Tom Izzo says Cassius Winston “will be the next” to have MSU jersey retired

Tom Izzo spoke at his basketball camp with Cassius Winston in attendance, saying that the No. 5 “will be the next” jersey retired.

Cassius Winston is up next.

Tom Izzo, while speaking at his basketball camp, said that Winston is going to be the next Spartan to have his basketball jersey retired and hanging from the rafters.

Cassius Winston is back in East Lansing and speaking at the Tom Izzo Basketball Camp today!

Izzo introduced the former All-American and said he’s sure Winston ‘will be the next one’ to have his jersey in the rafters at the Breslin. pic.twitter.com/GqSP5wL6hC

— Ian Kress (@ian_kress) June 13, 2023

First off, it’s great to see Cassius back around the program. It really puts the whole “Izzo’s players hate his coaching style” narrative from rival fans to rest. Cassius even quote tweeted the official Michigan State basketball Twitter account which posted about his appearance at Izzo’s camp.

4Life💚 https://t.co/7O5UH1gPQE

— Cassius Winston (@cassiuswinston) June 13, 2023

Clearly there’s mutual love and respect there.

But that’s beside the point.

Izzo stating that Michigan State will likely make the move to retire Winston’s No. 5 is pretty huge. Every fan knows that Winston deserves to have his number retired for what he did in the green and white. He led Michigan State to three straight Big Ten titles, a Final Four, and he had the Spartans in prime position to make a national title run in 2020 before the NCAA Tournament was canceled. Oh, and he also holds the record for most assists in Big Ten history.

With Izzo making this proclamation about the legendary point guard, it begs the question: who else should have their jersey retired and hung from the rafters?

There are a number of good options. Guys like Kalin Lucas and Denzel Valentine would probably take center stage. Draymond Green just had his jersey retired in 2019 and it’s about time Lucas, Valentine, or Cassius (should be all three) get theirs considered.

If it were up to Izzo, however, Cassius likely would’ve already had his retired.

When will we see that happen? If Izzo says it’s a sure thing, I wouldn’t be shocked if it’s sooner rather than later. Hopefully it happens before Izzo retires.