Michigan State’s star freshman Jase Richardson has declared for the NBA Draft leaving MSU basketball with questions about what next year’s roster will look like.
ESPN projects Richardson to be the 13th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft after helping lead MSU to a regular season Big Ten championship and a trip to the Elite-Eight.
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He was named was named to the Big Ten’s All-Freshman Team and Third-Team All-Conference after averaging 12.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game on 49% shooting from the field and 41% from 3-point range.
Richardson has a silky-smooth jumper and the ability to get a bucket one-on-one. His patience, pace and craftiness exceeds his years and are key reasons why he is a projected lottery pick.
Richardson is departing along with six other players on the roster. Jaden Akins, Frankie Fiddler, Szymon Zapala are graduating seniors. Tre Holloman, Xavier Booker and Gehrig Normand have entered the transfer portal.
With all of those departures, the Spartans are left with a likely starting lineup of Jeremy Fears at point guard, Kur Teng at shooting guard, Coen Carr at small forward, Jaxon Kohler at power forward and Carson Cooper at center.
Four of those five players were pivotal in the Spartans’ run to the Elite-Eight but Richardson was the X-Factor whenever MSU needed to find some offense.
There was a chance that Richardson would’ve come back to MSU for another year but now that speculation is over and the team can shift its focus to building next year’s squad via the transfer portal.
It’s safe to say that Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo is not a fan of the transfer portal. He said during the NCAA tournament that he was not looking into potential transfer portal targets during the tournament because he was entirely committed to the roster he currently has.
“I’m going to worry today about the guys I got in this program that have done an incredible job this year and that’s it,” said Izzo in a rant about the transfer portal during the NCCA tournament. “If that costs me later, so be it. But Tom Izzo isn’t cheating the people that he has, that have been loyal to him for this chaos that is going on out there.”
The first domino of the Spartans’ transfer portal process has fallen as Kaleb Glenn (Florida Atlantic) has transferred to Michigan State. Glenn is a 6’7” forward who averaged 12.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on 41% 3-point shooting in 2024-25.
Glenn started his career at Louisville before transferring to FAU. He is an athletic wing that can finish offensive possessions whether it’s at the rim or from range. His athleticism could excel in Izzo’s run-and-gun style of play. He has two more years of eligibility.
Rumors are circulating that MSU is in contact with several players in the transfer portal including senior shooting guard Malik Moore (Montana), and senior point guard Xavien Lee (Princeton).
The Spartans are also acquiring four-star power forward commit Cam Ward. He committed to Michigan State in November of 2024.
The team will likely need to acquire a starting shooting guard that can create his own shot, a backup point guard and some depth at center through the transfer portal.
