Michigan State Basketball: Projected starting 5 after Tyson Walker pledge

Raise your hand if you were on the Marcus Bingham Jr. bandwagon before it was cool.

If you’re like me, you have probably been a fan of his game and potential since day one. I’ve always thought he had pro potential, but just didn’t have the frame that matched up. He always needed to add some weight, but he showed this past season that adding some pounds of muscle wasn’t exactly a necessary step in his development. He held his own all year.

Bingham had the best plus-minus on the team near the end of the year and when he was on the floor, the team just ran smoother on both end of the court.

On offense, he could use some polishing. He has a nice mid-range jumper that seems to drop more often than not but he needs to finish stronger around the rim. He could draw about 3-4 and-ones every game if he just went up stronger instead of trying to lay it up. Bingham could also afford to add a deep-range jumper again to force defenders to respect him around the arc.

Defensively, he’s about as good as any big in the Big Ten. He doesn’t get the respect he deserves because he doesn’t play as much as he should, but he held guys like Kofi Cockburn, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Trevion Williams and Luka Garza in check this season.

Bingham averaged 3.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, but if he averages around 20-25 minutes, I’d expect those numbers to double, if not triple, in 2021-22.