Michigan State basketball listed as one of nation’s most experienced teams for 2023-24

Michigan State basketball has been listed as one of the most experienced teams in the country for the 2023-24 season.

Michigan State basketball fans are the most excited they have been about this upcoming season in a handful of years. Tom Izzo made a splash by landing a top-five recruiting class featuring Xavier Booker, Jeremy Fears Jr., Coen Carr, and Gehrig Normand.

However, the biggest relief came in the offseason when veterans Malik Hall, Tyson Walker, AJ Hoggard, and Jaden Akins all announced their returns in the span of two months.

And now, ESPN has published a list of the most veteran teams heading into the next season. They used an average age weighted by minutes (AAWM) to rank the teams.

MSU came in at No. 12 nationally, with an average weighted roster age of 21.9 years.

That mark led the Big Ten, with the next closest team being Purdue at No. 14. Kansas was listed at No. 1, with the headliner offseason addition of Hunter Dickinson from the team down the road.

Out of 170 total starts last season, MSU returns 130 of those starts, good for 76 percent. Obviously, the bulk of that number came in the backcourt with a combined 92 between Hoggard, Walker, and Akins.

The main gap on the roster will be at the power forward, where Joey Hauser’s minutes will be up for grabs between Hall and Booker. The center spot also could use some improvement after an inconsistent showing in 2022-23.

The returning production and experience will allow MSU to experiment with its exciting freshman class. It will also give them space to ease into the flow of the college game. An ideal college roster should mix youthful athleticism with veteran experience, and MSU fits that billing in 2023-24.

Izzo pursued a typically loaded non-conference schedule, featuring Duke, Butler, and Arizona. Pair that with a Big Ten gauntlet and you really need that level of experience to have a successful season.

If MSU wants to bring home a conference title and earn a trip to Phoenix it will be on the backs of its upperclassmen, as it has done so many times before.