What MSU's Moneyball Pairings Reveal About This Roster
In this story:
Summer hoops at Holt High School start very soon.
On Friday, all six rosters for this year's Moneyball Pro-Am were revealed. Michigan State and Tom Izzo are keeping their tradition of having players participate in the local event. Twelve of the 15 rostered players are playing this season, with the exceptions being Kur Teng, who reportedly underwent foot surgery this offseason, and the walk-on Walton twins.
The Pairings
Each of the six teams in the pro-am has two MSU players each. Games officially start Tuesday at Holt. Here are the assignments for each one:
BLT's Wearable Art has Kaleb Glenn and walk-on Matthew Watkins; Motorcars has Carlos Medlock Jr. and Anton Bonke; Tri-Star Trust has Coen Carr and Jesse McCulloch; SPS has Jordan Scott and Julius Avent; LAFCU has Jeremy Fears Jr. and Ethan Taylor; Faygo has Jasiah Jervis and Cam Ward.
Early Headlines
One of the headlines is basically the confirmation that Matthew Watkins is now officially a member of the 2026-27 team. It was first reported in The Toledo Blade on Wednesday that Watkins had received a walk-on spot for the upcoming season after being a student manager for the last three years. Watkins is originally from Perrysburg, Ohio.
Izzo still had one roster spot to burn, so there is plenty of sense there. It's not uncommon to see Watkins and some of the other managers or grad assistants help out on scout teams often.
Kur Teng's exclusion from the Moneyball rosters is also not a huge surprise. He had foot surgery this offseason, according to an early May report from Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal. Teng can be spotted in the background of a recent social media post by the team not wearing a boot or any obvious protective gear, but he was still standing off to the side.
Not having the Walton twins on there might just be because teams cannot have more than two Michigan State players on them at a time. With six teams, that would allow for 12 spots for MSU players. Eleven scholarship players are available, and Watkins could probably use the live, competitive reps the most as he transitions from being a manager to being a player.
Thoughts on Pairings
One thing that immediately sticks out is that the Spartans' two true point guards are paired up with the team's two true centers. Fears and Taylor are together, as are Medlock and Bonke. Those will be two pretty fun teams to watch.
Fears will be able to gain a lot of needed pick-and-roll chemistry with Taylor while also imposing some wisdom on the relatively raw freshman. Medlock also gets to gain chemistry with Bonke, someone he'll likely be on the court with plenty this season. These reps against relatively live competition with fans in the stands are more valuable than doing it against air in a closed-off gym.
Those live reps are a big reason why Izzo is still so willing to keep putting his players out there. Plenty of coaches would be understandably worried that somebody would get hurt. Playing Moneyball gives MSU's players chances to experiment and work on their games in a live environment without stepping into the pressure cooker that is a real, live game.
That preview of Bonke will also be huge. The 7'2" Vanuatuan transfer from Charlotte will be one of the biggest determining factors for the Spartans this season. He's got a ton of potential, but Michigan State is still asking for a relatively large jump from what he did at a mid-major school during the 2025-26 campaign.
Scott and Avent on the same team is another interesting one. The two of them are both wings who can swing between multiple positions. Scott can play shooting guard and small forward; Avent could go between small forward and power forward. Avent might face a bit of an uphill battle to get serious playing time right away, while Scott very well could be a starter, but it will still be very interesting to see how the two of them operate while they're on the court together.
Plenty of eyes will be on Carr and McCulloch, too. It's not necessarily about how they blend, but how they've developed over the last few months. Carr is being asked to improve his three-point shot from last season, whereas McCulloch is about to enter a huge redshirt sophomore campaign that could shape his future with the program. This will be the earliest look to see if they are both on the right path.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
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.
Follow jacobcotsonika