Tom Izzo is a true believer in earning everything. He’s not going to give incoming players minutes just based on hype or player rankings. He’s going to make players earn every minute that they play.
Izzo also isn’t in the business of hyping up players without results to back it up.
So when he told the media on Thursday that his two-man freshman class is “better than I thought when I got them”, it opened some eyes.
You don’t usually hear the Hall of Fame head coach raving about true freshmen before they see the floor in the green and white, but Izzo really likes what he’s seeing from Jordan Scott and Cam Ward.
Izzo continues to trumpet the development of freshmen Cam Ward/Jordan Scott. "These two guys are better than I thought when I got them." Says Scott-Max Christie comp is solid. "Not as good yet, but he's got some of those characteristics." Liking Scott's defense early on.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) October 16, 2025
Talk about an intriguing quote.
Hearing the Hall of Famer compare Scott to Max Christie is exciting, but so is the fact that he said that both guys are better than he originally thought when he recruited them. Both Scott and Ward bring something different to the table, and they’re going to complement the roster perfectly.
We’ve heard players and coaches raving about Scott and Ward all offseason, and Jaxon Kohler even said at Big Ten Media Days that the latter is one of the toughest guys he’s ever gone against, and the former is a lights-out shooter from deep.
This isn’t exactly one of Izzo’s best classes, on paper, but it’s still a two-man class of top-55 recruits. Ward was ranked No. 46 and Scott was No. 54 in the 2025 class. For most programs, that would be one of the best classes in their history, but at Michigan State, these kinds of classes are expected. Still, it feels like both may have been underrated.
Izzo likes what he’s seeing from the freshmen, and if they can contribute at a high level from day one, Michigan State’s ceiling just gets that much higher.