Jordan Scott emerging as a star despite Duke loss

On Saturday, Michigan State basketball dropped their first game of the season to familiar nemesis Duke, 60-66. The Spartans could not capitalize on a few five-point advantages, and Duke, on the strength of a second-half effort by Cameron Boozer, were able to power by. However, the Spartans have a weapon that is slowly being revealed as the season goes on. Freshman Jordan Scott finally got the stat sheet to show his effort in the end result.

Scott got love from his teammates and coach Tom Izzo after the game, where he finished with six points, five rebounds, a steal, and assist, and two blocks. The freshman’s calling card is doing the little things right, and those “little things” nearly paid off in a big win.

Teammates, Tom Izzo Speak on Jordan Scott

Jaxon Kohler had praise for the Virginia native post-game, calling his plays “inspirational,” along with calling him the definition of the word “Spartan.” Considering the teams and success the senior has seen, that is lofty praise indeed.

“Some of Jordan’s plays are like, I don’t know the right word for this, but they give you so much energy, they’re inspirational,” Kohler said of his freshman teammate. “He’s not the strongest dude, but he goes in hard for rebounds and he gets those rebounds that you really need. It just lights the place up. His attitude, his effort, it just defines the word ‘Spartan.’”

Kohler tasked himself and his teammates with continuing to provide an environment for the freshman to grow and flourish, with their job being to keep Scott confident. Scott has started to see the three fall recently, including two shots on Saturday.

“I hope he continues to grow with it,” Kohler said of Scott’s effort plays. “He just has to continue to make more plays, to get stronger, get more confidence shooting, one thing I know is that he is a great shooter. We just need to make sure we keep uplifting him and keep his confidence growing.”

Tom Izzo, Jaxon Kohler, and nearly every teammate rave on Scott’s shooting ability, with Izzo comparing the freshman to former Spartan one-and-done Max Christie, an NBA veteran with 210 games played to date since entering the league in 2022.

Izzo offered his own scouting report on the freshman to the media today, claiming all that is missing for the freshman is experience.

“High basketball IQ. Great shooter, just has not shot well this year. Very good shooter. He has length, and you tell him what to do, he does it. He just needs experience now, and he is getting it,” Izzo assessed.

The next step for Scott starts this week, with the freshman handling his first collegiate loss. Based on his effort plays no matter the situation or how many minutes he plays, there is zero doubt that he can bounce back.