Michigan State Basketball: 3 final takeaways from 2020-21 season

The 2020-21 season has officially come to a close and we learned quite a bit about this Michigan State basketball team, good and bad.

When Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman headed off to the NBA following the 2019-20 season, no one expected Michigan State to struggle to get to the NCAA Tournament but that’s exactly what happened. No one expected it, but maybe we should have.

But Tom Izzo had not struggled to make a tournament for about two decades and he always found a way to fill holes with ease. The 2020-21 squad had the talent but just never meshed.

Was it because of COVID-19 hitting the team hard or was it because there was no point guard and leader that rivaled what Winston did for MSU? It was a tough year but we did learn a few key things about this team.

3. Aaron Henry deserves more love for what he did

What Aaron Henry did this season will probably be overlooked in the grand scheme of things but just because 2020-21 was disappointing, that doesn’t mean his year should be forgotten.

Henry decided to test the NBA draft waters a year ago and then came back and molded into a leader and the top player for the Spartans all season. He was the most consistent player for MSU this year and when the Spartans needed to make a run in the final few weeks of the regular season in order to make a miraculous run at an NCAA Tournament, he stepped up.

When Michigan State needed big shots all year, it was Henry who hit them. When they needed a second-half comeback to win at Indiana, it was him who sparked it. The same happened at home against Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State and Indiana again.

There’s a good chance we’ve seen Henry’s last game in a Spartan uniform and if that’s the case, he deserves more respect for what he did for Michigan State in 2020-21.

Not many players can will an entire team to an NCAA Tournament the way Henry did.