The season is still a month away, but Michigan State basketball practice is well underway. Here is what Tom Izzo and his four captains have to say about the team.
ROSEMONT, IL — The season doesn’t begin for nearly a month, but the first Michigan State basketball exhibition game is two weeks away.
Tom Izzo and his Spartans have a much better idea, a few weeks into practice, of what to expect from their new-look roster. It's a bigger group with more versatile offensive weapons that Izzo hopes will carry over the same ethos of defense and rebounding from his 11th Big Ten championship team last season.
“I feel like everybody on this team has more than one strength,” co-captain Jaxon Kohler said during Big Ten media day on Thursday, Oct. 9. “And that’s gonna make it hard for a lot of teams to guard us.”
Here is what Izzo and his four captains (Kohler, Coen Carr, Carson Cooper and Jeremy Fears Jr.) have said since the start of practice about how the 10-man rotation is shaping up ahead of the two exhibition games – Oct. 23 at home against Tum Tum Nairn and Bowling Green State (7 p.m., BTN-Plus) and Oct. 28 against UConn in Hartford, Connecticut (7:30 p.m.) – and the Nov. 3 season opener at Breslin Center against Colgate.
PG Jeremy Fears Jr.
Fears: “During the season, I kept telling myself that I was there, that I was ready, I was ready. But actually having a full offseason and a full summer to get better, getting my body on the same page as my as my mind, it’s just been different. And I can feel the change. … But it’s also a mental hurdle that I had to get over.”
Izzo: “Can he lead us? And leading us happens when you’re having somewhat success in your own game. You gotta feel good about yourself to make others feel good. And I think that’s what he’s working on, what we’re working on. He’s with me – him and I are gonna spend a lot of time together this year. He’s healthy, he’s had a great summer, and I think he’s ready to go.”
PG/SG Divine Ugochukwu, SG Trey Fort, SG Kur Teng, SG/SF Jordan Scott
Izzo: “(Shooting guard) is gonna be important for us with Kur and Trey. Jordan is also playing well. I think that is gonna be the one missing link we have right now. … That 2-guard, which is pretty important, both offensively and defensively. It’s probably gonna be our biggest question mark. It’s still a work in progress.”
Kohler: “Jordan Scott has been a sniper on the 3-point line. He’s really gonna be a really big help us this year.”
Izzo: “Divine is a guy we’re gonna try and get something out of. It could be at the 2, could be at the point.”
SF Coen Carr
Carr: “I just put up reps, a lot of reps. Mechanically, there was nothing really wrong with my shot. Just putting up the reps and confidence, too. … I’ve been working on my shot and everything. But at the end of the day, I am who I am, and I like to get to the rim.”
Fears: “I tell (him) if he’s open, shoot the ball. Obviously, people miss. You make, you miss – next shot, next play, next possession. So I tell him and try to instill the confidence in him, ‘If you’re open, shoot the ball every time. I’m happy with it, I’ve seen the work you put in, everybody on the team and the coaches have seen the work you’ve put in. Take the shot with confidence and make it.’”
SF/PF Cam Ward
Kohler: “Cam Ward is one of the most physical guys I’ve played against in my time being here as a Spartan. And what makes it so awesome is he’s so open to feedback. He’s excited to learn, he’s excited to go through this new process of college basketball. And that makes me a lot more comfortable kind of showing him how this works and what to expect.”
Izzo: “He is an energetic guy for a freshman. He’s not afraid to talk, he’s got a voice. He might be the strongest guy I’ve had since Antonio Smith in my first couple years, Draymond (Green). He’s strong and tough and smart, and he’s fit in very well so far. And as he gets better, we’re gonna get better.”
PF/C Jaxon Kohler, C Carson Cooper
Izzo: “(Cooper’s) outside shot has gotten better, along with Jaxon’s. But I’m worried about his inside shot. He missed a lot of jump shots. For a while, he missed a lot of free throws and really improved his free-throw shooting. If he can improve his scoring around the basket, he’s capable of getting a 3 a game, and I’m fine with that. But he’s still a great two-handed rebounder, he’s a great defender. You gotta do what you do great and improve what you’re not good at. He’s improved on his 3-point shooting, but he’s really gotta improve on those jump hooks and that scoring around the basket.”
Kohler: “I think with me and Coop, it’s gonna be really dangerous. Because if one guy’s in the paint, the other guy is somewhere on the 3-point line as a shooting threat. So it’s gonna be a lot harder for teams to double us, and it’s just gonna make our jobs so much easier scoring.”
PF/C Jesse McCulloch
Izzo: “He’s a really good shooter. He’s got long arms. He’s a pretty tough kid. We’ve been impressed with Jesse, we were impressed with him last year. He’s gotten stronger and bigger.”
Cooper: “Even though he didn’t play last year, just the experience from traveling with us and scout team and just having that first year of understanding how the prep works, how the games look, is huge. I kind of like talking to him, because I know how he felt when I was here as a freshman, too – kind of wide-eyed and not really understanding what’s going on. So for him, it's just kind of making sure that he knows what expectations are and that he’s not getting outside of that and putting too much pressure on himself.”
Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball vets, Tom Izzo on 2025-26 roster
Category: General Sports
