Tom Izzo, again, promises more minutes for Xavier Booker

Tom Izzo spoke to the media on Monday and, once again, promised more minutes for Xavier Booker moving forward.

On Saturday, Michigan State basketball completed the season sweep of rival Michigan and are showing signs of the classic Tom Izzo run heading into the Big Ten Tournament and March Madness. In Monday’s presser, Izzo talked about five-star freshman Xavier Booker:

Izzo on Xavier Booker: "We're just seeing him so different." Says freshman is up 20 pounds, playing more aggressive/physically in practice and his limited mins. "There's a comfort level now. You're gonna see more minutes out of him."

— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) February 19, 2024

MSU Twitter has been very vocal about the limited playing time we’ve seen out of a freshman class that was supposed to be one of Izzo’s best of all time.  Gerhig Normand (redshirt), Jeremy Fears (injury), Coen Carr (limited minutes), and Booker (almost no minutes) have played far less than people were expecting. Especially with the struggles we’ve seen from some of the starters.

Normand and Fears’ lack of playing time makes sense.

Carr and especially Booker’s limited action has been a bit of a head-scratcher.

In the presser, Izzo says he has seen growth out of the freshman center. It was known entering the season he’d be a bit of a project but I don’t think anyone expected to see how little he’d play. It sounds like that might be beginning to change.

Booker’s frame was always a point of concern. He lacked size and needed to fill out his body in order to compete in the Big Ten. Based on Monday’s comments, Booker has put on 20 pounds and the coaching staff is starting to see validation in practice that the talented freshman is making progress.

Izzo says he is playing with more aggression and has significantly improved his physicality.

It seems like Izzo has said multiple times this year that Booker will get more playing time, which is promptly followed by playing him exactly zero (0) minutes. It feels different this time. There are tangible changes to his game and the timing might not be any better.

I think Booker needs one stand-out game to boost his confidence and solidify his spot in the rotation. Getting this done before the Big Ten tourney could be game-changing for the team’s postseason goals. Remember when Penn State didn’t even bother to guard Carson Cooper except in the paint? Yeah, that doesn’t happen with Booker given how good he is from three. Far more shots will start to open up when you can space things out.

Keep an eye out on Tuesday when MSU takes on Iowa at home. Also, if you’re going to the game, please wear a suit for my sake. Izzo needs to bring it back.

More Xavier Booker minutes + Izzo wearing a suit = national championship (only half-kidding).