Michigan State Basketball: Thomas Kelley bringing the perfect energy

New Michigan State basketball assistant coach Thomas Kelley is bringing the perfect energy to the program and it looks like he was the right hire.

Thomas Kelley has been with Tom Izzo from the beginning. In fact, Kelley was a senior during Michigan State basketball’s first Final Four run under Izzo in 1998-99 and really help set the program up for success with his great leadership.

After graduating, he played overseas for 15 years and then came back to be a grad assistant under Izzo before leaving to be an assistant at Western Michigan.

Kelley had been at Western since but with a vacancy on the staff, Izzo felt like Kelly was the perfect addition to his coaching staff. He hired him after over a month of searching for his next assistant but he wanted a guy who could relate to players, help move into the NIL era, and bring some new energy to the program — which it desperately needed.

It turns out, Kelley was the perfect addition.

All you have to do is look at how he interacts with players and the energy he brings every day in practice to be able to trust the hire.

Kelley is running with the players, hyping them up, and getting after them if they’re not giving their best efforts. He’s exactly what this program needed.

Izzo is always going to be a Hall of Fame coach and get after his players, but Kelley balances him out perfectly. Izzo can be tough on his guys when he needs to while Kelley is pushing them at the same time with some positive feedback.

Plus, Kelley knows what it’s like to play for Izzo so he can relate to players that way and they seem to really like his style — Tre Holloman and Miles Bridges have both spoken highly of him.

Could this be the hire that helps Michigan State get back to the top of the Big Ten?