Michigan State Basketball: 3 keys to a bounce-back season in 2021-22

The 2020-21 Michigan State basketball campaign was not one that was enjoyable by any definition. The team dealt with COVID-19 diagnoses, including one from head coach Tom Izzo just before the season, as well as empty arenas and a rather awkward schedule.

The end result was a stunning overtime loss to eventual Final Four participant UCLA in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament, a game in which the Spartans led for most of the way.

The preseason predictions and projections aren’t in love with Michigan State, to say the least. But the Spartans have all the pieces to have a bounce-back season in 2021-22.

They have a good crop of incoming freshmen, headlined by Max Christie who is expected to be one of the team’s top contributors, a slew of returning talent who got thrown into the fire in last year’s extraordinary campaign, and a Hall of Fame coach who knows a thing or two about overachieving after an underwhelming season.

In what is hoped to be a normal college basketball season, Izzo and the Spartans should be right back in the conversation for the Big Ten conference title.

But some of these are hypotheticals. They’ll need a couple of things to change in order to get back to that stature. Today, we’ll take a look at some of the keys for a bounce-back season.