Way-too-early predictions for Michigan State basketball in 2025-26

USA Today

21-04-2025

Way-too-early predictions for Michigan State basketball in 2025-26 We made our guesses for how the 2025-26 Michigan State basketball season will go.
The 2024-25 Michigan State basketball season felt like a return to form for Tom Izzo and his Spartans. After a five-year period that included many anxiety-inducing Selections Sundays hoping the Spartans would make the cut for the NCAA Tournament, MSU dominated the Big Ten this year, cruising to a Big Ten title and a 2-seed in the tournament, where they were just six points away from a Final Four berth.
The year has restored a lot of the faith and excitement around the team. While there will be some new faces in the building next year, the expectations have definitely shifted back to normal for MSU. Instead of just hoping the Spartans can eek their way into the Tournament, there will be hope for another strong push next year. Below, our staff took a stab at making some predictions, including team MVP, sixth man, season outlook, and more.
Team MVP
Cory Linsner: Jeremy Fears Jr.
Robert Bondy: Jeremy Fears Jr.
Andrew Brewster: Coen Carr
Analysis: This is going to be Jeremy Fears Jr.'s team next year. Tom Izzo could have broke the bank and brought in an elite-level transfer to be the alpha on offense. Instead, he added pieces that will complement Fears and his strengths. I think this is the chalk pick for Team MVP, but I still opted to vote for Coen Carr here, but he will need to expand his scoring acumen to earn that title.
Defensive Player of the Year
CL: Trey Fort
RB: Coen Carr
AB: Coen Carr
Analysis: Coen Carr wins the majority of the votes here, which isn't a surprise considering how far his defense took a leap. Cory went with Trey Fort, which would be very welcome as the Spartans will need to replace both Jaden Akins and Tre Holloman's wing defense.
Sixth Man
CL: Kaleb Glenn
RB: Kaleb Glenn
AB: Kaleb Glenn
Analysis: It seems were are all very high on Kaleb Glenn off the bench, which isn't a surprise as he's a very exciting player whose flaws will be less apparent in the bench role. One note, I might have voted for Kohler here if he was slated to start the year off the bench. However, I'm expecting him to start most games, at least at the start of the year, so...
Best Addition
CL: Kaleb Glenn
RB: Kaleb Glenn
AB: Trey Fort
Analysis: We were all high on the transfers they brought in this year, but I was tempted to put Cam Ward in here, but it's still unclear how many minutes he will be able to get in a crowded position.
Rotation
RB
Starters: Jeremy Fears Jr. Trey Fort Coen Carr Jaxon Kohler Carson Cooper
Bench: Kaleb Glenn Jesse McCulloch Kur Teng Cam Ward
CL
Start of the year:
Starters: Jeremy Fears Jr. Trey Fort Coen Carr Jaxon Kohler Carson Cooper
Bench: Kaleb Glenn Jesse McCulloch Kur Teng Cam Ward
End of the year:
Starters: Jeremy Fears Jr. Trey Fort Coen Carr Cam Ward Jesse McCulloch
Bench: Kaleb Glenn Carson Cooper Kur Teng Jaxon Kohler
AB
Starters: Jeremy Fears Jr. Trey Fort Coen Carr Jaxon Kohler Carson Cooper
Bench: Transfer PG Kaleb Glenn Jesse McCulloch Kur Teng Cam Ward
Analysis: Cory had the spiciest rotation, as he actually broke his down between the start of the year and the end of the year, with a prediction that Cam Ward and Jesse McCulloch will overtake Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper for starter minutes in the back half of the season. There have been rumors for a while that McCulloch has been impressive in practices, and Cam Ward is coming into East Lansing with a lot of hype, so that wouldn't be a huge shock.
For more on the potential rotation, I published a piece diving into more detail last week, which you can find here.
Season Record/March Madness outcome
CL: 22-14, Round 32
RB: 26-12, Sweet 16
AB: 28-10, Elite 8
Analysis: We are all varying degrees of positive about the outlook for next year, while still having the expectation that this probably isn't the year the Spartans really make a run at a national title. I think the consensus is that next year will probably be a slight rebuild as the team re-orients itself around Jeremy Fears Jr. and focuses on the development of incoming freshmen Cam Ward and Jordan Scott. I was the most optimistic about their chances, predicting a similar outlook for next year that we saw this year, because I do expect the defense to still be elite and I think the Spartans made some savvy additions in the portal this offseason to improve their shooting.
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