Tom Izzo has coached his fair share of NBA players while with Michigan State basketball.
The Hall of Fame head coach has sent plenty of guys to the league and he even had five of them in this year's NBA Playoffs with Max Christie, Draymond Green, Xavier Tillman, Gary Harris, and Jaren Jackson Jr. partaking in the postseason event. That's some really good representation and it has to help recruiting efforts -- Cam Ward even said it did.
Michigan State is no stranger to having guys drafted and Jase Richardson is about to join that group of Spartans in the NBA in about two months when his name is called in the lottery.
Miles Bridges, too, is still in the league and he's been one of the top players on a non-playoff team this season.
While it feels like Michigan State players that actually stick in the league are always becoming stars, The Athletic released a list of the "Most Overrated Players" in the NBA, according to an anonymous player poll. The results were interesting and they included two Spartans.
Draymond was tied for fifth in the poll with 4.4% of the vote while Jackson was tied for 10th at 2.2% with guys like Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Zion Williamson, and Paul George. Honestly, if those guys are all making the list, it may not be that bad to be included.
This is a little surprising given the fact that Draymond is likely a future Hall of Famer who has been one of the most versatile players in the NBA for a decade. He has played a major role in Golden State being one of the best franchises in the sport and why the Warriors have won so many titles.
Jackson Jr. has been widely considered one of the top young bigs in the league with an incredible ceiling. He's made All-Star teams and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award and he's just 25 years old. He has a long career ahead of him as long as he can work on defending without fouling and rebounding better.
But for now, some fellow NBA players think both Spartans are slightly overrated.