Tom Izzo sees his freshmen as integral pieces to MSU's success heading into tournament play

As Michigan State's 2025-2026 men's basketball regular season came to an end with an excruciating loss to Michigan on the road on March 8, MSU head coach Tom Izzo had some praise for his Spartans, but in typical Izzo fashion, he thinks much more progress needs to be made in March.

The Spartans finished the regular season with a 25-6 overall record, including a 15-5 mark in conference play. Michigan State earned the No. 3 seed in this week's Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.

Looking ahead into tournament play, Izzo believes two pieces of MSU's team will become integral to the Spartans' postseason success: Freshman forward Cam Ward and redshirt freshman forward/center Jesse McCulloch. 

Both McCulloch and Ward can have big impacts on the floor, but their skill sets perhaps favor opposite sides of the ball. With McCulloch, despite limited playing time as of late, he can make shots and will help spread the floor to allow point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. and forward Coen Carr to get downhill.

“I feel very confident in Jesse because Jesse works almost as hard as Jordan (Scott) and Jaxon (Kohler),” Izzo said about McCulloch. “What Jesse can bring to the table, he can make shots, just hasn’t gotten the reps.”  

Ward on the other hand, can make a large impact defensively because of his versatility on that end of the court. He is strong enough to guard some bigs in the conference, but he is also quick enough to stay in front of some guards, which will help the Spartans combat small-ball lineups that some teams run in the Big Ten like Rutgers, UCLA and Indiana. 

“He’s a phenomenal rebounder, he’s got to improve his offensive skills, that’s what the offseason will be for,” Izzo said about Ward. “Right now, he’s got to do the things to help us win.”

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