Looking Ahead To Next Season For Michigan State Basketball

The Michigan State Spartan basketball team and Tom Izzo got an early ranking of No. 9 for next season and in this podcast, we look ahead to next year.

East Lansing, MI—Michigan State Spartan basketball continues to pick up more accolades for the past season while garnering praise for the coming one. Star point guard Cassius Winston was already named an AP All-American for the second straight year, as reported earlier. Still, today he was named All-American by the USBWA for the second time as well.

But the Spartans also picked up some more good news, at least from off of the court. They entered last season as the No. 1 ranked team in and the land, and with a season shortened due to the COVID-19 virus, they ended at No. 9 and not post-season opportunity to return to the Final Four.

Earlier today, the ESPN Way-Too-Early college basketball list of the top teams for next season came out. They have the Spartans opening up at No. 9. Here is what they said about Tom Izzo's men in green:

Cassius Winston and the Spartans seemed poised for a March run, but that was cut short and now Winston is gone after four tremendous seasons in East Lansing. Finding a new point guard is going to be issue No. 1 for Tom Izzo. Rocket Watts made plays late in the season as a scorer and defender and ESPN 100 guard A.J. Hoggard enters the fold, but both are better as scorers. That's only one of the questions facing Michigan State. Xavier Tillman and Aaron Henry could both choose to go through the NBA draft process, with Tillman the more likely of the two to leave. And what about Josh Langford? Will he return? There are a lot of pieces on the roster if everyone returns, as Izzo adds Marquette transfer Joey Hauser (9.7 PPG) and ESPN 100 big Mady Sissoko to a group that includes Watts, Malik Hall, and Gabe Brown. 

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