Michigan State's three preseason games have really muddied the waters more than they've cleared things up.
The Spartans are entering the 2026-27 season ranked sixth in the country, but MSU has hardly played up to that mark so far. MSU lost two exhibition games last week that it would likely be a favorite in under normal circumstances, falling to No. 4 UConn (sans Braylon Mullins) at home last Tuesday and then losing to unranked Marquette on the road Sunday.
The discouraging part is that Michigan State felt like the second-best team on the court in both contests. MSU was playing from behind nearly the entire time against the Huskies and the Golden Eagles.
Many of Michigan State's issues right now seem to be in the frontcourt, and Tom Izzo is going to have a heck of a time deciding which players will get minutes at power forward and center, how many minutes they get, and when to put them in.
The Anton Bonke Problem at Center
Anton Bonke's lack of involvement seems to be the root issue for the Spartans right now. He was brought in from the transfer portal to be Michigan State's starting center, but he's barely playing right now. Bonke only got six minutes against UConn and three at Marquette. What's even more concerning is that he was glued to the bench in the entire second half of those exhibitions, too.
The fact that Bonke is getting such little playing time is already creating a minutes vacuum that MSU probably didn't imagine would be there so soon. It's as if there were an injury, in a way. Every second or every minute that he's not on the floor has to go to another center or big man. Bonke was never going to go and play 30+ minutes a game at 7'2", but a 20-minute or so role seemed like a reasonable expectation.
Instead, Jesse McCulloch and Ethan Taylor seem to be the two players most prepared to get the lion's share of the center minutes. McCulloch got the start at center for Michigan State at Marquette and has really been the Spartans' most offensively inclined big man so far. He made a statement in the first exhibition against Incarnate Word by scoring 20 points while starting at power forward.
Taylor has been a mild but pleasant surprise. He's had a positive impact on the defensive end with the athleticism he has at 7'1", and while spacing is a concern for him on the offensive end, there are still uses for Taylor on that end with his passing, court vision, and a nice baby hook.
Putting it all on McCulloch and Taylor would perhaps be asking too much, though. Izzo says McCulloch has had the best offseason of anybody on the team, but McCulloch is still pretty inexperienced for a third-year player. He redshirted as a freshman and then was phased out of the regular playing group toward the end of last season. Taylor, again, does some nice things, but whether he can be the first or second on a Big Ten or national contender is another question.
Issues at Power Forward
The production at the four has also felt relatively underwhelming. This spot doesn't necessarily deserve as much scrutiny as the center position because Michigan State has more proven commodities at power forward, but it still hasn't been amazing.
Three different players have started at the four for MSU in its three exhibition games. McCulloch was the first against Incarnate Word, but that was partially due to Cam Ward being unavailable that day. Ward started the UConn exhibition, and then Coen Carr started at Marquette to help slide Jasiah Jervis into the starting lineup at shooting guard.
Carr, Ward, and McCulloch will likely get most of the minutes there this season. Carr can slide between small forward and power forward relatively seamlessly. His performances in October have left plenty to be desired, but Carr has consistently improved year over year during his collegiate career. Michigan State probably just needs to find more creative ways to get him the space he needs in transition, which is when he's most effective.
Izzo has also sung Ward's praises a fair bit coming into the season. Ward had a pretty decent freshman year in 2025-26, and it probably would've been better had he not suffered a wrist injury that sort of knocked him off course. Ward hasn't looked entirely evolved yet, though, and his free-throw form is starting to emulate Shaquille O'Neal a little bit too much.
Julius Avent is the wild card here. He was a DNP against UConn, but he got some minutes at Marquette. Avent faces an uphill climb to really carve out a role this season, but he'll probably get some opportunities here and there early in the campaign as Izzo weighs just how many guys he wants to play every night.
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