Tom Izzo shares an exciting Xavier Booker update

The Michigan State basketball season is inching closer and with every passing day I am getting more and more excited. There are many reasons to be excited about the season ahead but one of the biggest for is Xavier Booker.

Booker in my opinion is the biggest factor to how good MSU will be this season. Yes every player on the team will have an impact on the team, but the potential Booker possesses, and is yet to fully demonstrate at MSU, is the reason why his development this offseason is so critical.

Spartan fans last year got to the point where they were upset for the lack of playing time Booker received. However, I think we all knew why he wasn’t playing so much and that was because of his physicality and weight. Booker was undersized which negatively impacted many aspects of his game including defense and rebounding. And we all know those are two things everyone must do effectively if they want to play on Tom Izzo’s team.

So this offseason it was critical for Booker to add some weight in the weight room to help improve on these aspects of his game. And according to Izzo he has done just that to the tune of 22 pounds since March.

This is a huge improvement and will definitely help Booker be more effective on defensive and rebounding the ball, but even Izzo thinks there’s a lot of progress that can still be made with his weight.

There are still about one and a half months remaining until the season begins, so Booker has time to add even more weight. But regardless of if he is able to add more or not this 22 pound improvement should do wonders for his game.

So when you add this extra weight to his already very solid offensive game you get a problem on the court. Not a problem for Michigan State, but every other team they face. Booker will be a matchup nightmare with his three point shot and ability to finish at the rim as well, but if he can become a solid defender and rebounder then we may be looking at an All-Big Ten player this season.