Michigan State Basketball: Only two guaranteed starters for 2020-21?

When asked to give his starting rotation for 2020-21, Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo named only two players with a starting guarantee.

Wednesday was a big day for Michigan State basketball. It kicked off the 2020-21 season unofficially with a Zoom call between Tom Izzo and the media to talk about his team.

The upcoming season is one filled with intrigue and uncertainty as Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman will both be gone, giving way to a new starting lineup led by some veterans and guys like Rocket Watts and Joshua Langford — maybe.

During his Zoom call with the media, Izzo was asked about what his starting lineup might look like and he gave a surprising answer.

Only two players are considered “for-sure” starters according to Izzo and they happen tp be Joey Hauser and Aaron Henry.

When we’ve spoken about locked-in starters for Michigan State for the upcoming season, those two are staples, but a third would have been assumed to be Rocket Watts. He’s entering his sophomore year and is returning as the presumed point guard replacement for Cassius Winston. This makes it seem like Izzo is considering Foster Loyer as the starting point guard.

It’s almost a lock for Watts to be the starting point guard and he might just have Loyer with him in the backcourt some games, but he should be one of those three guaranteed starters.

A small-ball lineup with the frontcourt of Gabe Brown and Hauser would be interesting and a backcourt of Loyer and Watts, but there are three guys who should be locked in as starters no matter what: Henry, Hauser and Watts.

Is Izzo just trying to make his sophomore point guard work to earn that spot or does he truly believe he’s not locked in as a starter yet?