The Spartans newest transfer, Szymon Zapala, has tantalizing size but there are concerns.
Michigan State landed its second transfer of the offseason with the commitment of Szymon Zapala .The 7-foot, 240-pound center looks the part of the long craved big man for the Spartans. It clearly was what coach Tom Izzo wanted. Unfortunately, it may not be what fans wanted.
Why is this perfect for Tom Izzo – Here are Some Reasons…
1) Tom Izzo Now Uses the Transfer Portal
Let’s start with the most obvious positive for Coach Izzo: two transfers in one year. This is one more than the coach has ever brought in in a single year. Long standing complaints that Izzo doesn’t use the portal now face the reality that Tom Izzo has evolved. Not just one transfer in a key spot, but two! See! Tom Izzo is all modern now!
Izzo can look straight at anyone questioning why he “doesn’t use the portal” and mumble back – “Yes. I do.”
2) Tom Izzo Knows the Center Position Needed Help – and He Did Something About It!
Last year, it was clear that Michigan State’s lack of work in the offseason to upgrade the front court hurt the team. Now, in actual defense of Coach Izzo, this was made worse by the injury to Jaxon Kohler. No one can predict injuries.
Arguably you can also say the lack of early season readiness from Xavier Booker hurt the team’s roster. But coaches should have a sense if their players are going to be day one ready – even if they are freshman. Building a roster on the back of a freshman that was clearly not ready (and look back at Izzo’s comments last summer, he warned people Booker would take a while to be ready) was poor roster construction.
This year though it’s different. The team had a need at center and Coach Izzo went and got a SEVEN FOOTER! Rejoice!
3) Tom Izzo avoided NIL muck
There is an odd aspect to NIL that deserves more attention: international players on study visas in the United States cannot receive NIL money. Seriously. Study visas for colleges expressly forbid international students from taking jobs. This was why Mady Sissoko used NIL-like deals to fund schools in his home country . (Tangent: That was a fantastic use of his influence).
While some schools are seemingly starting to figure out ways to get money to players through NIL like deals despite the visa restrictions, it is still not widespread.
Coach Izzo is clearly in the old-school camp that is at best skeptical of NIL, and at worst considers it to be working in unintended ways. He has not argued against NIL in any direct way, but his attitude towards the recent evolution of transfers and pay-to-play seem clear.
Bringing in an experienced player in the transfer portal without having to rob a (few) banks (cough, 2-million dollars for Great Osobor , cough) has to be considered a win for Coach Izzo. It keeps his program out of the headlines for giant pay days and has absolutely no risk of upsetting the internal balance of NIL deals within the existing players.
4) Coach Izzo Gets to Avoid Upsetting Any of His Current Players
Bringing in a transfer player inherently raises questions about whose playing time is going to take a hit. Coach Izzo brilliantly avoided that issue by bringing in a guy that should largely ride the bench! Despite Zapala’s size, he projects to be the third center in the rotation. Carson Cooper is widely considered the favorite to start with Jaxon Kohler getting a lot of minutes at the center spot and maybe some at the four spot. In some lineups Xavier Booker may even play center. That actually makes Zapala the fourth center on the team.
Coach Izzo found a way to bring in a transfer and avoid the delicate balance of ego amongst those elite centers already on the team.
5) Winning with Zapala Would Make Izzo Look Smart
What happens if Zapala magically comes in and smashes the competition? Well even better! Tom Izzo loves an underdog. He loves guys that work hard, grow over the years and develop into impact players. Finding a guy in the transfer portal that felt overlooked by every other big program for four years and having him turn into a stud on your team? Vintage Izzo.
As a bonus, it would make Izzo’s coaching staff look great. For years – particularly since Dwayne Stephens left for Western Michigan – critics have questioned the program’s ability to develop big men. If Zapala turns into a success story, that will make everyone on the coaching staff look good.
Effectively there is no downside in this factor for Izzo. If Zapala doesn’t crack the playing rotation – then it means he was right all along about the quality of his front court. If he does, well then amazing! Tom Izzo is a developmental genius who saw something no one else did!
6) Winning with Zapala Does Not Disrupt High School Recruitment
To be fair, this is actually good regardless of how you feel about Zapala. The 7-foot polish player is a fifth year player. Even if he is incredible with the Spartans, he will not block any potential incoming player from the high school ranks.
The 2024 class is locked in and should not feel threatened by Zapala at all. The three man class is ranked 15th in the nation . The two four-star players in the class are guards (Jase Richardson and Kur Teng). The lone big man in the class is three-star Jesse McCulloch. The 6’9” McCulloch has some serious potential, but had to see his freshman year as largely developmental with or without the new seven footer taking up space in the locker room.
By the time the 2025 class comes to East Lansing Zapala will be out of eligibility. In all honesty, this is actually pretty good for Michigan State, who clearly thrives (and prefers) high school recruiting. The same can be said about it being advantageous that the other transfer, Frankie Fidler , is in his fifth year of eligibility as well.
7) Tom Izzo Can Continue to Ignore You Because He Did the Thing You Asked For
This falls under the, “careful what you wish for” cliché. Fans have been screaming for Izzo to get a big man in the portal for two to three years. And guess what? HE DID IT. He got a seven footer. And now he’d clearly like you to stop complaining.
But what if you don’t like what Tom Izzo did? Well….tough.
For all the advantages Szymon Zapala brings to Izzo it’s not clear he brings as many to the Spartans.
On paper, Zapala has a great upside. You can’t teach a player to be seven feet tall. That size alone is valuable to a program that was clearly undersized the last few years across the roster.
Zapala also averaged a respectable 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds a game last year. Even better, he did that only playing 17-minutes a game.
The problems start when you look past the height and the surface level numbers.
Zapala couldn’t get on the court for his first three years at Utah State. Now, that team was loaded in the front court. Zapala’s sophomore and junior year, the newly minted 2-million dollar man , Great Osobor, was ahead of him on the depth chart. Fans can hope that Zapala was simply not as good as Osobor (not many are) rather than not actually good enough to play.
But even in his senior year at Longwood there are concerns. Looking at his game by game splits reveals a player that ended the year strong but also disappeared for long stretches. Zapala scored 17 points each in the Big South conference semifinal and final (both wins). But he only managed 6 points against Houston in the NCAA tournament first round loss (Granted, Houston was great this year).
More concerning was a stretch of 9-games during Big South conference play where Zapala failed to score double digits or grab more than 5-rebounds. The Big South is not exactly a league littered with top tier big men, let alone players that can match Zapala’s pure size advantage.
Zapala looks like a backup center who may be able to play some valuable minutes here and there. He looks like an emergency option rather than a go to player.
There is going to have to be some serious offseason development for Zapala. First up will most likely be improving his stamina (seriously, only 17-minutes a game in low major basketball when you’re a 7-foot senior?? Who else was taking those minutes??). From there, he will need to learn Izzo’s complex defense alongside sophomore Xavier Booker who clearly struggled to adapt to the defensive demands in his freshman year. And in the end, he’ll have to navigate a Big Ten full of quality big men.
That is a tall order – even for someone seven foot.
This is what Tom Izzo Wanted and It’s His World
Michigan State fans may feel a sense of ownership of the men’s basketball team, but the reality is this is Izzo’s team. It has been for 29 years and fans should not expect anything to really change. You can argue if modern basketball is evolving past him, or if he has lost a step. But whatever you say, you cannot question his control over this program.
There are no major reports of disappointments or recent major “misses” in recruitment.
For better or worse, this roster seems like the one Tom Izzo wants. It will take till this roster starts playing competitive games to determine if this is what fans want.