The panic surrounding Anton Bonke and the center position has crept in over the past week as the Michigan State big man transfer struggled mightily against UConn and barely saw the floor at Marquette, underwhelming just about everyone.
Tom Izzo, however, kind of expected the 7-foot-1 center to be a project.
Following a couple of exhibition losses last week, Izzo spoke to the media on Thursday and provided an update on his team and where he sees it heading into the season opener on Monday.
He touched on the controversial topic of Bonke and hinted that the Charlotte center transfer is going to be a bit of a project, calling him a “work in progress”.
Izzo says he anticipates playing Anton Bonke more minutes, but he also needs the transfer to improve on his ball-screen defense. "A lot of this stuff is still a work in progress," he says about the center position and bringing along MSU's new players.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) October 29, 2026
I just heard the collective groan from the fanbase after hearing “project” and “center” in the same sentence yet again. This has been a common theme over the past 5-6 years with guys like Marcus Bingham Jr., Xavier Booker, and now Bonke. Heck, Ethan Taylor was once dubbed a “project” but he’s looking more ready than anyone expected.
Hearing that the center who was expected to be the Day 1 starter and replacement for Carson Cooper is more of a project than a Big Ten-ready big is just a tad triggering.
Michigan State had one of the best rebounding tandems in college basketball last season and a pick-and-roll master in Cooper who could run the floor at an elite level for a guy his size and now it’s trying to decide between a project transfer, a true freshman, and a natural power forward to fill that void at the five.
How the times have changed.
Michigan State needs to finish this project by December
With Izzo insinuating that his transfer big man is a project, all projects do have due dates. Izzo needs to have the rough draft done by Nov. 10 (Duke) and then a second copy done by No. 17 (Tennessee) but the real due date for the final project is Dec. 2 as Minnesota kicks off Big Ten play at the Breslin Center.
Michigan State needs to feature a center it can run out there against any big in the Big Ten and have a chance. Right now, that’s not Bonke and Izzo admitted he has work to do.
The real option right now has to be Taylor with how comfortable he’s looking in three exhibition games and how he held his own on both ends of the floor against talented UConn and Marquette bigs. He has the size, motor, and potential to be an all-freshman team player in 2026-27 and he may just have to be with how slowly Bonke is coming around.
”A lot of this stuff is still a work in progress” is not a phrase you want to hear about the center that your Hall of Fame head coach is trusting to start on a national title-contending team.
There is a lot of work to do and Izzo needs to finish the project before the due date or he’s going to get docked a couple of losses that he didn’t expect.
Add us as a preferred source on Google