Michigan State Basketball: 5 reasons Spartans can contend without Josh Langford

Michigan State basketball still has a strong team without Josh Langford, but losing him is a tough blow. Why can the Spartans still contend?

Unfortunate news broke on Wednesday night as Michigan State announced that star guard Josh Langford would miss the rest of the season due to a stress injury in his ankle which is going to require surgery.

Michigan State fans have been sent into a panic knowing that Langford won’t be returning for any potential run, but the Spartans will be just fine without the junior captain.

Here’s why the Spartans will still be contenders on a national level without Langford.

5. Freshmen will be forced to step up

If you watched the Spartans’ last game at Purdue, it was obvious that the team needed a scoring boost that Josh Langford would have provided and the freshmen had a chance to provide that, but struggled.

After the game, Tom Izzo admitted that his young players ‘needed diapers’ after a shaky performance and they just didn’t come to play.

Consider that a challenge.

Michigan State has five talented freshmen in its incoming class and one of them (Aaron Henry) has cracked the starting lineup. He has grown as a player and has been a nice filler for Langford on the wing if he can play under control.

Gabe Brown has also seen some quality minutes and is another player who could rise to the occasion with Langford out for the season. Thomas Kithier has played more, Foster Loyer is struggling with strength and size at the collegiate level and Marcus Bingham Jr. has added weight but sees the floor rarely.

Michigan State’s freshmen can step up and that’ll ease the pain of losing Langford for the season. The talent is there, but can they answer Izzo’s call? If they can, this team will be just fine.