A.J. Hoggard is off to Vanderbilt.
Though the Commodores were 9-23 last year, their new head coach, Mark Byington, comes in from James Madison with hope for a bright future and, of course, to reinvigorate the program.
Byington is coming off a historic season at James Madison, leading the Dukes to a program-record 32 wins and the program's first NCAA tournament win since 1983. Byington had a front-row seat to witness Hoggard when James Madison triumphed over Michigan State 79-76 on November 6th, 2023, in East Lansing. That night, Hoggard scored nine points, three assists, four rebounds, one block, one steal, only one turnover, and went a near-perfect five of six free throws.
Eight days ago, Vanderbilt was rumored to have offered Hoggard in the $800,000 to $1,000,000 range in terms of NIL money.
Hoggard finishes at MSU as one of three players in MSU history with 1,000 points, 600 assists, and 300 rebounds, and was first or second in ten MSU categories last season:
DEFENSIVE RATING
1. Hoggard: 101.1 (1st MSU, 16th Big Ten)
DEFENSIVE BOX PLUS-MINUS
2. Hoggard: 6.6 (2nd MSU, 17th Big Ten)
DEFENSIVE WIN-SHARE
2. Hoggard: 1.7 (2nd MSU, 10th Big Ten)
STEALS
2. Hoggard: 50 (2nd MSU, 9th Big Ten)
STEALS PER GAME
2. Hoggard: 1.4 (2nd MSU, 11th Big Ten)
STEAL PERCENTAGE
2. Hoggard: 3.0 (2nd MSU, 6th Big Ten)
ASSISTS
1. Hoggard: 183 (1st MSU, 4th Big Ten)
ASSISTS PER GAME
1. Hoggard: 5.2 (1st MSU, 4th Big Ten)
ASSIST PERCENTAGE
1. Hoggard: 33.5% (1st MSU, 3rd Big Ten)
BOX PLUS/MINUS
2. Hoggard: 6.6 (2nd MSU, 17th Big Ten)
MICHIGAN STATE CAREER ASSIST TO TURNOVER RATIO
1. TumTum Nairn (435-130) 3.19-1
2. Magic Johnson (491-192) 2.57-1
3. Mark Montgomery (561-223): 2.51-1
4. AJ Hoggard (609-251) 2.43-1
5. Cassius Winston (890-374) 2.37-1
MICHIGAN STATE CAREER ASSIST PERCENTAGE LEADERS
1. Cassius Winston: 42.8%
2. AJ Hoggard: 37.4%
3. Marcus Taylor: 34.1%
4. Denzel Valentine: 29.5%
5. Drew Netizel: 27.9 %
6. Kalin Lucas: 27.2%
7. Magic Johnson: 26.7%
8. Scott Skiles: 26.4%
MICHIGAN STATE CAREER ASSIST LEADERS
1. Cassius Winston: 890
2. Mateen Cleaves: 816
3. Scott Skiles: 645
4. Denzel Valentine: 639
5. AJ Hoggard: 609
6. Eric Snow: 599
Tom Izzo wanted to go in a new direction with Jeremy Fears at point guard, but I am sure Izzo and most Spartans fans wish AJ Hoggard the best in his future endeavors.
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