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Michigan State Basketball: Why the 2020-21 squad feels hopeless

By Jack Williams

Ohio State Buckeyes forward E.J. Liddell (32) and Michigan State Spartans guard Foster Loyer (3) chase a loose ball during Sunday's NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference men's basketball game at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio on January 31, 2021.Ceb Osu Mbk Msu Bjp 20
Ohio State Buckeyes forward E.J. Liddell (32) and Michigan State Spartans guard Foster Loyer (3) chase a loose ball during Sunday's NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference men's basketball game at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio on January 31, 2021.Ceb Osu Mbk Msu Bjp 20 /
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Michigan State’s Foster Loyer, left, collides with Rutgers’ Montez Mathis during the first half on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.210105 Msu Rutgers 050a
Michigan State’s Foster Loyer, left, collides with Rutgers’ Montez Mathis during the first half on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.210105 Msu Rutgers 050a /

Recruiting blunders at key positions

Tom Izzo has never been one to recruit flashy players. Usually, he’ll take a guy who isn’t thought of as a top prospect and develop him better than any coach in the NCAA. That was the thought when he decided to recruit Foster Loyer, Marcus Bingham and Thomas Kithier. And while none of the aforementioned players have concluded their career in the green and white, they’ve been extremely disappointing through their first three seasons in East Lansing.

The issue with this is that Tom Izzo’s teams are built on two ideas: All-American point guards and powerful big men. There are a lot of words you could use to describe Loyer, Bingham and Kithier, but none of them are All-American or powerful. In fact, all of these guys are the polar opposite of what we’ve seen out of Izzo players in the past. They’ve simply been disappointing. I don’t have time to get into how this happened, but their lack of development can be directly traced to the failures of this team thus far.

If your junior point guard, center and power forward are all a bad match with the system, how can you expect to win anything? This is where we thought sophomore Rocket Watts would fill in a huge gap. After a strong finish last season, he looked poised to fill Cassius’ shoes and lead this team to the NCAA tournament. He didn’t do that; instead, we’ve had a mid-rated freshman point guard playing in front of the two experience play-callers on this team.

It should have been obvious before the season began — this team does not have the talent to win games in the Big Ten, especially in a strong year for the conference. Can Loyer compete with top point guards in any conference, even on a good day? Can Kithier stop anybody bigger than his frame of 6-foot-8, 225 pounds? Can he produce on offense? The answer to all of those questions is no.

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