Tom Izzo not utilizing the transfer portal is costing Michigan State

Tom Izzo refuses to effectively utilize the transfer portal which is costing Michigan State basketball in the new era.

Adapt or die.

College athletics have been going through a massive amount of change, with things such as conference realignment and the transfer portal. Coaches across the country have utilized the portal to rebuild their rosters instantly, reload for national championship runs, and for many other reasons.

Tom Izzo is not one of them. That is a massive problem. 

The open scholarship

Division I college basketball teams are allowed to hand out 13 scholarships. There are only 12 scholarship players on Michigan State’s roster. 

For some reason, that scholarship remains unused today. 

That scholarship could have gone to one of hundreds of other players who would have helped this basketball team win games. Many of those players would kill for an opportunity to play for the Spartans. It would not be surprising if plenty of transfers reached out to MSU to gauge interest. At the end of the day, Tom Izzo is still a Hall of Fame coach and Michigan State has one of the most prestigious men’s basketball programs in the country. 

From a purely speculative standpoint, one can only imagine this is from outdated thinking that transferring players are not beneficial and are quitters who are constantly looking for greener pastures. Izzo showed his distaste for the transfer portal at Big Ten media day in October, stating that being “unhappy” isn’t a good reason to switch schools. Izzo also said, “Unhappy makes people realize, ‘You know what? I’m not good enough. I’ve got to get better.’”

Regardless of Izzo’s thinking about athletes who transfer, it’s clear he has to get better. This is especially true with this short, recent history with players who did transfer to Michigan State. 

Tyson Walker and Joey Hauser

Two of the best players Michigan State has had in the last few years started elsewhere. Tyson Walker played for two years at Northeastern. Joey Hauser began at Marquette. Walker is the only transfer Izzo has taken since the rule that dictates all players are allowed to transfer once with immediate eligibility took effect. Hauser sat out the 2019-20 season. 

Both players have cemented themselves as tremendous players.

Walker has been the clear best player for MSU this season. Hauser faced plenty of criticism during his time at East Lansing but pushed through it. He shot an eye-popping 46 percent from three last year, had 14.4 points per game, and was a big reason for MSU’s late-season surge to the Sweet 16 last year. 

Tom Izzo has hit on his last two transfers. It is easy to understand why: he’s Tom Izzo. Top transfers from mid-majors and some of the big fish from other high-major schools would kill to be coached by him. 

Michigan State is not and should not be a team that relies on tons of transfers coming in every year. Regardless, it is a very easy way to patch holes in the roster and make the team as strong as possible every single year. Given Walker and Hauser’s success in East Lansing and the open scholarship, it’s puzzling as to why Izzo would not trust himself to find a transfer that would fit the culture he desires to cultivate and help on the court. 

Adaptation

Tom Izzo needs to establish Michigan State as a transfer destination. The best teams do it. Top-ranked Arizona has North Carolina transfer Caleb Love who has given them 14 points and 4.5 assists per game so far. Right behind them is Kansas, which is getting 19 and 13 on 64 percent shooting out of the beloved Hunter Dickinson from Michigan. Baylor transfer LJ Cryer is No. 4 Houston’s top scorer. 

Walker is a transfer, but that is the extent of the portal’s impact on Michigan State’s roster. The majority of teams have multiple transfers that are real contributors for them. 

If Izzo wants his first national title in almost a quarter century, it’s time he thinks like a coach in the year 2023 and not the year 2000. Nebraska’s leading scorer on Sunday was Juwan Gray with 20 points. He played at Alabama for two seasons before leaving for Nebraska. The Cornhuskers got 14 of their points from Brice Williams. He is a transfer from Charlotte. They got 10 more from C.J. Wilcher, who started at Xavier.

That is modern college basketball. That is why Michigan State currently sits at 4-5 and 0-2 in Big Ten play.