Michigan State Basketball: Projected starting 5 post-Max Christie decision

Joey Hauser’s return was the one bright spot from all the offseason roster movement. He was unsure of his next move when the season ended and a lot of people expected him to move on but he has one more run in him and I think he’s really going to bring a lot to this lineup.

At the end of his first year with Michigan State in 2020-21 and at the beginning of 2021-22, Hauser caught a lot of flak from the fanbase. People were wondering whether he could contribute at the Big Ten level as he was a walking turnover and just wasn’t able to defend. But he improved drastically in the second half of the season and even led Michigan State to its first-round win over Davidson with 27 points.

If we can see that confident Joey Hauser for a whole season, Michigan State will thrive.

Like Hall, Hauser is probably best served on the wing but will be playing more of a power forward role out of necessity. He defended the four much more effectively at the end of the year, proving he can do that moving forward.

While his numbers dipped a bit from 9.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 2020-21 to 7.3 points and 5.3 rebounds last year, he shot the ball better and played really well late in the season.

Hauser will be a really solid four for Michigan State.