Michigan State basketball: Is Tyson Walker the Big Ten’s best SG?

We are entering a potentially special year for Michigan State basketball.

The Spartans have one of the deepest rosters in the country, they’re likely to be top-five in the preseason rankings, and they have three of the best guards in the Big Ten. You could even argue that Michigan State has the nation’s best backcourt heading into the season.

AJ Hoggard is one of the best point guards out there and Tyson Walker is one of the best two-guards.

If you asked former Michigan basketball player and current Big Ten social media personality and owner of the Full Ride Network Ant Wright, he’d tell you that Hoggard is the best point guard in the Big Ten and Walker is the best shooting guard.

Just take a look at his recent shooting guard ranking that conjured up a huge debate with Illinois fans:

Wright is high on Walker, ranking him No. 1, while Terrance Shannon Jr. is No. 2 in his shooting guard rankings. Not a hot take, but Illinois fans vehemently disagreed. Some even said that Shannon was “clearly” ahead of Walker and it wasn’t even close.

So who is really the better shooting guard?

Comparing Tyson Walker and Terrance Shannon Jr.

Walker was arguably the best guard in the Big Ten in the second half of the season maybe rivaled by Boo Buie (I’d like to forget that he’s coming back for another year).

Here are Walker’s numbers from 2022-23:

• 14.8 points
• 2.9 assists
• 1.3 turnovers
• 2.5 rebounds
• 1.1 steals
• 45.9% FG
• 41.5% 3-point
• 79.7% free throws

Now let’s take a look at Shannon’s numbers:

• 17.2 points
• 2.8 assists
• 2.6 turnovers
• 4.6 rebounds
• 1.3 steals
• 44.2% FG
• 32.1% 3-point
• 79% free throws

As you can see, Walker holds the advantage in all of the shooting numbers as well as assist-to-turnover ratio. He’s right behind in steals and his points per game is slightly lower.

Now let’s take a look at how each fared in Big Ten play, starting with Walker:

• 15.4 points
• 48.3% FG
• 48.7% 3-point

And here’s Shannon:

• 15.9 points
• 42% FG
• 29.1% 3-point

As you can see, both were really solid all year but Walker was just more effective and efficient offensively in Big Ten play. Defensively, you could say that Shannon is better, but Walker is no slouch either.

Is Walker the best shooting guard in the Big Ten? Offensively, I think he’s the best weapon at the position and he’s a solid defender. I say the Illinois fans who believe Shannon is better and “it’s not close” need to look at the numbers.