Michigan State Basketball: The Rocket Watts saga is officially over

Rumors have been circulating over the past couple of weeks about a potential Rocket Watts return to East Lansing for another season. They slowly died out over the past week as Mississippi State seemed to gain some ground.

Would he stick with Michigan State after entering the portal or would he go to the other MSU down in Starkville (a-la Montez Sweat) to finish out his college career?

It seemed like we would never know.

And just like that, the saga was over.

Mississippi State is now the new home of the former four-star who averaged 8.2 points per game in his two seasons with Michigan State. It’s a bittersweet feeling seeing as he just didn’t seem to fit his new role in 2020-21.

This was a big addition for Mississippi State as it hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since the 2018-19 season and just once under head coach Ben Howland.

Watts should be a nice starting guard in the SEC where he can have a little more freedom.

Michigan State basketball can finally move forward

There was a sense of limbo that Michigan State found itself in when Rocket entered the portal and rumors swirled of a potential return but now that he’s officially moving on, the Spartans can move forward.

Onward and upward.

Michigan State has a good idea of what the final roster will look like for 2021-22 as Tyson Walker was a nice new addition and Max Christie, Pierre Brooks, and Jaden Akins should provide talented depth in the backcourt and on the wings.

Rocket is out of the picture so the young guys don’t have to worry much about their minutes getting taken and if Tom Izzo wants to add another player or two to the roster, he can now look more at the wing spots or at some available forwards/bigs.

Time to move on, folks.