consistent if they want to win their fourth straight Big Ten title, but none more so than Foster Loyer

A guy a lot of fans might be fed up with at this point, Loyer hasn’t lived up to the expectations of the coaching staff. He rarely saw the court in each of his first two seasons, that mostly being due to playing behind star point guard Cassius Winston. However, in the minutes he did play for the Spartans, he didn’t make much of an impact and oftentimes looked lost and unconfident on the court.

Now, it looks like the keys to the offense could be handed to him (unless, of course, Izzo goes with Rocket Watts to start). Loyer’s best quality is his ability to shoot the basketball, but now he has to improve his court vision and facilitating abilities. There are a lot of playmakers on this Michigan State team, but they’ll need Loyer to set them up. He is a smaller guard, so he has to be able to hold his own on defense.

If Loyer can be the guy that the coaching staff envisions him to be, Michigan State should have no problem finding themselves back at the top of the Big Ten.

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