If you only knew Tom Izzo from his animated sideline presence-the fire, the intensity, the relentless drive-you probably wouldn’t associate the word “comfortable” with the Michigan State head coach. But that’s exactly the feeling he gets when freshman Jordan Scott is on the floor.
Scott, a first-year shooting guard, has quietly carved out a role for himself in East Lansing by doing the kinds of things that don’t always show up in the box score but absolutely change games. Deflections, hustle plays, diving for loose balls, timely steals-Scott’s game is built on effort and instincts. And while his offensive game is still adjusting to the pace and physicality of Big Ten basketball, his reliability and poise have earned him trust in high-leverage moments.
That trust was on full display in Michigan State’s rivalry clash with Michigan. The Spartans fell short, 83-71, but not before Scott made a serious impact.
After trailing by 16 at halftime, Izzo inserted Scott into the starting lineup to begin the second half. The move sparked a 15-4 run that pulled MSU back into the fight and gave the home crowd a reason to believe.
“There’s things I’ve wanted to do for a couple of weeks because I saw some things coming,” Izzo said postgame. “And we’ll do that now.”
Translation: Jordan Scott’s role is about to get a lot bigger.
Izzo didn’t need to spell it out. On a night when his two primary shooting guards-starter Divine Ugochukwu and backup Kur Teng-combined for zero points on just three shot attempts in 23 minutes, Scott’s energy and production stood out like a beacon. He finished with 10 points, seven of them coming in the second half, and made a string of momentum-shifting plays that helped MSU claw back into the game.
“I don’t know, you look at your team, and I’ve been pretty honest with you guys for too much, haven’t I?” Izzo said.
“What I thought some of my problems were? And yet, when you win, you don’t want to change things up then.
Some of those problems reared its ugly head. We didn’t look real comfortable, and [Scott] looks more comfortable to me.
I like his comfort level-it makes me feel more comfortable.”
That comfort was evident right out of the halftime gate. Michigan State came out down 42-26, with Scott joining four veterans in the lineup.
On Michigan’s first possession, he stripped the ball and triggered a fast break that led to a Coen Carr bucket. Then came another steal, another Carr layup, and suddenly the Spartans were within single digits.
By the time Scott checked out after nearly six minutes of second-half action, the deficit had been sliced to seven.
When he returned, he calmly knocked down a pair of free throws, then followed it up with a three-point play that cut the lead to just two. He even got a piece of a shot from Michigan’s leading scorer, Yaxel Lendeborg-who had 26 on the night-and moments later, drove to the rim to reclaim a two-point lead for MSU. His final contribution came with under a minute left, when he grabbed a crucial offensive rebound that led to a Jeremy Fears Jr. three-pointer and kept the Spartans within striking distance.
“Obviously he still makes some mistakes,” Fears said. “But his effort plays and his big-time rebounds and steals kind of make up for it.
That’s definitely something and somebody you always need on your squad. Just grateful that we have him.
He comes up with loose balls and saves and out-of-bounds and stuff like that, which is always big for us.”
Scott came to Michigan State from Reston, Virginia, known for his shooting stroke, but that part of his game is still catching up-he’s shooting just 31% from deep on the season. But he’s not waiting around for his shot to fall. Instead, he’s leaned into the gritty, glue-guy role, using his length, motor, and basketball IQ to influence games in subtle but significant ways.
“I take a lot of pride in it,” Scott said. “The winning plays, the things that go unseen … those are the things that win you games.
Whoever can win the 50-50 balls, the hustle plays, diving on loose balls-it just sets the tone and just brings energy and obviously gets you more possessions. We take a lot of pride in that.”
And he’s not just doing it in garbage time. Scott’s been trusted in big moments all season.
His first two games logging over 20 minutes came against Arkansas and Duke-hardly soft landings for a freshman. He’s averaging 17.3 minutes per game, but over the last two contests, he’s played 26 in each, and he’s crossed the 20-minute threshold in four of the last six.
That upward trend, combined with Izzo’s comments, suggests a starting role may be imminent.
Scott seems more than ready for it.
“I think his confidence in me has been able to let me do things that I don’t think I would’ve been able to do like in the first game or preseason-the stuff that I’m doing now,” he said. “So just trying to keep building on that. Not trying to take too many steps back and keep trying to build on that throughout the season, just trying to get my team as far as possible.”
For a Michigan State team still searching for consistency at the two-guard spot, Scott isn’t just filling a void-he’s redefining what that role can look like. And in the eyes of Tom Izzo, that’s a very comfortable thing indeed.