MSU Seeking to Seize Homegrown Sweet 16 Opportunity vs. UConn
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WASHINGTON, D.C. --- Michigan State is likely to be the only Sweet Sixteen team this year that will start five players who have only played for MSU before.
"A couple of years ago, I would have worried about getting myself in trouble, and I would have answered it differently," Tom Izzo said Thursday when asked if a Sweet Sixteen appearance is more exciting these days with more of a homegrown roster. "Hell yes, it makes it exciting. Hell yes."
Michigan State, which faces UConn on Friday (9:45 p.m. ET, CBS) took four transfers this past offseason, but the Spartans are currently without two of them (Kaleb Glenn, Divine Ugochukwu) due to injury. The other two transfers, Trey Fort and Denham Wojcik, have played 41 combined minutes out of 160 possible through two NCAA Tournament games.
Even in Year 31, Izzo has found the right blend between the way he's been used to doing things and the modern game. That four-year stretch from 2021-24, where MSU received no better than a 7-seed in March Madness, feels like it's been left behind.
Team Chemistry
It especially pops out during earlier games in the season when everybody is trying to figure themselves out, but there usually aren't many teams more connected than MSU. Four of the Spartans' five starters (freshman Jordan Scott being the odd man out) are in at least their third season with the program. The expectations of Izzo's program have long been ingrained, but they simply have some more innate knowledge of each other that transfer-filled squads may not get.
"I know with me, that's one of the things I wanted to do when I got to college is not leave a school, be there for four years," Coen Carr said. "I feel like [Izzo] was the best person for that, the best coach for that. I think that means a lot more when you've been with somebody for three years. I think at least when us four are on the court, it definitely feels a lot more comfortable since we've been around each other for a long time."
Jeremy Fears Jr., who probably benefits the most from this type of knowledge as the team's point guard and the nation's leader in assists per game (9.4), credits it a lot to stuff that happens away from basketball.
"We've been together since the summer, every summer since we got here..." Fears said. "Just being able to build that bond and time and hours, whether it's going out to eat, going to the arcade, going to play, open gym. We just spend time laughing, joking. When you know you've got guys coming back and playing with you next year, you feel a lot more confident. It just makes you want to win that much more so we all can be successful."
Taking the Next Step
Sweet Sixteens are still a real accomplishment, but you don't get a banner in the Breslin Center for getting this far. Immortality for this team only is achieved by "winning the weekend" a second time and reaching this year's Final Four in Indianapolis.
That's the next trophy Michigan State's veterans are going for. Fears and Carr have more eligibility after this season, but four-year seniors Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper know that this is the last shot.
"We just want to make it as far as we can. Playing with all these guys is something that's really special in my life, honestly," Kohler said. "Practices and games, the walk-throughs, all that stuff, man, knowing it's not going to be there forever in your future, it's sad. [I'm] every day to the most. Spending the most time with my guys is the thing I'm trying to get the most out of."
Even when these guys' careers end, something Izzo is glad about is that they have a place to go back to. Alumni frequently are at games, practices, and other functions with the team. That's the thing that concerns Izzo the most about the portal.
"All these kids moving around, someday they're going to have to come back to some place, and they ain't going to come back to it," Izzo said. "Everybody talks about how good it is for the kids, and I just think in the end, the kids are the ones that lose. I'm not going to lose. Big deal, you know. I have a good year, a bad year. I can leave tomorrow...
"I'm into developing players as people and as players. And I really do enjoy that part of it. If that was the only part of my job, I'd stay in it until I died."
A 2025 graduate from Michigan State University, Cotsonika brings a wealth of experience covering the Spartans from Rivals and On3 to his role as Michigan State Spartans Beat Writer on SI. At Michigan State, he was also a member of the world-renowned Spartan marching band for two seasons.
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