Tom Izzo jokes that Jaden Akins is too smart to play for him

Big Ten Media Days are here and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo spoke about the upcoming season and the expectations for his team.

We got to hear from Izzo, Jaden Akins, Xavier Booker, and Tre Holloman with the 2024-25 season approaching and the Spartans were pretty candid throughout Thursday's opening media day.

One topic that never seems to escape Izzo is the transfer portal.

And while that wasn't explicitly brought up during a media day interview, he joked that he almost made Akins enter the transfer portal because his GPA was too high. He joked that he never wanted to coach a player who was smarter than him and that's what Akins proved to be.

Akins gave Izzo an eye roll in jest along with a grin and let his coach talk up his smarts and how important he is to the team. Izzo said that he's one of the hardest workers he knows and that he lives in the gym and added that "he's done everything".

There have been rumors throughout the past couple of offseasons that Akins was considering a transfer because of his role on the team not matching what he was expecting. But thankfully he's stuck it out and will end his collegiate career as a Spartan.

Izzo says that Akins deserves to have a huge season and if you've followed his career, you'd be inclined to agree. The Spartans need him to have a big season, too.

At least we know he's never going to struggle in the classroom. He's smarter than Izzo, apparently.