Akins, Richardson Earn All-Big Ten Honors; Izzo Coach of the Year

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State men's basketball senior guard Jaden Akins and freshman guard Jase Richardson were selected to the All-Big Ten Conference Third Team by the league's coaches, the conference office announced on Tuesday, March 11.

Akins and Richardson were both selected third team by the league's coaches, while Richardson was a third team honoree by the media. In addition, Akins was selected to the All-Big Ten Defensive Team, while Richardson was selected to the All-Freshman Team.

Head Coach Tom Izzo was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career he has earned the honor from the league, having previously been honored by the league in 1998, 2009 and 2012.

In addition, Spartans' Associate Head Coach Doug Wojcik was the recipient of the Big Ten's Howard Moore Assistant Coach of the Year Award.

Junior guard Nick Sanders was the team's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.

Akins leads the Spartans in scoring with 12.9 points per game, is fourth on the team in rebounds (3.7 rpg) and leads the team in minutes played (26.7 mpg). The senior co-captain became the 57th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career earlier this year and is one of just 23 players in program history to score at least 1,000 points, grab 400 rebounds and hand out 150 assists. He has scored in double figures 24 times this year, including three games with at least 20 points. Akins has also been a key factor in MSU ranking among the best defensive teams in the country, ranking among the top-20 nationally in field goal percentage defense, 3-point field goal percentage defense and rebounding margin.

Overall this season, Richardson is second on the team in scoring (11.6 ppg) and minutes played (24.2 mpg), while adding 3.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists. He is second on the team in field goal percentage, connecting on 52.4 percent of his shots (119-of-227), including 38.8 percent of his 3-point attempts (33-of-85). Richardson has scored in double figures 18 times, including the last nine games. Since moving into the starting lineup nine games ago, Richardson, who has been named Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times, is averaging 16.9 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting 52.5 percent from the floor (52-of-99).

Izzo guided the Spartans to the Big Ten regular season title this year after losing the team's top three scorers from last year and being picked fifth in the league by preseason polls. MSU finished the regular season with a 26-5 record, including a 17-3 mark in the Big Ten, winning the regular season by three games and setting a school record for most conference wins. It was the 11th Big Ten regular season title for the Spartans under Izzo, tying a Big Ten record for most titles. Earlier this year, the Spartans beat Illinois for Izzo's 354th Big Ten Conference, breaking the record of 353 set by former Indiana coach Bob Knight.

Wojcik is in his seventh year on the Michigan State staff and was promoted to associate head coach for the Spartans prior to this season. A veteran of more than 30 years in college basketball, Wojcik returned to East Lansing in 2018-19 and has helped guide the Spartans to three Big Ten regular season titles (2019, 2020, 2025), a Big Ten Tournament title (2019) and the 2019 Final Four, while making six NCAA Tournament appearances, including a run to the Sweet Sixteen in 2023. Wojcik, who in nine years as a head coach at the College of Charleston and Tulsa won 178 games, carried a .595 winning percentage and led four teams to postseason player, previously spent two years (2003-05) at Michigan State as an assistant and associate head coach and was part of the 2005 Final Four team.

Michigan State, the No. 1 seed in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament, plays either No. 8 seed Oregon or No. 9 Indiana in the quarterfinals on Friday, March 14 (noon) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Akins, Richardson Earn All-Big Ten Honors; Izzo Coach of the Year

Players Mentioned

Nick Sanders

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