Michigan State Basketball: Expect big jump from Mady Sissoko in 2021-22

Mady Sissoko’s first season was a quiet one with Michigan State basketball.

The 6-9, 235-pound center from Mali had an opportunity with Xavier Tillman leaving early for the NBA but Marcus Bingham Jr., Thomas Kithier, and Julius Marble ate up all the minutes at the five.

That means Mady was the odd man out.

As a true freshman, it was the perfect time to just learn and soak in all the knowledge from the veterans, especially since he didn’t have a true first offseason with COVID-19 affecting everything. He didn’t get to grow with the team in the offseason like all freshmen before him did. He didn’t get to hit the weight room with the strength and conditioning staff like in previous years.

Frankly, Sissoko was robbed of a real freshman season — and so was AJ Hoggard.

Still, he managed to have an impact when he was on the floor and finished the season with 25 games played, averaging 5.4 minutes, 1.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks. It wasn’t great, but he did the most with the minutes he played.

Now with an actual offseason, we should expect a big jump from Sissoko.

Michigan State basketball needs a Sissoko leap

Something was missing with Michigan State in 2020-21 and it may have been the fact that there was no true dominant big man. Bingham Jr. showed flashes but for whatever reason, he just didn’t have the full trust of Tom Izzo. I’m all in on Bingham Jr. being the go-to center in 2021-22, but Sissoko also needs to take that next step if this team is going to succeed.

Sure, it’ll be nice to have one quality center in Bingham Jr., but Sissoko would be the cherry on top and would bring Michigan State from the “good” range to maybe even the “great” conversation.

We saw bits and pieces of what Sissoko was capable of (see below), but just imagine how much he’s going to grow physically and as a player with a full offseason under his belt.

I’m excited about Sissoko’s potential growth with more minutes in 2021-22 and you should be, too.