Michigan State Basketball: 10 bold predictions for 2019-20 season

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 31: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans is defended by Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils during the first half in the East Regional game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MARCH 16: Cassius Winston #5 of the Michigan State Spartans meets with head coach Tom Izzo in the first half against the Wisconsin Badgers during the semifinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at the United Center on March 16, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

2. Cassius Winston wins Big Ten, National Player of the Year

For a second straight season, Cassius Winston will run away with the Big Ten Player of the Year award. Last season, Carsen Edwards put up a fight, but it was a relatively unanimous decision that Cassius was the most impressive player in the conference as well as the most valuable to his team.

Without Cassius, what were the Spartans last season? Given the fact that Josh Langford, Kyle Ahrens and Nick Ward spent time on the bench with injuries, they may not have gotten to the Sweet 16 without Winston.

The junior point guard finished the season with a Final Four run and he became a household name nationally. He won the conference player of the year award and wasn’t really thought of for national player of the year, but that’ll change this season as he’s widely considered the nation’s biggest star heading into the 2019-20 season.

Michigan State will finally have a clear national player of the year — Denzel Valentine won one of the national player of the year awards a few years back.

Will this improve his draft stock? Absolutely.

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