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Michigan State Basketball: 5 bold predictions for January 2019

By Connor Muldowney

LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 27: Tom Izzo the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans gives instructions to Cassius Winston #5 against the Louisville Cardinals at KFC YUM! Center on November 27, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY - NOVEMBER 27: Tom Izzo the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans gives instructions to Cassius Winston #5 against the Louisville Cardinals at KFC YUM! Center on November 27, 2018 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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EAST LANSING, MI – NOVEMBER 11: Foster Loyer #3 of the Michigan State Spartans drives to the basket while defended by Troy Baxter Jr #1 of the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles in the first half at Breslin Center on November 11, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI – NOVEMBER 11: Foster Loyer #3 of the Michigan State Spartans drives to the basket while defended by Troy Baxter Jr #1 of the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles in the first half at Breslin Center on November 11, 2018 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /

5. Freshmen make trimming the bench impossible for Tom Izzo

Michigan State has five talented freshmen who may be extremely raw, but all could be four-year players who eventually crack the starting lineup at the same time and lead this team 3-4 years from now.

However, they are all role players at the moment, led by Aaron Henry who is the first freshman off the bench and Foster Loyer who is the only point guard backup to Cassius Winston. If the Spartans had a backup at point besides Loyer, there’s a good chance the slim-framed freshman would be getting a redshirt in order to work on his strength this season.

Gabe Brown has been seeing some quality minutes, the ceiling for Marcus Bingham Jr. is high, but he has the same weight/strength issue as Loyer (but in the post) and Thomas Kithier is a couple years away from being a Matt Costello-type.

With Josh Langford injured and the bench needing to step up to take down the big boys in the Big Ten, a few of these freshmen will make it difficult on Tom Izzo to trim the bench.

I’m seeing an emergence from Bingham Jr. as well as Brown while Loyer turns a corner. Henry will play smarter, more controlled ball, too, while Kithier adds some end-of-bench production and fills in for Nick Ward and Xavier Tillman in foul trouble in a couple of pinches.

These guys will all show growth and make it impossible for Izzo to completely trim that bench. This will be a good problem to have.

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