Michigan State was just one game away from winning a National Championship in their own backyard last season, but the Spartans lost to North Carolina in the final contest. Regardless, MSU had a tremendously successful season and there is no reason to believe that they will not be making another Final Four appearance, which is what Spartan coach Tom Izzo always shoots for anyway.
Kalin Lucas has developed into the star and unquestioned leader of this team, after leading Michigan State with almost 15 points and over 4 assists per game, and winning the Big Ten's Player of the Year Award during his sophomore year. Korie Lucious will take over as the backup point guard, and could be in for a big year in 2009-2010, while Durrell Summers and Chris Allen should account for most of the playing time at the wings. Summers is a great athlete who can also drain the outside shot, but Allen is definitely the best pure shooter the Spartans have, as long as he can accept that and become more consistent.
MSU had a couple of freshmen role-players last year which now need to step up and make larger contributions this season. Delvon Roe was slowed by injuries early last year, but showed plenty of promise while ending up with 31 starts for the Spartans. While Roe's offensive production needs to improve, he has already shown that he can be a great rebounder and proficient shot blocker. Draymond Green may be a bit undersized to play the four position, but he more than makes up for it with his toughness. Having flown under the radar for most of last season, Green came on strong at the end of his freshman year and should be ready to provide huge contributions coming off the bench for Michigan State.
The big losses for the Spartans were in the frontcourt, where Derrick Nix and Garrick Sherman will have to really play a role for MSU when the team needs to play big; both freshmen are traditional back to the basket players which is exactly what the team needs. While Nix may need to get a little stronger, he is still the likely candidate to help replace the loss of Goran Suton and Marquise Gray, although Sherman will definitively see quite a few minutes as well.
