Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images
Andrew Brewster
June 12, 2024 1:27 pm ET
Michigan State basketball had huge expectations in 2023-24. After making it to the Sweet 16 the year prior, MSU seemed poised for a big run, and was a preseason favorite to make a Final Four run. Unfortunately, the Spartans fell short of those expectations, falling to North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Now, Tom Izzo, who has implied he might have already retired if he had the one last big run he wanted, is preparing one of the last groups he attempts to make a tournament run with. As a result, every move he’s making is being more scrutinized than ever, as fans hope to see Izzo get his elusive second title before he rides off into the sunset.
Below, we take a look at every move, or non-move, Izzo made and graded each.
Retaining Jaden Akins
Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images
Grade: A
The first move Tom Izzo made this summer was actually the opposite of a move. Jaden Akins decided to stick around for one more year. Akins has been playing out of position at small forward for the past two seasons with Tyson Walker and A.J. Hoggard dominating the guard spots. So I don’t think it was a given that, in this day and age, Akins was going to come back for one more year. He has also flirted with the NBA draft going back to last season, so it was a great move to get Akins back for one year in his natural role at shooting guard nonetheless.
Adding Transfer SF Frankie Fidler
Annie Rice/Avalanche-Journal
Grade: A
Michigan State basketball fans were begging Tom Izzo to dip into the transfer portal this offseason to grab a true wing scorer, and the normally anti-portal Izzo obliged. He picked up the commitment of elite transfer wing Frankie Fidler from Omaha. I think Fidler was the perfect addition for this team, giving the Spartans a dominant scorer in that position.
Adding transfer C Szymon Zapala
Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports
Grade: B
This was a tough grade to give. Despite being a veteran center, there are still many unknowns about transfer center Szymon Zapala, who spent time at Utah State and Longwood. If he ends up just being insurance on the bench, that has value, but probably downgrades this move to the C-range. If he is a big contributor, this could be the sneaky best move of the offseason.
Signing assistant coach Saddi Washington
Junfu Han/Detroit Free Press
Grade: A
As you can start to see, I’m pretty bullish on the moves Izzo made this offseason. Stealing Saddi Washington, a Lansing native, from Michigan, was a great move. One thing MSU fans have complained about since losing Dwayne Stephens, a coach associated with coaching big men, was the Spartans didn’t replace him with another coach known for coaching bigs. Enter Washington, who has been working with Michigan’s bigs since 2016. It has already been reported that the plan is for Washington to work with MSU’s big men.
Promoting Doug Wojcik to associate head coach
Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Grade: B
I thought this was another sneakily savvy move from Tom Izzo. He promoted assistant Doug Wojcik to his associate head coach. This gets Wojcik out of the weeds of trying to help player development, and lets him focus on what people say he’s best at: Helping the team strategize and plan for opponents. It also sets him up to take a head coaching job in the future.
Promoting Austin Thornton, Jon Borovich to assistant coaches
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Grade: B
If you have to choose one word to describe Tom Izzo I would choose loyal. Izzo likes to take care of his guys, and he likes to promote from within. Izzo did that this offseason when he promoted Austin Thornton and Jon Borovich, two staff members, to assistant coaches. It’s not the splashiest move, but it’s a very Izzo-like move, and it always feels good to see a Spartan legend like former captain Austin Thornton get to sit on the bench.
Letting A.J. Hoggard walk
Junfu Han/Detroit Free Press
Grade: B-plus
Based on some of the numbers I have heard Vanderbilt offered A.J. Hoggard, I’m not even sure if there was a decision to be made here, but Hoggard had one more year of eligibility, and he will spend it in the SEC with Vandy. We can speculate all day on why the era of Hoggard at point guard was one of the more disappointing of Izzo’s tenure at MSU. Even I called him one of the 40 best players Izzo ever coached, but the reality is it just never clicked. Izzo seems eager to reset the leadership of his team and get behind young point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., and I think it’s a good move to start fresh rather than try this one more time.
