Michigan State Basketball: Why Frankie Fidler is the most important team transfer for 2024-25

During Tom Izzo’s nearly thirty-year run at Michigan State there have been countless memorable moments and successful seasons, though last year fell a bit short of expectations. The Spartans entered the year among the Top 5 teams in the nation but floundered, barely making the NCAA Tournament before getting knocked out in the second round. What could possibly lie in store this season?

The immediate concern is that much of the talent from last season isn’t in East Lansing anymore. Both Tyson Walker and Malik Hill have graduated and left while A. J. Hoggard and Mady Sissoko both transferred out of the program. Jaden Akins is the only returning double-digit scorer and will certainly be leaned on heavily this upcoming season.

Further down the depth chart, there weren’t a ton of losses for the Spartans, who get underclassmen like Xavier Booker, Coen Carr, and Tre Holloman back again. Izzo and company have also grabbed a few names from the Transfer Portal, including Longwood center Szymon Zapala. The other transfer they landed was a bit more of a significant addition.

That piece of course is Frankie Fidler, who put up fantastic numbers with Omaha this past season. A major scorer and dominant power forward during his three seasons with the Mavericks, he put up 20.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while nailing 35% of his 3-pointers and 85% from the free throw line. Fidler developed into one of the league’s best scorers, notching First Team All-Summit League honors as a junior.

First and foremost, the Spartans are not expecting 20 points a game from Fidler. Basketball is a lot harder in the Big Ten than against some of those weak defenses in the Summit League. Michigan State lost a lot of talent from this frontcourt and Fidler immediately assumes one of those spots, adding strength and a scoring touch to the back end.

Even if his previous play came at Omaha, Fidler’s experience is also valuable to the Spartans. They’ll be depending a lot on younger players to assume bigger roles, but the ability to plug in a talent like Fidler at forward makes Izzo’s job a little easier next season. There’s a lot of potential for growth in this rotation, and it’ll be interesting to see how Fidler plays with other frontcourt pieces like Booxer and Carson Cooper.

Many of those faces from last season’s disappointment are gone, though there will certainly be expectations lobbied on this year’s squad. While many of the questions will be on that younger talent, it’ll be interesting to see how Fidler fits into a Big Ten system after dominating in the Summit League. Can this rebuilt Spartans team make legitimate noise in the new-look Big Ten and even on the national stage?