ROSEMONT, Ill. — Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo is hunting for his second national championship. Lately, it wouldn’t seem like he’s been anywhere but near close.
The past four seasons have boasted the following records: 15-13 (9-11 conference), 23-13 (11-9 conference), 21-13 (11-8 conference), and last season the Spartans finished 20-15 with a less-than-desirable 10-10 record in Big Ten play.
Those seasons are not indicative of Izzo’s resounding success during his time in East Lansing. Perhaps the foremost Big Ten coach post-Bob Knight, Izzo has perhaps as big an impact on the Big Ten as any coach has had on their conference this century.
Izzo coached the last Big Ten team to win the national championship (2000).
For the Hall-of-Fame coach, nothing would be sweeter than leaving on top. Luckily for Izzo, expert recruiting landed him one of the best classes he’d ever recruited in 2023. Three players within the Top 50. The headliner of the class was forward Xavier Booker, the No. 11 player, per 247Sports.
At Big Ten Basketball Media Days, Booker made it known that his No. 1 goal for the season was to win basketball games. He said it was the coaching staff’s biggest emphasis. When asked about the team’s ceiling, Booker did not hold back.
“I think we’re the best team in the country,” Booker said. “There was a game last year we played Baylor, and we were kind of on it in every aspect of the game – we were defending, rebounding, we were running down, we were hitting shots. We were doing everything. So I feel like if we play that type of basketball every single game I don’t think there’s a team in this country that could stop us.”
The expectations Booker has for the team might only be slightly higher than what his coach has for him. At a coach’s roundtable, Izzo discussed Year 2 for Booker, who put on about 20 pounds.
“He’s gotten stronger. I think he’s a player that has got tremendous skills and tremendous measurements, but you still gotta play the game,” Izzo said.
Booker appeared in 27 games last season and averaged 9.3 minutes per game. He will have a much bigger role this season. He told our Aidan Champion he will be playing power forward (the 4).
Michael France is Sports Illustrated’s Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.
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