Tom Izzo shares confidence in AJ Hoggard, improved trust between them

Sometimes a team is only as good as the relationship between its head coach and point guard. For Tom Izzo and AJ Hoggard, that connection has been tumultuous at times for Michigan State. However, amid a career-best season for the junior, Izzo is proud of the way Hoggard has developed through some tough love.

Izzo praised Hoggard and talked about his journey following a 59-53 win over Michigan last weekend. He said trust is at the core of the changes in Hoggard’s game as Izzo says he is finally putting all of his faith in the Spartan staff.

“I really think it’s a little bit of trust. I just think there comes a point in time in everybody’s life where you’ve gotta figure it out,” said Izzo. “We had some head-knocking sessions, which I’ve had with a lot of players even better than AJ. And I just said, ‘You’ve got to trust us’. I think he has played a lot more under control.”

Over his first two seasons, Hoggard averaged 4.8 points, 2.1 assists, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.4 steals on 37.3% shooting from the field, 19.3% from deep, and 61.5% from the charity stripe. Now, he has put on a ‘most-improved’ type of season in ’22-’23. In his third year as a Spartan, Hoggard has jumped up to averages of 12.1 points, 6.4 assists, four rebounds, and a steal on 41.1% from the field, 27.8% from distance, and 85.7% at the free throw line.

Izzo says he also sees a massive improvement in body language from Hoggard. He’s acting more like a leader and it’s paying dividends for himself as well as his team.

“I mean you can see it. You saw the body language at the beginning of the year. You saw it last year because you saw it loud and clear every day. And you don’t see any of that,” ” Izzo said. “So it’s not just that he’s playing better but he’s handled everything a lot better. I’m really proud of him.”

“Sometimes you get to that point of is it gonna change or not? He’s not turning the ball over, he’s making good decisions, he’s running the team,” said Izzo. “He’s still got to get more vocal. But he’s definitely made a lot of progress.”

As one of the key pieces for Michigan State, Izzo always needed this to be who Hoggard became. Now that those results are finally showing, he’s excited about what his point guard has become and what it will mean both for his career as well as the Spartan’s season.

“I’m proud of him and I’m happy for him because he wants to be a player and he’s making himself a player. That’s what process and development are all about,” Izzo said.