Michigan State Basketball: Spartans 2021-22 season preview and outlook

Overview for 2020-21

The Spartans have returning talent coming back this season as well as five players who were part-time starters last season and or played valuable minutes for Michigan State last year. The Spartans also bring in three true freshmen headlined by Christie and a transfer in Walker who will begin the season as a starter and may develop into one of the top three players on this Michigan State team this season.

However, losing Henry to the NBA hurt as well as losing the leadership of Joshua Langford. Even losing Rocket Watts to the transfer portal hurts as he was the main reason the Spartans beat Michigan last season at home. Another issue is that Michigan State entered the off-season with only eleven scholarship players and choose not to use those two available scholarships on someone in the transfer portal who could have contributed this season.

The Spartans have potential but many of the players on this roster have to prove it on the court this year. Michigan State’s starting lineup has promise but they don’t have a proven scorer like Henry who played well in Big Ten conference play. The Spartans though will once again have that business-like mentality as Izzo installs into his players and is a staple of his program. The overall experience and depth, for instance, is what may have this Michigan State team exceed expectations in 2021.

Having Hall, Marble, Adkins, Hoggard, and Brooks coming off of the bench will make this season’s team have depth, and the experience from Brown, Bingham, and Hauser will help this team throughout the season. Even if the center position is not settled by Big Ten play and if Bingham is the starting at center for the majority of the season or not, Sissoko and Marble can be durable and reliable players at the center position. Also, if Brown and Hauser don’t elevate their games where they are not averaging double digits in scoring, Walker and Christie could pick up the slack on offense.

Michigan State doesn’t have an elite group of upperclassmen like in years past that could lead them to a Big Ten title and Final Four run. However, they have seniors in Brown, Bingham, and Hauser who are all expected to be starters this season, they have solid point guard play with Walker leading the way, and they have depth on frontcourt with big men ready to prove that they deserve more playing time.

The important questions are can Walker be one of the top point guards in the Big Ten? Can Brown replace the scoring that Henry produced last season? Can Hauser develop into a top 20 player in the Big Ten this season? Can Bingham remain the starter and produce double digits in points and rebounds in conference play? Can Christie play well enough to be the Big Ten freshman of the year? Time will tell and the questions will be answered by the time March comes around.

Brown, Walker, and Christie can emerge as scoring threats this season making the Michigan State transition offense considerably more efficient than last year. The Spartans’ big men are not expected to burden the amount of scoring, but they do have depth and experience and can become a formidable frontcourt by the time February rolls around. The Michigan State Spartan power forwards and center could prove many pundits and college experts wrong with their production this year.

Once again, the Spartans have a very challenging non-conference schedule that will show either the weaknesses of this Michigan State team and the likelihood they underachieve or it will show that this Spartan team can be a top team in the Big Ten this season.

This team’s ceiling is that of the 2014-15 team led by Travis Trice, Denzel Valentine, and Brandon Dawson that was upset by Texas Southern and lost at Nebraska but found a way to make a run in the NCAA tournament all the way to the Final Four. The worst-case scenario would be similar to the 2010-2011 Spartan team that finished 9-9 in conference play and lost to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

It is said that Izzo and the Spartans flourish when they are considered underdogs and when he has a team that wants to prove their doubters wrong. Usually, Michigan State enters the season ranked in the top 15 in the preseason AP Poll with them focusing on capturing another Big Ten title and with the mindset of gaining momentum to make a Final Four run in the NCAA tournament.

However, the expectations should be to finish in the top six of the Big Ten, win eight of their eleven non-conference games, and make it to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA tournament. Those are fair and reasonable goals for the Michigan State basketball program this season.