Grading the Guards of MSU Basketball at Season's End
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Another season is at its end.
Michigan State finished the 2025-26 campaign at 27-8, bowing out in the Sweet 16 to UConn. The Spartans played better than their preseason AP ranking of No. 22, but the frustration of remaining a tier or two below the national title contenders post-COVID has persisted.
MSU's guards will be a huge part of getting the Spartans back into "Tier 1" of college hoops. There are multiple pieces in the backcourt who continue to have bright futures with the program, assuming they decide to stick around.
Let's grade each of them. To set some criteria, the grade is based on the player's general preseason consensus. Overall production is also a factor, but somebody like Denham Wojcik isn't necessarily going to be graded on the same curve as Jeremy Fears Jr., so keep that in mind.
Jeremy Fears Jr.: A+
Fears gets a pretty easy "A" here. He was expected to take a step forward this year, both as a player and in his role, but he exceeded what everyone thought of him. Fears averaged a team-high 15.2 points per game and led the nation at 9.4 assists per game. That's an increase from 7.2 points and 5.4 assists per game last year.
In total, Fears dished out 328 assists during his redshirt sophomore season. Not only did that shatter the previous MSU program record (2018-19 Cassius Winston with 291), but it's tied for the ninth-most in Division I since the 1973-74 season, and it's also the second-most in Big Ten history, only behind Purdue's Braden Smith's 345 this season.
Jordan Scott: A-
Also playing above the preseason bar is freshman Jordan Scott. The former four-star recruit was certainly projected to have a role in this year's rotation, but becoming a starter was a bit of an unexpected development.
Scott's averages of 5.8 points and 3.1 rebounds are relatively unassuming, but he was just a player who made things happen. Plus/minus isn't a perfect stat, but it felt like Scott had one of the best plus/minuses nearly every time MSU took the court.
Divine Ugochukwu: B
The role Divine Ugochukwu had on this team after transferring in from Miami (FL) only became apparent once he suffered a season-ending foot injury. Ugochukwu did a fine job as the backup point guard this season, and he also had some decent moments as a starting two-guard.
He also developed a three-point shot that became a nice weapon. After only making six threes at Miami last season at a17.6% clip from deep, Ugochukwu made 19 this season with a 44.2% mark.
Kur Teng: B-
It felt like Michigan State could have gotten more out of Kur Teng at times. He can be a very nice shooter at times, finishing the season at 38.1% from three, but there are games where it doesn't feel like Teng is too much of a factor on the court when the shot isn't falling.
The big thing Teng needs to improve on is his defense. That area is why Teng didn't play more: his defensive rating of 108.2 was the highest on the team (higher is worse).
Trey Fort: B-
Michigan State was definitely hoping for more from Trey Fort this season. He played better towards the end in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments, helping improve his grade here, but the hope wasn't for Fort to be a spark guy coming off the bench.
MSU picked him up from the portal out of Samford to be the team's starting two-guard. Fort never really played at a high enough level for long enough periods of time with the Spartans to earn that spot.
Denham Wojcik: C+
Two things can be true here: Michigan State probably should have had a stronger contingency plan at backup point guard if Ugochukwu got hurt, but I also think Wojcik did a decent job, given the circumstances. If you had an issue with Wojcik being rostered or being a part of the regular playing group, the gripe isn't with Wojcik himself; it's with the coaching staff.
Honestly, I still think Wojcik got a bit of a bad rap within the fanbase. The offense ran relatively fine whenever he played. Yeah, it wasn't ideal, but it was always going to be tough for Wojcik to look good when he's only on whenever Fears, the guy who elevates and sort of carries the whole team, is off the court.
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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