Tom Izzo jokes about trying to get Jaden Akins to enter transfer portal

Tom Izzo joked at Big Ten Media Day that he was trying to get Jaden Akins to transfer because he was too smart.

Big Ten Media Days provide some of the best content of the offseason for Michigan State basketball fans because it’s an opportunity for Tom Izzo to be loose and the players open up a little more.

You don’t often see Izzo smiling during the season, so when you get that chance, you have to tune in.

Izzo used some of his dad humor on Thursday afternoon when he was talking about his senior leader, Jaden Akins. He spoke about how he tried to get Akins to enter the portal and to “get rid of him” because his GPA was too high and he never wants to coach players who are smarter than him.

Akins looked on with a grin and an eye roll.

Jaden Akins’ GPA was getting so high @MSU_Basketball head coach Tom Izzo jokes he almost put him in the portal 🤓🤣#B1GMediaDays x #B1GMBBall pic.twitter.com/yE2Ww5tdqc

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) October 3, 2024

Maybe Izzo is becoming pro-portal after all.

All jokes aside, it’s great to see the two together after rumors over the past two offseasons circulated that the star wing was considering transferring because of his role. Many believed he wanted to play a more on-ball role instead of a 3-point specialist and he kind of grew his game in 2023-24 but more will be expected of him as the team leader in 2024-25.

Akins has a chance to be one of the best players in the Big Ten if he can find that consistency that’s been lacking, but even when he’s struggling a bit on the floor, he’s remained consistent in the classroom which is impressive. Being a student-athlete is not easy, but you can tell Akins takes it seriously.

Michigan State enters its 30th season under Tom Izzo and Akins will be leading the way, trying to get the program back to the top of the Big Ten and back to a Final Four.