On Monday night, Michigan State basketball tipped off the 2024-25 season with an 81-57 victory over Monmouth. Although the game was never in doubt, the Spartans looked shaky at times. Particularly if you focused on their outside shooting. However, one player stood out who was heavily scrutinized this offseason: Jaden Akins.
With a slew of departures from the Spartans’ backcourt this offseason, all eyes were on the veteran shooting guard. And boy did Akins deliver.
He scored 23 points on an efficient 8-for-12 shooting night, including 7-for-8 on two-pointers. Ten of those points came at the rim where he did not miss. He also contributed nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and two steals to round out a very active night. Box score watchers would love that stat line. Even KenPom rated Akins as one of the best-rated performances on the opening night of college hoops.
But you also should watch the tape back more closely.
High success in transition
Akins’ motor was dialed in from the very start. The first play from the tipoff was a lobbed dunk from Fears to set the tone early. Everyone knows how good an athlete Akins is, but it was a refreshing reminder to start the season.
And from there, every opportunity where the Spartans got out in transition you could see Akins sprint to his spot in the corner. From there he is a threat to cut along the baseline for a lob, catch and shoot a 3-pointer, or ball fake and drive to the basket. With a more fast-break-oriented point guard in Jeremy Fears, we will probably see quite a bit more action from Akins as a beneficiary.
Monmouth’s opposing coach, King Rice, gave Akins high praise for his speed in his postgame comments:
Shooting consistency
If you could pick a singular play to encapsulate this Akins bounce-back performance, look no further than his lone made 3-pointer. Early in the second half, the teams were going back and forth and MSU was in desperate need of a scoring run. Coen Carr missed a free throw, and the tipped rebound landed into Akins’ waiting hands. Monmouth left him unguarded beyond the arc, and you could tell he was thinking about shooting. He paused, probably longer than he should have, but ultimately decided to pull the trigger on the shot from distance.
Money.
After the team went 1-for-10 from deep in the first half, that one had to feel good. And you could tell as much by Akins’ big grin as he ran back down the court. He needed that to fall in a bad way.
Despite being tied for the most made threes this past season, Akins has been far too streaky his first three years. And you can tell this team might have some adventures shooting the ball consistently.
Changing of the guard
For many reasons, the guard play for the last three years did not always work. Tyson Walker was a ball-dominant guard, often taking the mantle himself more than he should have. This caused his backcourt mates to take plays off and become more reliant on Walker for scoring. You especially saw the lack of effort from AJ Hoggard who ended up transferring to Vanderbilt. With Akins, it resulted in him disappearing for long stretches of the game when MSU could have used more assertiveness from him.
In the handful of preseason games between a trip to Spain, Northern Michigan, and Ferris State, Akins did not exactly impress. Many were concerned he was just getting in his own head. That he would forever remain a role player. It seemed this once highly coveted recruit would forever be burdened by his inconsistency. And frustratingly so, because MSU fans have seen the player they know Jaden Akins can be.
But as a program built on the backs of veteran guard play, MSU cannot afford to have a tentative version of Akins. As cliché as it sounds, this team’s ceiling is only as high as the level of play from No. 3. He needs to be a leader for this team.
Jaden Akins can keep this up
What we saw last night will work. It will allow MSU to contend in an ever-expanding Big Ten and make it to the second weekend.
We will continue to monitor Jaden Akins as the season progresses. But that was a heck of a start from a player primed to break out his senior year.
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