Tom Izzo needs to be honest about Xavier Booker

Xavier Booker didn’t play a single minute against Maryland after receiving praise from Tom Izzo earlier in the week.

Another day means more drama amongst Michigan State basketball fans about why five-star freshman Xavier Booker isn’t getting more playing time from Tom Izzo. I understood it at first, clearly seeing the improvements he needed to make in his game. But now it just isn’t making sense to me.

The Spartans just got a huge 63-54 win over Maryland on Saturday, but it dawned on me after the game. Did Xavier Booker play at all? No, he did not. Booker wasn’t listed as out or questionable, so he was healthy going into this game.

Part of me gets Booker not playing much against Maryland. The Terps play a physical style of basketball that Xavier might not be ready for. But to get zero minutes? That makes no sense to me. Especially considering all the recent praise Tom Izzo has heaped onto him.

Tom Izzo’s recent praise of Booker

In recent weeks, Izzo has shared a lot of praise publicly about Booker. I can think of three or four times Izzo has said he needs to get Booker more minutes. But that isn’t the reason why Xavier’s no-show on Saturday makes no sense to me.

The biggest thing that stands out is what Izzo shared about Xavier in the days leading up to the Maryland game. Tom Izzo said that Xavier is “10 times better than he was a month ago.”

Now I don’t know what you think, but if Xavier has improved that much, he definitely should have played against Maryland.

Like I said before, maybe Booker didn’t play due to the matchup with Maryland. Someone pointed out that he never took his warmup off on the bench and usually he takes it off right after the game starts. So this might mean that Booker knew all along that he wouldn’t play in this game.

But all I ask is that Tom Izzo is honest about where Booker is at in his development. I do understand not wanting to share too much so they don’t help out their opponents, but he doesn’t need to keep saying that Booker needs more minutes if he’s not going to make any attempt at doing so.

However, as a fan, all I can do is just hope for the best. Izzo is a Hall of Fame coach for a reason, so he more than anyone deserves our trust.