Tom Izzo responds to Michigan State being unranked

Michigan State men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo is not pleased that his Spartans do not appear in the preseason AP Top 25.

“It does tick me off,” Izzo said. “But I understand it.”

The Spartans enter the 2021-2022 season unranked before a season for the first time since the 2011-12 season. Michigan State did receive the most votes among unranked teams. Tom Izzo’s squad lacks a star player and is coming off an offseason full of attrition. The Spartans lost Rocket Watts, Foster Loyer, Thomas Kithier and Jack Hoiberg to the transfer portal. Aaron Henry, last season’s scoring leader, skipped his senior season to enter the NBA draft and Joshua Langford’s five-year career ended.

Last season, the Spartans snuck into the NCAA Tournament after going 15-13 and below .500 in conference play for the first time in Izzo’s 27 seasons with the program.

Michigan State returns seven players with experience this season including Joey Hauser, who averaged 9.7 points per game last season and senior guard Gabe Brown. The Spartans also added four-star Max Christie, who was rated No. 20 in the country in the On300 rankings, four-star point guard Jaden Akins, who ranks No. 49, and four-star small forward Pierre Brooks, who ranks No. 54 in the country.

It was an offseason full of attrition on the coaching staff as well. Former players Matt McQuaid and Austin Thornton joined the Spartans staff, following the departures of assistant coach Dane Fife and video coordinator Drew Denisco. McQuaid will serve as director of basketball operations while Thornton will replace Denisco. To replace Fife, Tom Izzo promoted former Tulsa and College of Charleston coach Doug Wojcik. In addition, Mark Montgomery, who returned to Michigan State after ten seasons as the head coach at Northern Illinois, will transition from recruiting coordinator to be one of the program’s three full-time assistant coaches.

Montgomery takes the place of Mike Garland, a longtime assistant who will transition to a role as special assistant to the head coach. Garland has spent 22 total seasons as a Michigan State assistant, first serving from 1996-03 and then returning in 2007. Montgomery returned to Michigan State after ten

Tom Izzo and the Spartans open the season Nov. 9 against No. 3 Kansas in New York City. They could also face No. 22 Auburn or No. 24 Connecticut along with No. 8 Baylor during a Thanksgiving week tournament in the Bahamas.