Adam Nightingale continues to show Tom Izzo how the transfer portal should be used

Another offseason is about to go by with Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo missing on some priority transfer targets and likely having to settle for a guy who won't raise the team's ceiling by much. And yet again, Adam Nightingale is crushing it in the portal for Michigan State hockey.

It seems as if Izzo could learn a thing or two from Nightingale pertaining to portal usage.

Aiden Sherrell is rumored to be headed to Indiana to play for Darian DeVries and the Hoosiers and there's probably a fraction of a chance that Michigan State actually pursues Moustapha Thiam with programs like Duke, UConn, Kansas, Arkansas, and St. John's already heavily involved. This likely means that Izzo is going to have to rely on a fall-back option.

Despite a couple of NCAA Tournament chokes over the past two yeaes, Nightingale has never really had to worry about talent. He's reloading in the transfer portal every year, and he just landed one of the top players in the country in former first-round pick Cullen Potter.

Potter spent the past two seasons with Arizona State after decommitting from Michigan State during his recruitment. He once committed to play for Nightingale and is now actually going to get the chance during the 2026-27 season. He was selected No. 32 overall by the Calgary Flames back in 2025 and he's posted 48 points in 59 career games with Arizona State.

This is how you make a splash in the transfer portal. Take notes, Tom.

Adam Nightingale needs to take NCAA Tournament notes from Tom Izzo

While Izzo could learn a thing or two from Nightingale when it comes to using the transfer portal to reload and not being afraid to spend a little money, the opposite can be said about the NCAA Tournament.

For a third straight year, Michigan State hockey was the Big Ten champion and it looked like a favorite to win the national title. And for a third straight year, the Spartans fell short of the Frozen Four.

Izzo, well, he knows a thing or two about making it to a Final Four and he has eight of those under his belt to go along with a national championship. He has to find a way to make it back, but he knows how to coach his teams up. Just imagine how good the Spartans would be if he added a top transfer at a position of need every offseason.

Nightingale can teach him that.

Izzo needs to teach Nightingale how to avoid those first-weekend collapses and to survive and advance. Both coaches are excelling where the other is falling short. Unfortunately for Izzo, he has a little more pressure to win a title than Nightingale right now just based on age, the team he has returning in 2026-27, the fact that the Final Four is in Detroit, and the fact that Michigan basketball, not Michigan hockey, just won the national title.

I think it's time Nightingale and Izzo start picking each other's brains.

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