How much does Michigan State basketball miss Dwayne Stephens?

Michigan State basketball has lacked a true Big Ten center for five-plus years now. Is there any correlation to losing Dwayne Stephens?

Michigan State basketball has a long, historic list of centers and forwards that played for the green and white. Adreian Payne, Nick Ward, Xavier Tillman, Paul Davis, Goran Suton, Draymond Green, Brandon Dawson, Jaren Jackson Jr. The list goes on and on.

Whether they were considered forwards or actual centers, the Spartans have always had a dominant presence in the post. That is, until recently.

For the past five years, post play and center/forward development has been a major issue for MSU. Coincidentally, Michigan State had a coaching change exactly at this time, and long-time Tom Izzo assistant Dwayne Stephens accepted a position as the head coach at Western Michigan. 

The Dwayne Stephens era at MSU

Back in 1989, Dwayne Stephens played for MSU coaching legend Jud Heathcote as a big man, averaging nine points and 5.6 rebounds per game. The co-captain never quite lit the world on fire, nor did his professional career ever truly take off. Stephens decided to take his talents to the sideline and, following a short stint with Oakland University, began coaching under former MSU assistant Tom Crean at Marquette. Stephens would find success coaching the big men there, and eventually return to his alma mater and coach next to Tom Izzo in 2003.

Since then, Stephens led the recruitment and development of future Spartan big men greats. Stephens gets credit for developing the likes of Goran Suton, Derrick Nix, Adreian Payne, Matt Costello, Gavin Shilling, Jaren Jackson Jr., Xavier Tillman, and Nick Ward. Some of the aforementioned big men were highly-rated recruits that just needed help adjusting to college basketball speed, while some were truly developed by Stephens and his staff.

Either way, Stephens had the MSU bigs feared by other programs around the country. 

Post Stephens era 

As mentioned, Stephens decided to try his talents at Western Michigan as the Broncos’ head coach. Since his departure, Michigan State basketball truly has lacked any sort of edge in the frontcourt. Since 2021, MSU has still been able to attract high-end recruits at the forward/center position, but the development of these players has been non-existent.

MSU has relied heavily on centers such as Thomas Kithier, Marcus Bingham Jr., Mady Sissoko, Carson Cooper, Jaxon Kohler, and now Xavier Booker. Unfortunately for Spartan fans, none of those players strike fear in MSU’s opponents.

Kithier seemed over-matched from the beginning and would transfer out, but Bingham and Sissoko both never developed into what Michigan State had hoped. Both were four stars, Sissoko was a top-50 prospect, yet Bingham only averaged nine and three in his senior year, and Sissoko is at 4.8 points and 6.7 rebounds. The development of these highly-touted recruits has been missing since Stephens left Michigan State.

The jury is absolutely still out on Cooper, Kohler, and definitely on Booker. We have seen flashes of what can be from each of these guys, but not at a consistent enough rate. And, if the last five years has taught us anything, the odds are slightly against the Spartans. 

The lack of development isn’t the only reason for Michigan State struggling in the frontcourt. Tom Izzo seems to have the utmost confidence and loyalty to his center/forward assistants development abilities. He continues to rely on them rather than attacking the position in the transfer portal. Not saying that MSU had a chance to land every forward/center in the portal, but a guy like Tre Mitchell would’ve done wonders on this team. 

If Dwayne Stephens stayed as Izzo’s associate head coach developing the forwards and centers, would any of the big men on the roster be in a better position than they are now? Stephens currently has the Western Michigan Broncos at fourth in the MAC, with a 7-foot-0 sophomore averaging 13 points and 5.6 rebounds. It’s impossible to say. In the end, who knows if Stephens and his coaching is actually linked to the lack of a post presence for the Spartans. But Michigan State basketball is sorely lacking a true weapon in the front court, and has for quite some time.