It’s been a long month without Divine Ugochukwu. Including the Minnesota game when Ugochukwu suffered his season-ending injury, Michigan State is just 6-4. When Ugochukwu is healthy, Michigan State is 19-3 this year. Big difference without him.
The offense has taken a big step back when Jeremy Fears Jr. takes his 2-4 minutes of break each game, and that’s because there’s no trustworthy backup point guard.
Tom Izzo made the decision to move Ugochukwu from backup point guard to starting shooting guard in the middle of the year, and I think he was beginning to realize that there was a better way to handle the guard minutes. He moved Jordan Scott to the starting shooting guard spot and Ugochukwu back to the bench to presumably eat up backup minutes at the one and two.
Since his injury, however, the team has struggled with Denham Wojcik on the floor. That’s not his fault — he’s not exactly built as a Big Ten point guard. He’s small and not quick enough to keep up with a lot of talented point guards around college basketball.
It’s been a rough go without Ugochukwu to eat up backup point guard minutes and give Fears much-needed rest, but an interesting video has surfaced of the Miami transfer practicing with the team before Thursday’s NCAA Tournament.
MSU SG Divine Ugochukwu is on the court to shoot around. He’s still wearing the boot off it and is still out, but a big step recovering from his foot injury. pic.twitter.com/FhcVMLjyGE
— Connor Earegood (@ConnorEaregood) March 18, 2026
Another angle of Ugochukwu participating in drills with the Spartans was posted on Twitter by Stephen Brooks of 247Sports.
What does this mean for Michigan State?
Clearly Ugochukwu is moving much better than he was previously because he’d been sporting a walking boot and crutches for a while, but I’d be shocked if this means anything. While fans would kill to have Ugochukwu back, Izzo isn’t going to rush him back from a foot injury and risk long-term issues.
Ugochukwu is apparently still wearing the walking boot when he’s not shooting around with the team and he remains out, but this is the first video I’ve seen of him actually moving without the boot and getting shots up with the team.
Getting Ugochukwu’s offseason rehab started early is a great sign for the 2026-27 team.