3 early transfer targets for Michigan State basketball
If Tom Izzo and the 2024-25 Michigan State Basketball team want any form of success next season, they are going to have to find help from the outside.
With the outgoing senior class, the Spartans are losing 62 percent of their average scoring and while the returning underclassmen will probably help fill the void, it leaves Jaden Akins as the lone player on the roster to average more than 20 minutes a game (assuming AJ Hoggard and Mady Sissoko do not come back). It seems like AJ has worn out his welcome and basketball is just a small side quest in the great story of Mady Sissoko. He'll be so much more recognized for his humanitarian efforts than some silly little game.
Making the jump from bench role player to full time starter doesn't mean stats and performance are guaranteed. Yes, Tre Holloman saw quite a bit of playing time, but still only averaged 5.7 points. Xavier Booker should take the biggest leap but if we stretch his points per game to points per 40 minutes, he'll probably average around 15 points per game, which is great, but cannot be the team leader if these guys want to continue the tournament streak let alone, make a deep run like Izzo keeps saying.
Here are three names Izzo and Co. need to be recruiting to take this team to the next level.
1. Maxime Reynaud
As the best player in the portal right now, the 7-foot-1 power forward/center from Stanford would have this year's team still playing if he were on the team.
Yes, his 15.5 points per game and 9.6 rebounds per game are impressive, but he also shot 36.1% from beyond the 3-point line. Not only does that get more points out of the center position but also would draw the other teams' big men out from the basket, this would've helped the guards and other forwards get easier paths to the basket instead of having to pull up early for the contested mid-range two.
His size would also allow Xavier Booker to play the four spot and can already see him filling in for Malik Hall but with a better 3-point shot. Late in the season, we saw Booker take and make threes but also was able to get in the lane to make those turn-around short twos where Hall had plenty of made buckets.
With this addition, the starting lineup would be: Tre Holloman, Jaden Akins, Coen Carr (if he spends the offseason with Branden Dawson learning the short jumper and lockdown defense), Booker, and Reynaud. Fears can come in for Holloman or the latter goes to shooting guard and Akins comes out, or Carr goes out and Akins can go to a small-ball three, much like last year.
The possibilities are endless with this addition and makes Michigan State an instant contender for the Big Ten crown.
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