Fresh off of a regular season Big Ten championship, the Michigan State men's basketball team has earned several 2024-2025 postseason honors from the conference.
After leading the Spartans to a 26-5 overall record and 17-3 mark in conference play, en route to his record-tying 11th Big Ten title, Izzo was named the conference's Coach of the Year. This is the fourth time in his career that Izzo has received the award.
Izzo was not the only Michigan State coach to earn recognition. MSU associate head coach Doug Wojcik was named the Howard Moore Assistant Coach of the Year. The award, named after former Wisconsin assistant coach Howard Moore, highlights the best men's basketball assistant coach in the Big Ten Conference.
Two Michigan State players also received Big Ten accolades. Senior guard Jaden Akins was named to the conference's All-Defensive team, and he was voted All-Big Ten third-team by the coaches as well. Freshman guard Jase Richardson made the All-Freshman team, and was voted All-Big Ten third-team by both the conference's coaches and media panel.
Akins, a team captain, led the Spartans in minutes played (26.7) and points per game (12.9). Additionally, he averaged 3.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.8 steals per game. Akins shot 39.9% from the floor overall, 29.6% from 3-point distance and 80.8% from the free-throw line.
Previously, Akins has been selected as a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection and he was named as the Spartans' sportsmanship award honoree during the 2022-2023 season.
Richardson emerged as a freshman star for Michigan State this season, and started the last nine games of the regular season for the Spartans. He was second on the team with an average of 11.6 points per game, and second in minutes played per game at 24.2.
Richardson also averaged 3.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.8 steals per game. He made 52.4% of his total shots from the field, and shot 38.8% from behind the arc, and 85.4% from the free-throw line.
Walk-on junior guard Nick Sanders is Michigan State's 2024-2025 recipient for the sportsmanship award.
Next up, Michigan State will return to competition on Friday, March 14 in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. The No. 1-seeded Spartans will play either the No. 8-seeded Oregon Ducks or the No. 9-seeded Indiana Hoosiers in the quarterfinal round at approximately noon Eastern Time.
