Why MSU's Izzo Still Holding Belief in Denham Wojcik
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EAST LANSING, Mich. --- There are few constants in life. One of them, late in this college basketball season, is that when Jeremy Fears Jr. leaves the court for Michigan State before garbage time, Denham Wojcik is coming in.
The son of MSU associate head coach Doug Wojcik, Denham has been under a bit of a microscope all season. He transferred in from Harvard to be the team's third option at point guard, but started joining the regular playing group when Divine Ugochukwu, who was originally brought in to back up Fears, became the team's starting shooting guard. His status there was really cemented when Ugochukwu suffered a season-ending foot injury.
Izzo's Words on Wojcik
Deserved or not, the conversation around Wojcik probably isn't going to stop. He already has to follow up on one of the nation's best point guards in Fears, and people are (understandably) always going to be at least a bit skeptical about his inclusion in the rotation because of his last name.
Tom Izzo maintains that Wojcik being Doug's son is not why he's playing. He actually says he'd get more minutes if it weren't for his dad, who has a big role in deciding who subs in and out of the game.
"If his old man didn't quit being so selfish with the minutes... he should get a few more minutes a game," Izzo said Tuesday. "He really should... It's always tricky, too. When you coach your son, it's tricky."
The main thing in Wojcik's favor here is that the other options are quite limited. Jordan Scott could maybe hold down the point guard spot for a couple of minutes, but making a freshman learn how to play point guard this late in the season is difficult.
Trey Fort could maybe do it, too, but he hadn't been running the point before, either, and only averages 2.3 assists per 40 minutes played this season. Wojcik averages 8.9.
"He has never hurt us," Izzo said with added emphasis on 'never.' "He made a big play the other day [against Indiana], where they had cut the lead down to six, and he made a driving kick-out to Kur [Teng]. That was a tough play; we hit a three, and that was kind of the final separator."
To put it simply: if there was a better way to get Fears some additional rest, Michigan State probably would have gone with it for now. Izzo and Doug Wojcik have coached for quite some time and have won plenty of basketball games together. If Denham is out there, it's because they've determined it's in the team's best interest.
"I know he can guard anybody," Izzo also said about Wojcik. "I know he'll do whatever I ask him to do. I know he'll run his stuff. I've got two guys: I've got Barry Sanders' kid [Nick Sanders] and Doug Wojcik's kid. But I swear to you, they're not here because they're Barry Sanders' kid or Doug Wojcik's kid. They're here because of what they did and what I thought they could help us with."
There is also one other aspect about Wojcik and Sanders, who are about to go through Senior Night on Thursday night against Rutgers, that Izzo really likes.
"There's one other area that they both passed the test with flying colors," Izzo said. "They wanted to be here. You hear me? They wanted to be here. That freaking matters."
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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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