Michigan State guard Jaden Akins undergoes surgery on stress fracture, will miss one month

The Michigan State basketball program suffered an injury that will limit an expected contributor’s ability to participate in offseason and preseason work with the program. Stadium’s Jeff Goodman reported Tuesday afternoon that sophomore guard Jaden Akins underwent surgery to repair a stress reaction in his left foot.

Akins is expected to miss a month’s worth of time, Goodman reported.

Goodman, one of college basketball’s top insider analysts, notes that he spoke to Michigan State coach Tom Izzo recently and “he was raving about his progress,” while “hopeful it will be a breakout season.”

Akins was a contributor for the Spartans off the bench last year as the team put together an NCAA Tournament appearance and won its opening-round game prior to exiting the Big Dance with a loss to Duke in the Round of 32.

He averaged 14.8 minutes per game and notched 3.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game.

Michigan State replacing top three scorers from 2021-22

The Spartans have a good deal of production to replace from last season’s NCAA Tournament squad.

The team’s three leading scorers are gone, with leading scorer Gabe Brown gone in the frontcourt after averaging 11.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Guard Max Christie left for the NBA Draft and the Los Angeles Lakers selected him with the No. 35 pick, in the second round.

Michigan State will be looking to replace Christie’s contributions in the backcourt, which Jaden Akins should be capable of following his injury.

Of course, now he won’t be able to work back into the mix until mid-October.

The Spartans unofficially get underway on the hardwood with an exhibition game against Grand Valley State on Nov. 1. The regular season begins on Nov. 7 when Michigan State hosts Northern Arizona.