Michigan State basketball’s PG situation ranked No. 16 in the nation

Michigan State basketball has one of the best point guard situations in the nation heading into the 2022-23 season. Where are the Spartans ranked?

Heading into the 2022-23 season, Michigan State basketball has plenty of question marks.

The point guard situation is not one of them.

Luckily, the Spartans are loaded at arguably the most critical position on the court with AJ Hoggard and Tyson Walker returning. At the same time, Jaden Akins can handle the ball, if needed, and Tre Holloman comes in with the 2022 class to add some depth to the position.

You could make the argument that this is Michigan State’s best point guard group in years.

College basketball writers are taking notice.

In fact, Isaac Trotter of 247Sports ranked his top 20 point guard situations in college basketball ahead of the 2022-23 season and Michigan State was No. 16 on his list.

Here’s what he had to say:

"Come collect your winnings if you knew that AJ Hoggard led the country in assist rate (46.1) this past season. Hoggard and Tyson Walker both have their flaws, but together, they give Tom Izzo a point guard room that can be very effective in the Big Ten. If Hoggard can improve against drop coverage and Walker can find some semblance of consistency, Michigan State could be in position to make noise in the wide-open Big Ten. Expect Walker and Hoggard to play a lot of minutes together next year. Michigan State scored 127.3 points per 100 possessions in the 215 possessions Hoggard and Walker played together last season, according to Pivot Analysis."

Trotter isn’t even mentioning that Holloman can come in to give Hoggard or Walker a breather and the same goes for Akins who will most likely play on the wing, but he can handle point guard duties in a pinch.

Walker and Hoggard have complementary skill sets as the former is more of a natural scorer who was one of the best shooters on the team last season and came on late while the latter is more of a bruiser who can defend at a high level and drive the lane to either draw fouls, look for his own buckets, or kick it out to an open shooter.

Akins is an incredible athlete who can play on the wing, play some point, drive the lane, and shoot. And his defense is really solid.

Holloman is a lengthy freshman who looked really good in the Moneyball Pro-Am and all four of these guys are going to combine to give Michigan State one of the best backcourts in the nation.

The frontcourt, on the other hand? The jury’s still out there.