What could the rotation look like next season?
Hello TOC, I know the pain is still very present and we are all still hurting from Sunday’s loss . Add to that the shock of Tre Holloman to the portal . And perhaps the less surprising declarations of Gehrig Normand and Xavier Booker. Be that as it may, sports coverage is a 24/7/365 business, so even though we, the TOC writers, want to continue talking about this past season, we are obligated to take a look ahead to the 2025-26 season.
This is the third year I have done this article, but I must thank Mike Homes for his help this year. We spoke endlessly these last few days about the many different potential scenarios. The past two years, I stuck to a few steadfast rules in creating these “1st Looks”:
1. Any player who has played four years of college basketball will not be returning (Covid years are gone now, so no worries on that end).
2. Any player who has not played four years will be returning. No one is going pro or transferring to a new school.
3. Not speculating on any incoming transfers.
With that said, this year’s 1st Look originally had a few different versions because there is just no ignoring a couple of highly possible scenarios that stray from the above guidelines, that being Jase Richardson going to the NBA Draft and Xavier Booker transferring. Well, Booker is out the door so he is not included anymore. Now we are just going to look at one scenario: those that have declared for the portal are gone while Jase Richardson will initially declare for the NBA draft, with Tom Izzo’s full support, but then withdraw and decide to return to MSU for a second year.
We have to go with this because anything else just seems too depressing right now.
So here it is, at least until the next shoe drops:
Starting 5:
PG – Jeremy Fears. Fears came into last season as the starter at the point, and with the exception of one game which he was injured, he held that spot all season. No need to overthink this one.
SG – Jase Richardson. Richardson was the biggest surprise of the 2024-25 team and ended up as its best player. He became a starter halfway through the season. He stays here.
SF – Coen Carr. This was probably the toughest decision of this exercise, at least prior to Holloman portaling. Putting Carr in this spot does give MSU a big lineup as we saw last year that Carr can take minutes at the 4-spot. Having him at 3 does have the potential to inhibit the offense’s ability to spread the defense out as he is more of a threat to score down low than he is with his perimeter shooting, though even that was respectable this year (4th on team at 33% on 3-point shooting). But having him in this spot does enhance our ability to stop teams that are bigger and stronger and attack the basket more (i.e. this year’s Auburn). The other option we initially considered here was Holloman but that’s now off the table. In the end, we hope to see Carr add another element to his offensive game that we have not seen yet, much like he added the ability to take defenders down off the dribble this past year.
PF – Jaxon Kohler. Kohler was another player who started the season on the bench but then was moved into the starting lineup. Like Carr, Kohler added to his offensive repertoire last season. His energy is terrific, and he was our leading rebounder at 7.5 per game. His three-point shooting came out of nowhere last year and allowed him to be a stretch-4. In this proposed lineup, that does help cover for the fact that Carr is not a guy we are going to have camp out beyond the arc. Kohler needs to add a little more strength to become more reliable with the ball in the low post.
C – Carson Cooper. Cooper is one of the great feel-good stories in MSU basketball history. A much over-looked member of his class, he has grown to be this team’s most sound interior defender. Next year, as a senior, we expect this part of his game to be even better with a little more strength and bulk added. His offensive game is probably where it is going to be, scoring off the role or by drawing fouls down low. He shot 75% on FTs last year.
Reserves:
Backcourt – Kur Teng. Obviously, there is not much in the way of experience here. Teng saw a few minutes this year, appearing in 19 games, though almost always in garbage time. What he brings to this team remains much of a mystery, but Izzo obviously likes his game as he was moved ahead of Normand in the rotation.
Frontcourt – Jesse McCullough, Cam Ward, Jordan Scott. The loss of Booker opens up a huge opportunity here. McCullough will become the primary backup center when we are playing our usual formation. Cam Ward may be the big winner from today’s portal news. Booker’s departure opens up a clear path for him to get the backup PF spot. Scott, on the other hand, is more of a SF, and could be a backup to Carr.
Clearly there is a sudden urgency for Tom Izzo to hit the portal hard and build up the depth of next year’s squad. The Tre Holloman news really is giving me a lot to think about. After being in the locker room after Sunday night’s loss and hearing some of Jase’s comments, I was certain he was moving on. But the Holloman news is giving me second thoughts. I do not understand why Tre is leaving unless he believes Jase will return. Or, as some of you have pointed out in the comments already, maybe he is just doing some NIL shopping. He does still have the ability to withdraw his name from the portal, and I do not think Izzo would object to his return.
Even if both Jase and Tre come back, there is not much depth. Another perimeter player who can shoot and another big who can give minutes down low will be needed. We won’t try to speculate who is coming, though we will report if anyone from the portal makes a visit to E.L. And with any additions (or further subtractions), we will edit our projections for next season’s rotation.
*The deep reserves of Nick Sanders and the Walton Twins were not included in this article, but we look forward to seeing them all in lots of celebration minutes next year.