Michigan State basketball: 3 massive benefits from Josh Lanford’s return

2. He brings much-needed leadership

Look at the roster heading into the 2020-21 season. You have some upperclassmen like Joey Hauser, Gabe Brown, Foster Loyer and Thomas Kithier. If all goes well, add Xavier Tillman and Aaron Henry to that mix.

What’s the significance of this? There aren’t many true leaders in that group. That’s not saying that zero of those guys could become leaders, but through two seasons, most of them have gotten to take a back seat to leadership such as Cassius Winston, Josh Langford, Kenny Goins, Matt McQuaid, Kyle Ahrens and Tillman. They haven’t needed to step up as leaders.

That’s why bringing back a major leader like Langford is so beneficial.

Teams that make it far or win the Big Ten usually have one or two clear leaders and if Langford or Tillman weren’t returning, it would have to be a guy like Hauser who had only been in the program for a couple of years. Not exactly an ideal situation.

Now that Langford looks to be returning, Michigan State doesn’t have to worry about where its leadership will come from. Langford is that guy.