Michigan State Holds First Day of Men’s Basketball Practice
9/25/2023 9:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State head men's basketball coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans held their first practice of the 2024-25 season on Monday afternoon.
Following a 25-minute press conference with the local media, Izzo and his team went through two hours of practice in the auxiliary gym of the Breslin Center.
"Hard to believe that it's September 25th and we're having these," Izzo said. "We used to be religious and have these on October 15th forever, and the 25th seems early, but at the same time, I'm excited to get started.
"It seems like basketball never ends now. We have these things all summer long that we're allowed to do, but we've been really healthy. Getting Malik (Hall) back at the beginning of August has really helped. He's still not 100 percent as far as skill level goes, but he is 100 percent as far as health and he hasn't been 100 percent since his sophomore year, so that's really encouraging."
The Spartans return four starters and 11 letterwinners, while welcoming a recruiting class rated among the top in the country, to this year's team.
Michigan State finished the 2022-23 season with a 23-11 record and fourth in the Big Ten Conference. The Spartans were selected to the NCAA Tournament for the 25th-straight season, the longest streak in the Big Ten and the third-longest in NCAA history and the second-longest active streak in the nation.
Graduate guard Tyson Walker was ranked No. 10 in a ranking by The Almanac of the nation's Top 100 players and he was named a preseason Third Team All-American. Senior guard A.J. Hoggard was rated No. 42 in the country in the Top 100 by The Almanac.
"Depth, we have it," Izzo said. "Those of you that were upset with me last year for not going and getting more depth, I understood. Now that same set of people are asking how we're going to play 11 guys, but I think the biggest plus with having a deeper team is that I have enough veterans and they've done an incredible job in working with the four freshmen.
"And you know my theory is that a player-coached team is better than a coach-coached team and those players have done one hell of a job acclimating, relationships in this transaction-based world we're in. We still have a relationship-based program and we will as long as I'm standing in front of you. I'm excited about that and I think we do have some guys have improved a lot."
The Spartans will play a pair of exhibition games, starting on Wednesday, Oct. 25, hosting Hillsdale College.
The second game will be on Sunday, Oct. 29 when Tennessee visits the Breslin Center. All proceeds from the game will be donated to the Hawai'i Community Foundation Maui Strong Fund, providing financial resources to the relief efforts from the devastating Maui wildfires.
Michigan State opens the regular season on Monday, Nov. 6, hosting James Madison at the Breslin Center.
Following a 25-minute press conference with the local media, Izzo and his team went through two hours of practice in the auxiliary gym of the Breslin Center.
"Hard to believe that it's September 25th and we're having these," Izzo said. "We used to be religious and have these on October 15th forever, and the 25th seems early, but at the same time, I'm excited to get started.
"It seems like basketball never ends now. We have these things all summer long that we're allowed to do, but we've been really healthy. Getting Malik (Hall) back at the beginning of August has really helped. He's still not 100 percent as far as skill level goes, but he is 100 percent as far as health and he hasn't been 100 percent since his sophomore year, so that's really encouraging."
The Spartans return four starters and 11 letterwinners, while welcoming a recruiting class rated among the top in the country, to this year's team.
Michigan State finished the 2022-23 season with a 23-11 record and fourth in the Big Ten Conference. The Spartans were selected to the NCAA Tournament for the 25th-straight season, the longest streak in the Big Ten and the third-longest in NCAA history and the second-longest active streak in the nation.
Graduate guard Tyson Walker was ranked No. 10 in a ranking by The Almanac of the nation's Top 100 players and he was named a preseason Third Team All-American. Senior guard A.J. Hoggard was rated No. 42 in the country in the Top 100 by The Almanac.
"Depth, we have it," Izzo said. "Those of you that were upset with me last year for not going and getting more depth, I understood. Now that same set of people are asking how we're going to play 11 guys, but I think the biggest plus with having a deeper team is that I have enough veterans and they've done an incredible job in working with the four freshmen.
"And you know my theory is that a player-coached team is better than a coach-coached team and those players have done one hell of a job acclimating, relationships in this transaction-based world we're in. We still have a relationship-based program and we will as long as I'm standing in front of you. I'm excited about that and I think we do have some guys have improved a lot."
The Spartans will play a pair of exhibition games, starting on Wednesday, Oct. 25, hosting Hillsdale College.
The second game will be on Sunday, Oct. 29 when Tennessee visits the Breslin Center. All proceeds from the game will be donated to the Hawai'i Community Foundation Maui Strong Fund, providing financial resources to the relief efforts from the devastating Maui wildfires.
Michigan State opens the regular season on Monday, Nov. 6, hosting James Madison at the Breslin Center.
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