Through Oct. 31, Sports Illustrated will count down its preseason college basketball Top 25 with overviews of each team. Here are the full rankings so far.
A 30-win campaign and an Elite Eight appearance in 2024–25 quieted any concerns about whether Tom Izzo’s begrudging approach to the new era of college basketball was holding back the Spartans. This was a vintage Spartans team, ferocious on defense and the glass, not solely reliant on one star and excellent in close games.
But Michigan State wasn’t immune to 2025 college hoops problems despite its old-school look. Point guard Tre Holloman, the heart and soul of last season’s squad, hit the portal. Jase Richardson, who starred as a freshman and was part of Spartans’ long-term plans entering the year, was a surprise one-and-done. Izzo did hit the portal some this spring, but this group’s ability to contend in the Big Ten largely hinges on internal improvement from a promising group of returners.
The most talented of the bunch is Coen Carr, perhaps the best athlete in college hoops and an absolute terror in transition. Improvement as a shooter is a must if he wants to be a bigger threat in the half court. Signed in that same high school class two years ago was starting PG Jeremy Fears Jr., a dogged defender and true floor general who has also been plagued by perimeter shooting woes. Those two are the clearest breakout candidates on the squad, the ones who’d most traditionally make the patented Izzo jump from cog in the machine to star. The other candidate is Jaxon Kohler, who took big strides as a junior and was terrific at the four last season. He’s great on the boards and found his stroke from beyond the arc late last season.
It feels like a safe bet that Michigan State will be awesome defensively: Izzo’s a terrific defensive coach, Fears is elite guarding the ball, Carr is a gamewrecker at times on that end and Carson Cooper brought a real edge at the rim a year ago. But can Michigan State score consistently enough to repeat as Big Ten champs?
Projected Starting Lineup
PG: Jeremy Fears Jr.
SG: Trey Fort
SF: Coen Carr
PF: Jaxon Kohler
C: Carson Cooper
Key Reserves: G Kur Teng, G Divine Ugochukwu, F Cam Ward
Key Additions
Izzo added three transfers in the spring, but the jewel of that class (former FAU forward Kaleb Glenn) suffered a season-ending knee injury in the summer. That leaves a pair of guards, Samford’s Trey Fort and Miami’s Divine Ugochukwu. Fort is a high-major bounce-back guy who played a bench role at Mississippi State in 2023–24 before starring at Samford a season ago. He brings some much-needed shooting, having made 80 triples at 38%. At worst, he’s an offensive spark plug off the bench behind rising sophomore Kur Teng; at best he might lead the Spartans in scoring. Ugochukwu got thrown into the fire at Miami as a freshman. He’s a solid defender and game manager, but his fit with guys like Fears and Carr is tricky given he shot just 6 of 34 from three a year ago.
Glenn’s injury creates more opportunity for a pair of freshmen in Cam Ward and Jordan Scott. Scott’s the better shooter, but Ward’s a lot more physically ready to play and played at a higher level on the AAU circuit.
Causes for Concern
Michigan State was a bottom-50 three-point-shooting team last season by both percentage and volume … and might be worse in both marks this season. No returner on this team made more than 19 threes last season. Teng has significant shooting upside and Fort has shotmaking pedigree, but without huge jumps from Fears or Carr, some of these lineups could be ugly from a spacing standpoint. They also don’t have Richardson’s elite efficiency to cover some of the other offensive flaws like they did a year ago.
The Bottom Line
The floor is really high with this group given the Hall of Fame coach on the sideline and the elite defensive personnel. The questions come with the ceiling, especially given this group’s offensive limitations. If nothing else, this will not be a fun team to play against and one that will likely grind their way to plenty of ugly wins.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Sports Illustrated’s Men’s College Basketball Preseason Top 25: No. 22 Michigan State.
