Michigan State fans received worst-case scenario news regarding Divine Ugochukwu’s apparent foot injury. Rumors were circulating that he would be out for the season, but no one knew for sure until Friday afternoon when Tom Izzo told the media that he was having surgery and wouldn’t be back this year.
That news hit like a brick to the side of the head after a two-game losing streak that has popped up out of nowhere after a record-tying 19-2 start to the season.
Ugochukwu will be out for the year with the foot injury, and now the Spartans’ backcourt will be down a backup point guard option. This is worst-case scenario for a team that was already short ball-handlers. Having Denham Wojcik come in as the team’s backup point guard would be less than ideal.
So who will replace Ugochukwu for the rest of the year?
Breaking down Divine Ugochukwu’s replacement options
There are three options to replace Ugochukwu’s 16 minutes per game, and two of them already play big minutes for the Spartans. Kur Teng and new starter Jordan Scott are going to see a slight uptick in playing time, but Trey Fort is going to probably see his playing time double.
Through 23 games, Fort is averaging just about 10 minutes per game, but with 16 minutes up for grabs, I would assume he gets at least 8-10 of those. He should be playing closer to 20 minutes per game the rest of the year, and I think he absolutely should.
Fort will provide the spark that this offense needs.
Sure, there’s a chance that we could see more Wojcik, but I’d be shocked if Fort didn’t come in to handle some of the backup point guard duties.
Looking at the other two options, though, Teng is just not much of a ball-handler. He has improved in that area, but I’m not sure the confidence is there to bring the ball up the floor. Scott is more of a wing than a true guard, so having him handle the ball would probably be a no-go, although Izzo does trust him more than he usually trusts true freshmen.
That leaves Fort who’s averaging 4.3 points and shooting under 30 percent from the floor. If his minutes increase, he’s going to hopefully average somewhere around 10 points, too. In games in which he’s played at least 15 minutes, he’s averaging 8.1 points and shooting 39 percent from the floor and 36 percent from three. When he plays more, he plays better.
This could be the start of Fort’s ascension. He has a chance to be a hero for Michigan State.