Projecting MSU Basketball Position Rotation and Minutes

4 players out, 3 high school players in, and 1 transfer from Omaha makes MSU his new home. What to make of the roster and rotation for next year:

PG: AJ leaves and takes almost 30 minutes with him, but we have our PG of the future in Fears already on the roster. He only averaged ~14 minutes before the shooting but was on track to be getting 20+ most nights. I think that's the minimum for Fears in 2024. Tre is proven as a PG and SG. I think he is perfect for the 6th man role or starting in small-ball lineups. Tre averaged 20 minutes last year, I see it at 25 this year, with 15+ at PG and 10 at SG to spell Akins. That leaves Richardson with 5-10 minutes.

SG: With the addition of Frankie Fidler, Jaden Akins will slide from the 3 to the 2. So while Tyson leaving opens 30 minutes, Akins shifts 30 back to SG. As I noted above, I expect Tre to be the primary SG backup, getting about ~10 minutes/per game there. That's the max 40 minutes already for the position. Of course, Akins might get some run at the 3, or Tre might have games where he is playing more PG. The point is the SG minutes are pretty much spoken for. That means players like Normand and Teng are fighting for scraps.

SF: Frankie averaged 36 minutes/game at Omaha. I do not expect that to continue at the Big10 Level. For perspective, Tyson averaged 34 minutes at North Eastern before transferring to MSU and averaging 22 minutes his first year. I think it's fair to split the difference and say Frankie gets 29. So we have 11 SF minutes available. Those minutes get eaten quickly - Akins can play the 3 if we go small, Carr plays the 3 if we go big/athletic, Normand is a shooter who can play a role, and Teng fits that mold as well. That's 4 players carving up 11 minutes.

PF: Hall mostly played the 4 but got some run at the 3, getting 28 minutes a night. Any minutes at the 3 are gobbled up by Fidler, Akins, Carr, Normand and Teng. Call it 20 minutes from Hall at the 4. I think those are all Bookers. Booker averaged 9 minutes a night, but in the last 8 games averaged 12. He has the skill to make the jump to 20+. And the way the roster is constructed, it will mostly be at the 4 spot, with maybe a shift per game at the 5. So say Booker gets 20/40 minutes, with 20 available I see Carr, Kohler, and Kohler splitting the rest.

C: Sissoko leaving opens 15 minutes. Cooper is back, and likely looking at a jump from 17 to 20-23 minutes. Kohler opted to not hit the portal. Going into the year healthy, and with his offensive upside, he looking to increase minutes from 9 to 12-15. Even taking the low-range minute jumps for Cooper and Kohler, that's 32 of 40 minutes available. Note that Kohler could get run at the 4 spot. The same way Booker could get run at the 5. And then we have Freshman McCulloch.

Final thoughts:

• Big Man - I still think we need a transfer big man—someone who doesn't get in the way of Booker. Ideally, this player only has one year left or is on the younger side, so he won't be in the same class as Cooper and Kohler and create a logjam. In terms of role, defense and rebounding should be the priority, covering the weaknesses of Booker and Kohler. And allowing this portal player to pair with Booker and Kohler.

• Deep Bench - I'm projecting 8 players to get 10+ minutes a night. Fears (assuming he's healthy), Tre, Akins, and Fidler all have massive roles. Cooper and Booker have good-sized minutes ahead of them. And Carr, Kohler, and Normand will be doing anything they can to increase their role. Plus, 3 freshmen are rounding it out. Knowing Izzo, this likely starts as a 10-man rotation. And I won't be surprised to see nights where the 5 guys at the bottom of the roster each get 5 minutes near the end of the first half.

Here's an example rotation with minutes

4/29/24 w/ Frankie
	Starter	Minutes	Backup	Minutes	Depth 1	Minutes	Depth 2
5	Cooper	22.5	Kohler	10	Booker	5	McCulloch	2.5	40	40
4	Booker	20	Carr	12.5	Kohler	5	McCulloch	2.5	40	40
3	Frankie	29	Carr	4	Normand	3.5	Teng	3.5	40	40
2	Akins	28	Tre	7	Teng	2.5	Normand	2.5	40	40
1	Fears	20	Tre	15	Richardson	5			40	40
		100		65		45		0	200	200
With Frankie + Portal Big
	Starter	Minutes	Backup	Minutes	Depth 1	Minutes	Depth 2
5	Cooper	20	Portal	12.5	Kohler	5	McCulloch	2.5	40	40
4	Booker	20	Carr	12	Kohler/McCulloch	5.5	Portal	2.5	40	40
3	Frankie	27	Carr	5	Normand	4	Teng	4	40	40
2	Akins	27	Tre	8	Teng	2.5	Normand	2.5	40	40
1	Fears	20	Tre	15	Richardson	5			40	40
		100		65		45		12	200	200