Michigan State’s 2026-27 season is nearing its tip-off and Tom Izzo spoke to the media on Thursday about his team and expectations for the upcoming campaign.
Somewhat lost in his media session was a duo of underclassmen who he dubbed the “most improved” players this offseason and they raise the already-elite ceiling of this team. The names Jordan Scott and Jesse McCulloch were the first to come out of the Hall of Famer’s mouth when he spoke about his most improved players from the summer.
According to Spartans Illustrated, Jesse has “improved his athleticism” and has worked hard when everyone else went home. He can shoot the ball and he’s helped his teammates get better. And Scott is Scott. He’s being projected by some experts as an NBA prospect this year.
The fact that Izzo didn’t need to go into depth about Scott after calling him one of the two most improved players on the team should tell us all we need to know about what the Hall of Famer expects out of him.
Those two don’t just raise the floor of this team which is at a lot of teams’ ceiling, but they make Michigan State a legitimate national title favorite.
Michigan State already has returning stars like Coen Carr and Jeremy Fears Jr. who have legitimate All-Big Ten first-team potential but then you add in a top-five incoming freshman class and a duo of “most improved” underclassmen, and you have arguably the best team in the best conference in the country. There’s a perfect mix of veterans, star freshmen, and improved underclassmen. That’s exactly how you build a national title contender.
McCulloch’s improvement was obvious in the exhibition opener against Incarnate Word when he led all scorers and Scott also looked like a budding star. Neither should be that surprising.
Michigan State has all the pieces necessary to win it all
Great teams have a mix of veterans, youth, and perform at a plus level on both ends of the floor. Michigan State has the All-American-caliber vets, one of the best freshman classes in the country, and now some underclassmen who have taken that next step.
And that’s not even mentioning Cam Ward’s improvement which has been hindered a bit by an injury, but he was in line to be the starting forward before having to nurse his ankle.
Every national title team has an elite point guard (Jeremy Fears Jr.), a great support captain (Coen Carr), a strong cast of improved underclassmen (McCulloch, Scott, Ward), really good supplementary role players (Kur Teng, Kaleb Glenn, Anton Bonke), and an elite crop of freshmen. Oh, and a Hall of Fame head coach with a title and eight Final Fours under his belt can’t hurt.
Michigan State has its sights set on Detroit.
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