Michigan State Men’s Basketball Starts Practice for 2024-25 Season
9/24/2024 5:33:00 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.
Ahead of the team's second practice of the season, Izzo met with the media in the theatre in the men's basketball offices for 20 minutes prior to the group attending practice.
"This is a little more informal than most opening days because we opened yesterday, and it's so different now. It used to be Midnight Madness and now we have a new way of looking at things," Izzo said. "The other part that's different is we went to Spain (in August). Seems like we've been practicing forever. The good news is, I like my team. The first official day was good. Today is day two."
The Spartans return three players who earned starts last year, led by senior guard Jaden Akins, who was fourth on the team in scoring with 10.4 points per game and was the only player to start all 35 games. In addition, MSU welcomes a pair of transfers, forward Frankie Fidler and center Szymon Zapala, as well as a freshman class ranked among the top-20 in the country.
Michigan State finished the 2023-24 season with a 20-15 record and tied for sixth in the Big Ten Conference. The Spartans were selected to the NCAA Tournament for the 26th-straight season, the longest streak in the Big Ten and longest active streak in the nation.
MSU got a headstart of the season with a 10-day trip to Spain, visiting Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona and playing three games against European teams in the process.
"In that Spain trip, I thought we played pretty well," Izzo said. "It was hard to get a feel because I had so many guys that I wanted to play, so I kept guys from 12 to 20 minutes. Most guys played from 16 to 20 minutes which means you get to see a lot of people, you don't get as good of a flow.
"There were some highlights over there. Jaxon Kohler played very well. (Jeremy) Fears was not 100 percent, but I think 95 percent back. (Xavier) Booker in one game had 19 in the first half. I don't think I've ever had a player with 19 in the first half. We played really good against good competition in the first game, pretty good against a team that wasn't as good in the second game and in the third game we got a Serbian team that had been practicing for three weeks and they were really good. The score was 115 to 110, we got beat. Again, I did not play that as a game I subbed freely the whole time. But I did get something out of that thing. The biggest thing is I think we are a lot tougher team than we were last year."
The Spartans will play a pair of exhibition games, starting on Sunday, Oct. 13, when the Spartans visit Northern Michigan. This will be the first visit for 30th-year Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo to his alma mater to coach a game. Izzo was a 1977 graduate of Northern Michigan.
The second exhibition is slated for Tuesday, Oct. 29 against Ferris State at the Breslin Center.
Michigan State officially opens the 2024-25 regular season on Monday, Nov. 4, hosting Monmouth at the Breslin Center.
### Spartans ###
Ahead of the team's second practice of the season, Izzo met with the media in the theatre in the men's basketball offices for 20 minutes prior to the group attending practice.
"This is a little more informal than most opening days because we opened yesterday, and it's so different now. It used to be Midnight Madness and now we have a new way of looking at things," Izzo said. "The other part that's different is we went to Spain (in August). Seems like we've been practicing forever. The good news is, I like my team. The first official day was good. Today is day two."
The Spartans return three players who earned starts last year, led by senior guard Jaden Akins, who was fourth on the team in scoring with 10.4 points per game and was the only player to start all 35 games. In addition, MSU welcomes a pair of transfers, forward Frankie Fidler and center Szymon Zapala, as well as a freshman class ranked among the top-20 in the country.
Michigan State finished the 2023-24 season with a 20-15 record and tied for sixth in the Big Ten Conference. The Spartans were selected to the NCAA Tournament for the 26th-straight season, the longest streak in the Big Ten and longest active streak in the nation.
MSU got a headstart of the season with a 10-day trip to Spain, visiting Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona and playing three games against European teams in the process.
"In that Spain trip, I thought we played pretty well," Izzo said. "It was hard to get a feel because I had so many guys that I wanted to play, so I kept guys from 12 to 20 minutes. Most guys played from 16 to 20 minutes which means you get to see a lot of people, you don't get as good of a flow.
"There were some highlights over there. Jaxon Kohler played very well. (Jeremy) Fears was not 100 percent, but I think 95 percent back. (Xavier) Booker in one game had 19 in the first half. I don't think I've ever had a player with 19 in the first half. We played really good against good competition in the first game, pretty good against a team that wasn't as good in the second game and in the third game we got a Serbian team that had been practicing for three weeks and they were really good. The score was 115 to 110, we got beat. Again, I did not play that as a game I subbed freely the whole time. But I did get something out of that thing. The biggest thing is I think we are a lot tougher team than we were last year."
The Spartans will play a pair of exhibition games, starting on Sunday, Oct. 13, when the Spartans visit Northern Michigan. This will be the first visit for 30th-year Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo to his alma mater to coach a game. Izzo was a 1977 graduate of Northern Michigan.
The second exhibition is slated for Tuesday, Oct. 29 against Ferris State at the Breslin Center.
Michigan State officially opens the 2024-25 regular season on Monday, Nov. 4, hosting Monmouth at the Breslin Center.
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