Michigan State guard Tyson Walker announces he will return to school for 2023-24 season

Massive news just came down the pipe for Michigan State hoops. 2022-23 leading scorer and senior guard Tyson Walker announced Monday at noon that he will return to the Spartans for his fifth and final year of college rather than testing the NBA Draft or pro waters at all.

Walker averaged 14.8 points per game to lead Sparty this past season, which was his second in the green and white following a two-year stint at Northeastern out of high school. He scored over 18 points a game in his second season with the Huskies before darting for greener pastures in the 2021 offseason.

As a junior but a rookie at MSU, Walker started every game as the team’s point guard but wasn’t a primary scoring option. Obviously, that changed this past season as Walker really emerged after the turn of the calendar to become the go-to guy.

Now, he’ll return as a likely preseason All-Big Ten selection and one of the more established lead guards in the country. Tom Izzo has his ace point guard for 2023-24, and college hoops fans know how well he does with great PGs.

A heck of a start to the 2023-24 roster for MSU.

More on the 2023 NBA Draft

The 2023 NBA Draft is set to take place on Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Brooklyn at Barclays Center. Round 1 of the draft will be announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, while Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum is expected to handle the second round of picks.

To be eligible for the NBA Draft, players must be at least 19 years in age during the calendar year that the draft is held and at least one NBA season from their high school graduation date, or the date that would have been if they are not graduated. It is not required that player spend that one year playing college basketball, though. Players can play in either college, abroad, or the G League Ignite if they choose so.

While this is a significant change from what the rules once were, players are eligible to enter their names into the NBA Draft pool and explore their options by hiring an agent to go through the process, while still keeping their college eligibility. The deadline to make that move is on April 23 beginning at 11:59 p.m. ET. Players have until June 12 at 5 p.m. ET to withdraw their name from the pool and return to college.

The NBA Draft Lottery will be held on May 16, which is also the start of the NBA Conference Finals.