Shortly after Xavier Tillman signed a new professional basketball contract with an overseas team, effectively leaving the NBA, another former Michigan State player inked a new deal.
A name that seems to be forgotten in Michigan State basketball lore is Brandon Wood. The former backcourt mate of Keith Appling during the 2011-12 season was the Spartans’ third-leading scorer on a 29-8 team that made the Sweet 16. He averaged 8.8 points per game in his lone season with Michigan State after transferring in from Valparaiso.
Wood decided to transfer to Michigan State during a time when transferring wasn’t nearly as prominent as it is now. He became a key figure on that Big Ten title team.
Now, he’s proving to have some of the most career longevity from that roster.
Per Wood’s official Twitter account, he has signed a deal with a Vietnam professional club called the Danang Dragons. This will be his 15th year of professional basketball according to the former MSU guard.
Year 15! Ready to get to it! 🏀❤️ pic.twitter.com/9tmLdpDNm0
— Brandon Wood (@BrandonWood30) June 25, 2026
I can’t find which teams he’s been on since 2021, but according to him, he’s been playing pro ball for 15 years after leaving Michigan State. He has been constantly showing Tom Izzo and the Michigan State basketball program a ton of support on social media and he even showed up to Grind Week last fall.
Although he’s a name that often gets overlooked, Wood loves Michigan State despite being there for just one season.
Brandon Wood’s lone MSU season could’ve been special
The Michigan State team that Wood joined in 2011-12 happened to be one of the best regular-season squads in the Izzo era. The Spartans were 27-7 and had just won the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Led by Draymond Green, Appling, Branden Dawson, Derrick Nix, Adreian Payne, Travis Trice, and Wood, that Michigan State team looked like a serious national title contender and advanced to the Sweet 16 with relative ease before running into a Louisville team that was hungry for revenge after losing to Michigan State in the Elite Eight in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
That team really could’ve done some damage if it had made it past Louisville but unfortunately one of Izzo’s four No. 1 seeds couldn’t get him over that second national title hurdle.
Wood almost transferred to Michigan State and came away with three rings.
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