Michigan State Basketball: Will Gabe Brown take that next step?

Every year, Michigan State basketball sees a few players step up to take the reins as the “go-to” guys, and with the departures of Aaron Henry and Josh Langford, Tom Izzo is hoping to see one of his veterans assume that role.

There are some upperclassmen like Marcus Bingham Jr., Malik Hall, or Joey Hauser who could step up as leaders, captains, and go-to scorers, but one senior is the favorite for the role: Gabe Brown.

If I had to choose one player who could become this season’s Henry, it would have to be Brown because he can score at every level and he’s slowly becoming a more vocal leader. Plus he had that brush-up with Izzo a-la Henry during his freshman season in the NCAA Tournament.

Oh, and he’s doing things like this against Emoni Bates at open gyms:

Obviously, there are videos of Emoni also giving Gabe buckets, but the fact that he’s more than holding his own against the No. 1 recruit in the 2022 class is impressive. He’s not just holding his own, but he’s looking like a future pro with his ability to drive to the lane and finish, pull up from mid-range, and score from the perimeter.

Gabe due for a huge senior season with Michigan State basketball

For years, we’ve kind of been waiting for Brown to break out with his wide range of talents but he just hasn’t put it all together because Izzo hasn’t needed him to be ‘the guy’.

But that’s about to change.

With Rocket Watts, Langford, and Henry gone, Brown might be the top returning scoring option for the Spartans and he’s going to need to do more of what he did in the video above which is putting the ball on the court and getting to the rim. He’s athletic enough to drive and dunk over defenders but the confidence hasn’t quite been there yet.

Maybe this is the start of that budding confidence? He’s already admitted to taking a more vocal role as a leader and that’s a good first step.

Gabe already said the interaction with Izzo was ‘no big deal’ and he believes the 2021-22 team is going to be great, but he needs to be the leader of the show.