Analyzing What MSU Should Do With Open Roster Spot

The offseason only has to be over if Michigan State wants it to be.

As of Wednesday, the Spartans have only 14 rostered players for the 2026-27 season. The NCAA limit is 15 players, not counting any designated student-athletes. Up until recently, college basketball programs could only take 13 scholarship players, but the new rule that started last season is a hard roster cap of 15, since teams could easily circumvent the scholarship limit with additional NIL money.

Why Michigan State Should Add 15th Player

Michigan State's Tom Izzo walks in with his staff against Louisville in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the KeyBank Center on Saturday, March 21, 2026. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

There is a chance that Tom Izzo and MSU have kept this spot open because of the pending "5-for-5" rule change, which could make outgoing seniors Carson Cooper and Jaxon Kohler eligible again.

The NCAA said on Monday that seniors from this academic year would not get that fifth year, though. That will likely be challenged in court, but the NCAA's clarification is a setback for the Spartans' hopes of a triumphant return.

Nothing would force Izzo to take a 15th player if he didn't want to, but adding one final player would feel like the wise move. It doesn't have to be a blue-chip transfer demanding millions of dollars in compensation; it can really just be another walk-on or end-of-the-bench piece, really.

Depth is something you can never have enough of, at the end of the day. Injuries happen, so adding some extra insurance on your bench feels like the right thing to do here. What kind of player Michigan State might go for is the next step of questioning.

Who, What MSU Might Look For

Michigan State's Tom Izzo yells at a referee about a call made during a game against Northwestern at the Breslin Center on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

One thing that Michigan State has going for itself is that there aren't any super obvious holes after it added 7-foot-2 Anton Bonke from the transfer portal. That wrapped up the Spartans' mission for a center.

I think the next might be someone who can play the three and/or the four. MSU has plenty of depth at point guard and shooting guard, with incoming five-star recruit Jasiah Jervis probably erasing any need for a third true point guard. That was then-Harvard transfer Denham Wojcik last season.

Stepinac’s Jasiah Jervis is the Journal News/ lohud Boys Basketball Private School Player of the Year March 26, 2026. | Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Again, this doesn't even need to be somebody who is necessarily a part of the regular playing group. You've got Jordan Scott, Coen Carr, Kaleb Glenn, Cam Ward, and incoming four-star freshman Julius Avent at small forward and/or power forward. Avent might be a candidate to redshirt, though, meaning tossing in another player should be on the table here.

We're at the point in the transfer portal, too, where most of the guys still available are probably available for a reason. Of the top 100 players on On3's portal rankings, 88 have committed to or have signed with new schools. It's easy to reason that at least one player will be fine jumping to Michigan State, even if no playing time is promised upfront.

Michigan State's Tom Izzo looks on during a game against Rutgers on Thursday, March 5, 2026, at the Breslin Center. | Starr Portice, Michigan State Spartans on SI

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