Michigan State basketball suffered a lot of attrition last offseason, losing three players to the transfer portal and four more to graduation and the pros.
Frankie Fidler, Szymon Zapala, and Jaden Akins all graduated, leaving some major voids on the roster, Jase Richardson went to the NBA draft after his freshman season, and then Tre Holloman, Xavier Booker, and Gehrig Normand all entered the transfer portal.
The decisions by all three guys to transfer were met with mixed reviews. Everyone was shocked at the Holloman departure, especially since he just felt like an OKG (our kind of guy) and he was going to play big minutes with Richardson and Akins moving on. He chose NC State and now he’s playing the exact same role for a worse team that just snuck into the NCAA Tournament in the First Four against Texas.
People weren’t very surprised by Booker leaving nor were they shocked to see Normand look for a bigger role at a smaller program. Both guys left a Big Ten champion for an NCAA Tournament team, though.
Like Holloman, Booker and Normand will both be in the NCAA Tournament, representing UCLA and Santa Clara, respectively.
Normand has been out all season with an injury, but Santa Clara made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 30 years. Booker has been playing about 20 minutes per game for UCLA who just beat Michigan State in the Big Ten Tournament. The Bruins are red-hot right now.
Three former Spartans will be pushing for the national title.
Glancing at the road for Michigan State basketball transfers
We’ll start with the team that’s in the same region as Michigan State: UCLA.
Xavier Booker and the Bruins could face the Spartans in the second weekend if they can get past UConn on the bottom of the bracket. The seventh-seeded Bruins are hot right now and beat Michigan State in the quarterfinals on Friday. I’m sure Izzo would love a rematch. UCLA will play UCF in the first round and the winner of UConn vs. Furman in round two.
Normand and Santa Clara will take on Kentucky, who the Spartans beat back in November, as the 10-seed and if they can win, they’ll face the winner of Iowa State vs. Tennessee State. They’re also in Michigan’s region (Midwest), so not an easy draw.
Lastly, Holloman and NC State just snuck into the NCAA Tournament as one of the final at-large teams to make the field and they’ll play Texas in the First Four in Dayton this week. The Wolfpack have been ice-cold lately and that led to them almost missing the tournament completely. If they win in the First Four, they’ll advance to play BYU and then the winner of Gonzaga vs. Kennesaw State if it wins its first round game. Holloman has Purdue in his half of the bracket.
Overall, none of the former Spartans have an “easy” road, but Michigan State could face one of them in the Sweet 16.