Kaleb Glenn Ready To Make His Mark on MSU Basketball

Kaleb Glenn was one of the players Spartan fans were most excited to see suit up this season. Unfortunately, Glenn suffered a serious knee injury back in June that sidelined him for the entire year, and his absence was felt throughout the season by Tom Izzo and the Michigan State program.

The silver lining is that the injury allowed Glenn to redshirt, preserving a full year of eligibility while giving him the opportunity to learn Izzo's system from the inside. Glenn was not simply a spectator during March Madness either. According to Izzo, Glenn was an active and valuable voice on the team and ran and practiced with the scout team throughout the postseason.

Izzo spoke about Glenn's impact and work ethic during the run, sharing what it meant to have him involved despite not being able to play.

"His eyes are this big every day," Izzo said. "He's very good. What he's taught me already, some guys can be on the scout team and some guys can't. That sounds stupid, because the scout team... if we are fortunate enough to win on Friday in the Big Ten Tournament, we'll get back to the hotel at 12:30 at night. The scout team will have to pick up whatever team we're playing's offense for that 9:30-in-the-morning meeting and walkthrough and everything."

What Michigan State Missed

Kaleb Glenn was part of the 2023 high school recruiting class, alongside Jeremy Fears and Coen Carr. He spent his freshman season at Louisville before transferring to Florida Atlantic after limited playing time, and it was at FAU where he broke out and became one of the better players in the American Athletic Conference.

At Florida Atlantic, Glenn led the team in scoring with 12.6 points per game while shooting 53 percent from the field and 41 percent from three on roughly three attempts per game. He also averaged 4.8 rebounds per game, giving him a well-rounded statistical profile that translated across multiple areas of the game.

Beyond the scoring, Glenn demonstrated the ability to play quality defense with his athleticism and length, adding 0.6 assists and 0.3 steals per game to his offensive production.

Kaleb Glenn is exactly the kind of player Tom Izzo builds his programs around. He plays hard every time he steps on the floor. He can defend and run. It is not a stretch to say that if Glenn had been available this season, Michigan State's tournament run could have looked very different. The Spartans had the pieces to beat UConn and potentially Duke to reach the Final Four, and Glenn may have been the difference.

Glenn Next Season

With Jaxon Kohler graduating, the small forward spot opens up as a natural landing place for Glenn. Coen Carr figures to slide into the power forward role, where he is better suited, allowing Glenn to step in at the three.

Glenn's ability to space the floor from three-point range, combined with his athleticism and skill to attack the basket, makes him a versatile and dangerous offensive piece. Having another reliable scorer alongside Jeremy Fears and Coen Carr takes pressure off both of them and gives Michigan State a more balanced and harder-to-guard offensive attack. Glenn is not just a depth piece. He has the potential to be one of the more important players on next year's roster.