Michigan State is starting to look like a real national title threat, and the reasons are easy to spot.
A few months before the season tips off, the Spartans are already being talked about as one of the best teams in the country. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi put MSU on a 2-seed line for next March’s NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, and that kind of projection only adds to the buzz around a program that has been hovering near contender level for the past two seasons.
Now, the conversation is shifting a little. “National title” is no longer sounding out of place.
The biggest reason is the player everyone will be watching: Jeremy Fears Jr. His decision to return to Michigan State instead of staying in the NBA Draft was the major offseason development for the Spartans, even if it came down to the wire. He didn’t make it official until about 90 minutes before the deadline, which had plenty of people on edge.
Fears already has the résumé of a star. He was an AP Second Team All-American last season, and there’s a real chance he becomes a preseason National Player of the Year favorite for some observers.
With Purdue’s Braden Smith now in the pros, there isn’t another college point guard with Fears’ passing pedigree. He’s the clear alpha on this roster.
And there’s still room for him to level up. He appears to have added some explosiveness this offseason as he continues recovering from being shot in the leg as a freshman.
His three-point shooting is another swing factor; he hit just 32.1% from deep last season. If he gets a little quicker and more reliable from the perimeter, the National Player of the Year talk could get loud in a hurry.
The other major piece is depth, and this is where Michigan State looks a lot different than it did a year ago. The Spartans leaned into “strength in numbers” during the 2024-25 season, with that phrase painted on the walls of the practice gym. They were regularly using 10 players every game, and more than once it looked like they were simply fresher than the other team when games tightened up late.
That wasn’t the case last season. Depth, especially in the backcourt after Divine Ugochukwu’s injury, was one of the things that limited MSU. In the Sweet 16 loss to UConn, only seven players logged significant minutes, though Tom Izzo did give Trey Fort and Denham Wojcik a few minutes.
This year, the roster is built to give Izzo more options. Michigan State has 12 scholarship players right now, and all of them seem to have a legitimate shot at the rotation.
That creates a good kind of problem: eventually, one or two players are going to have to be squeezed out. Playing 11 or 12 every night would be a tough balancing act.
The Spartans also look equipped to cover every spot on the floor. There are at least two solid options at all five positions, plus a workable backup plan if injuries hit. Fears has more help around him than he did last season, and that matters.
Izzo’s lineup flexibility might be the most interesting part of all. The wings give him plenty to play with.
Jordan Scott can move between shooting guard and small forward. Kaleb Glenn can handle small forward or power forward.
Coen Carr can do the same at small forward or power forward.
There’s versatility elsewhere, too. Carlos Medlock Jr. gives Michigan State a backup point guard who can change the pace when Fears sits, and Jasiah Jervis could also handle point guard duties if necessary.
Izzo can go smaller and put Fears and Medlock together. Or he can get huge, with 7'1" Ethan Taylor at power forward and 7'2" Anton Bonke at center for a stretch.
The bottom line is simple: Michigan State has a star, it has depth, and it has size, length, and shooting around that star. There doesn’t appear to be a glaring weakness yet, even if that judgment comes months before the first exhibition game. On paper, this looks like the best Spartan team since COVID ended the 2019-20 group’s chance at a big run.
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Carlos Medlock Jr., though, arrives with a different kind of path. He does not have the obvious built-in pairing that the rest of the class seems to enjoy, which makes his early development a little more individual in nature, and the Spartans will likely lean on the example set by veteran guard Jeremy Fears Jr. as Medlock settles in and finds his role. [Read more 🡒]