Michigan State’s practice photos are doing what they always do in the preseason: sending Spartan fans into detective mode.
With the Oct. 20 exhibition against UConn coming up at the Breslin Center, the biggest question seems to be who fills out the starting five. Four spots feel settled, but the center position has turned into the one place where Tom Izzo may still be weighing his options.
A recent batch of photos from Michigan State’s men’s basketball account showed Coen Carr and Cam Ward in green jerseys, which has been viewed as a sign of first-team status. But the detail that really jumped out was Anton Bonke wearing white while defending Ward. That’s the kind of small thing fans immediately start reading like a secret message.
One fan, Loomin Knotty, has been tracking those practice images for a couple of weeks and connecting the jersey colors to who seems to be running with the starters. It’s far from definitive, of course, but the pattern has been hard to ignore.
That’s what makes Bonke’s white jersey especially interesting. The Charlotte transfer arrived in East Lansing projected to start, but in the exhibition opener against Incarnate Word, he looked more like the No. 2 option at the position. If the photos mean anything at all, they may be pointing toward true freshman Ethan Taylor getting the nod instead.
Taylor certainly made his case in that first exhibition. Bonke, meanwhile, looked like he’d rather forget it. Taylor was active on the boards, played hard defensively, and showed he can score, while Bonke came off looking slow and was clearly outplayed at center.
It was the kind of performance that made Taylor look like the borderline five-star recruit Michigan State signed last year, the same player who came in alongside Link Academy teammate Carlos Medlock Jr. The two figure to be important pieces down the line, but Taylor may already be forcing his way into a bigger role sooner than expected.
If Izzo does start Taylor against UConn, it would be a notable move. A true freshman getting that kind of look at center isn’t something Michigan State has seen since Nick Ward. Even Xavier Booker, another highly touted freshman, only picked up a handful of starts in his first season.
None of this locks anything in. Izzo could simply be using exhibition work to sort through both options before the real season begins. But the latest “tea leaves,” as Loomin Knotty put it, suggest Taylor has earned a real shot at starting next Tuesday against UConn.
And for Spartan fans, decoding those little hints from practice is basically the preseason sport before the preseason sport.
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