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Michigan State Basketball: Way-too-early projected starting 5 for 2022-23

By Connor Muldowney

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 12: Malik Hall #25 of the Michigan State Spartans fights for position for a rebound against Sasha Stefanovic #55 of the Purdue Boilermakers during the second half of a Men's Big Ten Tournament Semifinals game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 12, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Purdue Boilermakers won the game 75-70 over the Michigan State Spartans. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 12: Malik Hall #25 of the Michigan State Spartans fights for position for a rebound against Sasha Stefanovic #55 of the Purdue Boilermakers during the second half of a Men's Big Ten Tournament Semifinals game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 12, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Purdue Boilermakers won the game 75-70 over the Michigan State Spartans. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images) /
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Michigan State basketball’s season ended in heartbreaking fashion on Sunday night so it’s time to look ahead to the 2022-23 team.

Just two days after riding high with an emotional win over Foster Loyer and Davidson, Tom Izzo and Michigan State basketball had to take on Coach K one final time.

The Spartans played one of their best games of the season and even held a 70-65 lead with under five minutes left, but Duke battled back and made clutch shots down the stretch to put Michigan State away.

This loss sends the Spartans home packing with a ton of question marks surrounding the 2022-23 team and projected lineup.

I think Michigan State will go with more of a small-ball lineup, based on the current projected roster makeup heading into the 2022-23 season.

Note: There’s still a good possibility the roster will see some additions via the transfer portal which will impact the starting five. All three seniors (Marcus Bingham, Gabe Brown, Joey Hauser) could also choose to return and utilize their COVID years.

Sixth man: Tyson Walker

I really like what Tyson Walker brings to the table for the Spartans and there’s a decent chance Tom Izzo could opt to start him alongside AJ Hoggard in a two-point guard look which actually gave defenses fits this season.

Walker had an interesting season which started a little slow after transferring in from Northeastern and continued to get better. He turned into one of the team’s most clutch players.

In fact, the Northeastern transfer had 24 points in a second-half comeback effort against Illinois, hit a late three to beat Purdue, and even made some big shots against Davidson. He did make the go-ahead 3-pointer against Duke which seemed like it would be that shot that changed the game, but it ultimately wasn’t the dagger fans were hoping for.

Walker is a really good player who is only going to get better next season with a full year of experience at the power conference level. I see a big jump coming as a potential sixth man of the year candidate.

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