Michigan State Basketball: Predicting stat leaders for 2020-21 season

Steals: Aaron Henry

It’s not difficult to look at the roster, realize which players are the best defenders and make this prediction based off of previous results. There are a few guys who could lead the team in steals next season but Aaron Henry is my choice because, well, he’s the lead returning player for this category.

Henry is one of the best defenders in the Big Ten and Tom Izzo relied on him heavily to lock down the perimeter. He can guard anywhere from one through three and it showed as he was constantly putting pressure on the opponents’ top perimeter scorer.

Having Henry back for a junior season with an improved defensive outlook and potential to be great on offense, too, will be huge for Michigan State, especially if he surpasses the 1.0 steals per game mark (I’m going to say somewhere around 1.3).

Other candidates for steals leader would have to be Rocket Watts and Josh Langford who are both also top-tier perimeter defenders with quick hands.

Teams are going to have a tough time against this Spartan defense in 2020-21.