Frankie Fidler is a perfect fit for Michigan State basketball

On April 23, Omaha's Frankie Fidler announced his intentions to join the Michigan State basketball program. With his size and skill set, he became an ideal addition to Tom Izzo's lineup. Pencil him in to be the starting small forward once the 2024-25 season begins.

Against smaller opposing units, the Spartans can get away with playing Fidler at the four alongside Xavier Booker, yet his more natural position is the three.

The fanbase had hoped that Izzo would pursue a true center which would allow Booker to play power forward more although that now appears unlikely as we draw closer to summer workouts. This is disappointing as Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper haven't taken their games to the next level yet and incoming freshman Jesse McCulloch won't be ready to make a major impact immediately. An upgrade at the five should have been addressed already.

Fidler's scoring punch (he averaged 20 points per game as a junior and has scored more than 1,500 points during his college career thus far) should make up for the loss of Tyson Walker, subbing out one big-time scorer for another. His shooting splits are solid; over a three-year span they were 45/35/85 (field goal/3-point/free throw) and that indicates how soft his touch is.

You'll see MSU run him off pin-downs, screens, and deploy him to the post where he can shoot over defenders with his length. He certainly will have opportunities to attack as a secondary ball handler from either elbow during isolations. With his shot-making abilities and three-level scoring prowess, he'll be an extremely effective pick-and-roll partner with Jeremy Fears and Tre Holloman.

Fidler is a human Swiss army knife type of player who is an ideal match for the offensive sets that Michigan State runs.

Fidler is 6-foot-7 and versatile. His tape shows flashes of him being more of a playmaker than a spot-up shooter. He averaged 6.3 rebounds a game as well as 2.6 assists per game. He possesses plenty of potential as a strong defender also (averaging 1.2 steals per game last season) and he's comfortable switching onto guards or frontcourt players during defensive possessions.

It seemed as if Michigan State placed an emphasis on landing Fidler over Oakland's Trey Townsend which makes sense as the former can space the floor much better than the latter and open up the court for Fears and Co. to drive the lanes. Fidler not only is a better 3-point shooter than Townsend (35.4% vs. 31.4%) but has done so at a volume that nearly doubles Trey's (316 attempts from deep vs. only 159).

Being selective with offers is an approach that can sometimes burn a coaching staff as they're assembling a roster yet in this case, they were able to prioritize their target and close on him.

On paper, Fidler is tailor-made for MSU's style of play.