This is the perfect offseason for Tom Izzo to change views on transfer portal

We're at that point in the offseason in which the end of the season is still fresh and fans are already looking at "what's next?" for the program. And Tom Izzo is hard at work with end-of-year meetings and early, early looks at 2024-25 Michigan State basketball roster contruction.

While he still likely hasn't come to terms with the fact that his 2023-24 season was a failure given the preseason expectations, he has to put his feelings aside and move forward.

Izzo even stated after the loss to North Carolina that he's going to get back to deeper runs in the NCAA Tournament or "die trying".

What that tells me is that he's willing to do whatever it takes to make a run at national title No. 2.

Whatever it takes should mean ditching his current views on the transfer portal and joining the rest of the nation in utilizing it. While the portal can be bad for the sport when guys transfer 3-4 times throughout their careers, it can also be helpful for talented players who want more exposure coming from smaller programs. There are plenty of those kinds of players on the market already.

Heck, even guys who want to take another step up to an even bigger power conference program (Oklahoma State's Javon Small) would be solid additions.

There are a number of talented players already on the market and Michigan State should be monitoring each of them. Small from Oklahoma State is one of the guys who I think would fit in nicely as a replacement for Tyson Walker. He transferred up from East Carolina to Oklahoma State and didn't see any drop-off in production, averaging over 15 points per game. He even improved all of his shooting numbers with the Cowboys.

Another name would be Terrence Edwards Jr. from James Madison. He's just looking for more exposure even though his Dukes went 32-4 this past season. He'd be the perfect wing to slide Jaden Akins over to the two-guard spot and allow Xavier Booker to play the four. Malik Hall's replacement?

Trey Townsend from Oakland has been a hot name thrown around a bit. He was one of the best players in the country near the end of the year and was a big reason Oakland made the NCAA Tournament and beat Kentucky. He scored 30 in the loss to NC State.

Lastly, there are dozens of really good centers on the market. Guys like Cliff Omoruyi (Rutgers), Maxime Raynaud (Stanford), and now Eddie Lampkin (Colorado) -- although I doubt Izzo targets him again as a third-time transfer -- are fair game. Izzo needs to take a serious look at each of them because the Spartans may be a starting-caliber center away from a Final Four squad.

This is the perfect offseason for Izzo to ditch the stubborn "anything but the portal" mindset and start improving this roster with proven guys.