Michigan State Basketball: 3 reasons to be optimistic about 2020-21 season

2. Rocket Watts is a budding star

One of the main reasons everyone should be optimistic about this year’s team is Rocket Watts.

The sophomore guard from Detroit had a solid freshman season, averaged 9.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game but his shooting numbers weren’t great. He can be an elite shooter as he’s already on the verge of being an elite scorer and when that happens, he’ll be a serious Big Ten Player of the Year candidate.

Losing Cassius Winston is going to hurt, but when you replace him with a budding superstar like Watts, that makes it sting a little less.

Tom Izzo has kept his cards close to his vest when talking about the starting point guard position, claiming that Foster Loyer has made serious strides this offseason, but I wouldn’t let that fool you as Watts will end up as the starter before too long. I wouldn’t be surprised if Foster began the year as a starter but Watts took over after a couple of games.

One thing is for sure: Watts will probably play the most minutes on the team outside of maybe Joey Hauser or Aaron Henry.

This kid is going to be a star and he has quite the supporting cast.