Michigan State's incoming crop of talent grew by one about a week ago now when Divine Ugochukwu committed to the Spartans over the likes of USC and Texas Tech.
The freshman point guard had a solid first season with Miami but finished averaging just 5.3 points and 2.3 assists per game. He also shot just under 50 percent from the floor which are all solid numbers for a true freshman, but he shot just 17 percent from deep which had Michigan State fans up in arms when it was reported that Tom Izzo was targeting him to be the team's backup point guard.
There has been plenty of reserved optimism and even some hesitancy to buy into the idea of Ugochukwu playing meaningful minutes as the backup point guard for a team that just won the Big Ten title and hopes to repeat in an even more loaded conference in 2025-26.
Big Ten hoops expert Ant Wright talked everyone off the ledge a bit on Saturday with a breakdown video of Ugochukwu's play style.
Spoiler: you should feel a whole lot better about him after watching this video.
Ant likes the fact that Ugochukwu doesn't slack off on the defensive end and he has made a living swiping some passes and making an impact in the fast break -- Izzo has to love that.
Also, his shooting form isn't horrible, so that poor shooting percentage will improve with some better coaching -- he didn't have much of it with Jim Larranaga retiring suddenly in the middle of his freshman season at Miami. He is aggressive and likes to finish strong at the rim so that offensive threat is going to be huge coming off the bench.
Good size, aggressiveness, the ability to run a fast break, starting experience at the high-major level, and the willingness to defend have to make fans feel a whole lot better about this transfer commitment.
Not too shabby for a backup point guard.