Big Ten Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2021-22 season

Michigan State basketball had one of their worst seasons in Big Ten basketball play under head coach Tom Izzo since, well ever. Coach Izzo has never finished below .500 in conference play in his tenure on the Spartans’ sidelines. He’ll look to turn things around after finishing 9-11 in conference play with the arrival of Tyson Walker (Northeastern) and the return of seven experienced players set to grow into bigger roles in 2021-22.

The departures of Rocket Watts (Mississippi State) and Foster Loyer (Davidson) will make way for Walker to take over after a dominant showing in the CAA with Northeastern. He put up 18.8 ppg, 4.8 apg, 2.9 RPG, and 2.4 spg and took home the CAA Defensive Player of the Award and first-team All-CAA and All-CAA Defense honors in 2020-21. He turned in a defensive rating of 94.0, something that should prove useful to Michigan State basketball in 2021-22.

The 6-foot guard has solid vision to go along with a solid shooting stroke on the perimeter (35.4 percent from 3-point range last season) and a knack for playing gritty defense. He’ll look to set the tone and make defense a staple again in the backcourt alongside A.J. Hoggard.

Marcus Bingham Jr. is a 6-foot-11 big man set to make a bigger impact in the frontcourt. He averaged 3.5 ppg, 3.2 RPG, and 1.4 bpg across 11.5 minutes per contest in 28 appearances (5 starts) in 2020-21. The lengthy big man is set to grow into a bigger role with Joey Hauser roaming the perimeter at the stretch-forward spot.

Maddy Sissoko is another name to keep an eye on in the frontcourt as well. Michigan State basketball had an identity crisis in 2020-21 but with a bigger focus on defense and offensive flow, they’ll look to return to their winning ways in 2021-22.