Michigan State basketball may have just leaked its starting five

The one thing that every Michigan State basketball fan wants to know is who the starting five will be this fall. And it’s a very interesting debate to have because three of last year’s starters are gone and there’s a potential for their to be a shakeup with the two returning starters as well.

With so much unknown about who the starting five will be in such a massive season for Tom Izzo and Michigan State’s legacy, MSU fans are going above and beyond in trying to figure out who the starting five will be. And one fan in particular may have just cracked the code.

Recent practice footage was posted on YouTube by SpartanMag and it showed the team scrimmaging during practice. And if you look closely, you’re able to come up with the two lineups from the video listed in the post above.

When comparing the two lineups, it’s pretty easy to see which would be the starting five, but even with it being pretty obvious there are some shocking takeaways.

Potential starting five takeaways

Three guaranteed starters

First let’s discuss why I feel very confident the first lineup listed above is the starting five. Three of the players listed, Jaden Akins, Frankie Fidler, and Xavier Booker, are obvious starters heading into this season.

I would guess that every Michigan State fan would predict those three to be starters at the beginning of the season, so that’s why this lineup is likely the current starting five.

Point guard battle

That leaves us with two spots that are up for grabs in the starting lineup, with the first being point guard. The starting point guard is is a battle between Jeremy Fears Jr. and Tre Holloman, but this video tells us that Fears so far is the leader in that battle. Both players in my eyes have a great chance to be the starting point guard, but Fears has the higher upside in my opinion so him winning the battle makes sense.

And what a story that would be for Fears to go from being shot in the leg in December to being the starting point guard when the season begins in November.

Options at center

The most interesting selection on this potential starting five by far is at center where it looks like Izzo has slotted in transfer big man Szymon Zapala.

I think the assumption up to this point for most is that Jaxon Kohler or Carson Cooper would be the starting center this season. However, maybe Zapala is a better option than we originally thought. Zapala did show that he can shoot the three during Moneyball this summer, so that would be a huge plus for him in comparison to both Kohler and Cooper. However, Zapala has never regularly played against Big Ten competition, so that would scare me a little.

Zapala being the starter would also suggest that Kohler and Cooper haven’t made the jumps we hoped to see this offseason. That would be a very scary thing to see considering they’re both juniors this year.

The center spot is the one selection from this lineup I’m not that confident sticks, but we’ll see how that shakes out in Michigan State’s upcoming trip to Spain.

Where’s Coen Carr?

The one player missing from the two lineups is Coen Carr. Carr can be seen in the video on the sideline wearing the same jersey color as the projected starting five, so that leads me to think that he’s very close to becoming a starter.

But I don’t think he has much of a chance of becoming a starter this year.

Carr is at his best at the four, which is where Booker is most likely to play and is listed in the above lineup with Zapala at the five. There’s zero chance in my mind that Carr can beat out Booker for a starting spot, so that leads me to think that he could be one of the first players off the bench.

Now I’m not sure why Carr isn’t included in the second lineup, but maybe he’s just subbing in with both lineups during this scrimmage. Regardless, there will be plenty of playing time this year for Carr off the bench where he can show off his high-flying athleticism and hopefully an improved jump shot as well.