Tom Izzo has been chasing the white whale since the 2000-01 season. Michigan State has maintained basketball excellence during his storied coaching career but a second national championship has proven elusive.
Izzo and the No. 22 Spartans are back on the mission to capture that championship trophy in the 2025-26 season opener against Colgate on Nov. 3 at East Lansing, Mich.
A typical Michigan State schedule skips the soft open with preseason Top 25 foes on tap in No. 14 Arkansas (Nov. 8) in East Lansing before a neutral court matchup with No. 9 Kentucky on Nov. 18 at Madison Square Garden.
“It’s finally here. It’s a long summer for these guys,” Izzo said. “I don’t know who’s got what. That’s kind of determined over the next couple weeks.”
Michigan State won 30 games last season and was crowned regular season conference champs but lost in the Elite Eight to Auburn. The Spartans have an interesting mix of holdovers, freshmen and transfers, though the starting lineup could be filled by many familiar faces.
The top three scorers from last season are gone, but forwards Coen Carr (8.1 points, 3.6 rebounds), Jaxon Kohler (7.8 points, 7.5 rebounds), center Carson Cooper (5.0 points, 5.2 rebounds) and guard Jeremy Fears Jr. (7.2 points, 5.4 assists) provide stability.
“We’ve had really good workouts and they’ve all made some progress and improvements,” Izzo said of his holdovers. “Then we’ve got some new guys who have come in and they’re going to help us tremendously.”
Despite the changing landscape of college sports, now dominated by NIL and the transfer portal, Izzo still sees the value in an old-school approach.
“It’s 31 years for me and coming off a great year last year, it’s pretty exciting,” he said. “What last year taught me is chemistry and relationships and things like that still matter in sports, as they should in any walk of life.”
Trey Fort, who averaged 14.6 points for Samford last season, could round out the lineup. Forward Cam Ward might be the most impactful freshman.
“We have a little bit of everything and I think we’re kind of deep,” Fears said. “I like my one through 12, like I said last year.”
Following a string of seven consecutive winning seasons and a handful of trips to the NCAA Tournament, Colgate dropped to 14-19 last season. The Raiders are aiming to return to their usual perch as the premier team in the Patriot League.
“Not winning the Patriot League last year after four consecutive championships is obviously disappointing, but that’s a part of the game,” head coach Matt Langel told The Colgate Maroon-News. “I look at this team, and I know we have the stuff. It’s a matter of taking things one day at a time, and then looking at the bigger picture. That’s what we do.”
Their top returning player is guard Jalen Cox, the team’s second-league scorer last season. He averaged 11.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals in 28.9 minutes per game.
“We want to win a championship,” Cox told the Maroon-News. “That’s the goal every year, but I’m truly encouraged when I also get to work with players, with a team, like this. We got new coaches and new faces this year, but the aim has not changed. We’re all in.”
The Raiders also return two other players who finished among their top five in scoring — Parker Jones (8.3) and Brady Cummins (8.2).
“We’re going to play some teams that have more talent than us, but we’re not going to play any teams that operate like us,” Langel said.
