The future of Michigan State basketball is bright, but the next 24 hours are going to tell us just how bright it truly is.
Tom Izzo is facing the transfer portal deadline on Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. ET which means that players still have until midnight to enter. A couple of weeks ago, Izzo spoke on a podcast and mentioned that he didn’t think he’d be losing anyone, but you never really know nowadays. He said he didn’t expect any surprise transfers, and so far, he’s been right.
Through the first two weeks of the portal, no Spartans have entered and two former Michigan State role players actually hit the market again. Tre Holloman entered the portal with no eligibility remaining and Gehrig Normand decided to transfer again after a year with Santa Clara where he didn’t play because of an injury.
There’s still time for more to enter, but if midnight passes without any news, that means that Michigan State’s roster is almost set for the 2026-27 season.
Fans are hoping for an end to Tom Izzo’s transfer portal woes
Fans are annoyed by the lack of transfer portal usage by Izzo and it’s not because he’s just sitting around doing nothing, but rather he’s refusing to drop massive bags for top transfers.
Izzo is still targeting Christian Reeves, Anton Bonke, and Franck Kepnang, but he’s going to find out in less than 24 hours if he needs to add more targets to the list. If no one transfers out, that means that Michigan State is going to have essentially the same roster last season. There’s still a small chance that Carson Cooper returns, and in that case, the Spartans will have a top-three roster.
How does a 3-seed that lost in the Sweet 16 have a top-three roster in the country after bringing back essentially the same guys? Well, bringing everyone back from a Sweet 16 team is huge, and so is bringing in a top-five recruiting class and two transfers returning from season-ending injuries.
Add a transfer center and/or bring Cooper back and there’s a legitimate argument to be made for Michigan State having the preseason No. 1 team in college basketball.
Hopefully midnight passes without any major news. That’d be huge for this program’s immediate future.
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