Michigan State men's basketball fans received some good news on Wednesday. MSU head coach Tom Izzo spoke to the media and revealed that sophomore guard (and wide receiver on the football team) Keon Coleman is now practicing with the team, and that senior forward Malik Hall is expected to return in some capacity against Buffalo on Friday.
Earlier this week, Spartans Illustrated confirmed that fellow football player Maliq Carr will not be joining the basketball team this season. Carr did play for the Michigan State hoops team during the 2021-2022 campaign.
The Spartans (8-4, 1-1 in Big Ten play) host the Bulls (6-6, 0-0 in Mid-American Conference play) at the Breslin Center at 6 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday.
Hall has been sidelined for more than a month. He has been dealing with a stress reaction injury in his left foot after first feeling discomfort in the game against Villanova on Nov. 18, a 73-71 victory for the Spartans.
Izzo previously mentioned that Hall was expected to return around Christmas. That timeline worked out as Friday's game against Buffalo will be Michigan State's first game since the 67-54 win over Oakland on Dec. 21.
In four games this season, Hall averaged 12 points, 5.3 rebounds and one assist per contest. He shot 56.3% from the field overall, 36.4% from 3-point range and 88.9% from the free-throw line in those four games.
Still, after missing eight games, Izzo expects Hall to be somewhat limited against the Bulls.
"(Hall) will still play on Friday (against Buffalo), how much, I don't know," Izzo said. "He practiced the first two days (since returning from Christmas break), kind of practice half of today and then we gave him some time off."