When he was at Michigan State, Kirk Cousins was quoted as saying that “champions are built on a thousand invisible mornings.” His point was that the wins and the accolades and the championships don’t just happen – they take hard work when no one is watching. You can’t shortcut your way to success; it takes time and it takes practice.

Michigan State basketball freshman Jaxon Kohler is no Kirk Cousins. At least not yet anyway. But if he keeps putting in the work, he might be well on his way to success. His coach, Tom Izzo, has referred to him as a post player “in the mold” of former Spartan Zach Randolph. But for him to make tremendous progress with his good hands and footwork and become the multi-dimensional scorer that he was in high school at the collegiate level, Kohler is going to have to continue to do what he’s been doing these last few weeks – preparing differently and working on his craft, in the gym, when the bright lights are off, and the only people around are the basketball staff helping him improve.

“I’m focused on trying to change my diet and I’ve been doing a lot more conditioning, trying to fix up my physique a little bit,” said Kohler after Thursday night’s game. “I’ve been consistent with getting in the gym and getting my shots in the post. [I've been] working on my shot.”

His footwork seems to be getting a lot quicker, he’s happy with the results, and he doesn’t want his success to be fleeting.

“It’s been huge to me, the important thing now is to keep it going,” said Kohler. “Keep this diet good thing going and keep working conditioning extra hours.”

As a kid, Kohler watched highlights of Hakeem Olajuwon and wrote down post moves, step-by-step, in a journal before practicing them. Now, as the only player from the state of Utah to ever suit up at Michigan State, Kohler is gaining the confidence he needs to be an integral part of this team.

When the Spartans were trailing the Scarlet Knights towards the beginning of the game, Kohler stepped up and did his part.

“My approach was, ‘I got six points, let’s make it eight points, let’s help the team out, let’s try to get some energy going,’” said Kohler after the game, surrounded by a half dozen media members at his locker. “I tried to do everything I could, whether it was boards, defense, points – whatever it was, I was trying to do the best of my abilities to get the team back in the game.”

It worked. What also is starting to work a bit for the Spartans is having two bigs in the game at the same time.