AJ Hoggard hypes up Michigan State basketball assistant, calls him "mastermind"

There's been a lot of talk about Tom Izzo's timeline with Michigan State basketball.

The Hall of Fame head coach has been talked about plenty in terms of his potential retirement and he continues to reiterate that he's not ready to walk away from the game. Many believe he's not going to retire until he wins that elusive second national title and even then, I think that would just ignite that fire inside him to keep going.

But when he does finally call it quits, there have been some names thrown around as his potential replacement and they range from Nate Oats to Jon Borovich and everything in between.

If it was up to some players, the replacement would be Borovich. He connects well with the team and he's an excellent play-caller.

Just look at what AJ Hoggard said about his beautiful baseline out-of-bounds plays that he drew up in a win over Kentucky in the Champions Classic a few years ago.

Hoggard called Borovich "the mastermind" which makes it seem like he's pulling a lot of strings behind the scenes and players seem to trust and like him. If he can offer something as a recruiter, too, Michigan State fans could be talked into a transfer of power from Izzo to Borovich a few years down the line when there's a vacancy at the top of the program.

Borovich is an intriguing option and I've seen his name thrown around quite a bit, but that gets taken to a different level when former players are speaking highly of him even after transferring.