Has anyone else been impressed with the bench production that Michigan State basketball has had this season? You're not alone, as Jeremy Fears Jr. and his teammates have taken notice and they've been heaping praise onto the bench players.
The Spartans have about 5-6 guys who come off the bench who could legitimately start or at least play major minutes on most teams. That's the definition of elite depth.
Fears spoke about just how good the bench has been this season following last Saturday's win over FAU. He called the bench a "second group of starters" and echoed the same sentiment about them being likely starters on most teams.
Here's that full interview post-FAU win from Spartans Illustrated.
Back in the day, Jeremy Fears was playing in a high school basketball tournament and ran into Coen Carr at a Subway in Florida. Here's that story and more following Saturday's #V4MSU. pic.twitter.com/4vas14FPoD
— Spartans Illustrated (@SpartansRivals) December 26, 2024
Fears was glowing when talking about his bench and this statement is the exact reason that I believe Michigan State is better this year than it's been in the past 3-4 seasons. I recently wrote about the bench production being a major reason for the sudden turnaround. And it's true.
If you look at the numbers, Fears is right. You could take any one of the 5-6 guys who come off the bench and throw them into the starting lineup and there would be little to no drop-off.
Coen Carr just scored a career-high 17 points against FAU, Xavier Booker scored a career-high earlier this year along with Tre Holloman and Jase Richardson. Holloman has been starting lately, but he has come off the bench quite a bit this season. Oh, and Carson Cooper has been a serviceable backup big and Frankie Fidler has been a nice boost of energy off the bench.
These guys could start on most teams and I wouldn't be shocked to see any in the starting lineup at some point this season.
The bench has been the difference in 2024-25.