Michigan State men’s basketball seems to be back.

For the past few years, the Spartans seemed to have fallen behind in the Big Ten, scrapping and clawing just to keep their tournament streak alive when the regular season began winding down.

It wasn’t the standard that had so long been in place for Michigan State basketball, a team that had regularly been competing for the conference title year in and year out.

Finally, it seems the Spartans may have gotten back to that point. Michigan State is currently tied for first place in the Big Ten and will likely head into 2025 11-2.

On this episode of the Michigan State Insider Podcast, our Aidan Champion and host Bryan Anthony Davis discuss whether the Spartans truly are conference contenders again.

You can watch the episode below:

Below is a partial transcript from Michigan State coach Tom Izzo’s opening statement from his press conference that followed the Spartans’ win over Florida Atlantic last Saturday:

Izzo: “Man, nothing’s easy. I really like that team. We said it on film. We actually did a pretty good job on a couple guys. [Baba] Miller, one. The big kid inside got in some foul trouble, did a decent job with him. I thought Jeremy [Fears Jr. ] did a hell of a job on [Leland] Walker. I really like Walker, too. But Miller is a good player. We did not do a good job on [Tre] Carroll. He was really good. And I think he is really good. I think that team has a chance to win a lot of games. This will probably be a good test for us. It wasn’t good when you’re going home for Christmas, because there was a couple sleepless nights on these guys. I told some of you I thought they were good. And yet, we started out the second half 4-of-17. Missed a gazillion layups — putbacks for Szymon [Zapala] and Jax [Jaxon Kohler], of all people. And they really — 4-of-17, I don’t know how we. I’m trying to figure out how we scored 86 points. But again, we shot pretty well from the free throw line. We offensive rebounded, we didn’t turn it over too much. I mean, it was a good win for us; I didn’t like the way it was played at all the time. I thought we got stagnant with the ball. But I was really impressed with Jeremy. And Coen [Carr] will probably never shoot another 3, so he can lead the history of Michigan State — it will be 100%. … I appreciate our fans appreciating him. And you saw our players. Last time I saw an eruption like that was when Steven [Izzo] hit a shot. That was pretty cool. I think that tells you a lot about how they feel about each other. And that was really important to me and, I think, to our coaching staff. So, Coen, no doubt, was the star of the game. Jaden came around the second half and did some good things.”

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Michigan has added an analyst to its staff with decades of experience in the NFL and NCAA. Michigan has hired Juan Castillo, who served as UCLA’s offensive line coach in 2024.

Castillo, 65, was with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1995-2012, where Andy Reid was head coach for the majority of those seasons. Castillo served as offensive line coach during a stretch of the Reid era when the Eagles made the NFC Championship Game five times. Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was also on the Eagles staff from 1998-2007, Castillo’s relationship with Harbaugh led to him joining the Ravens staff from 2013-16, first as run game coordinator (2013) and then as offensive line coach (2014-16) before heading to the Buffalo Bills in 2017-18 as offensive line coach and run game coordinator.

John Harbaugh isn’t the only Harbaugh Castillo has worked for. Castillo was also on former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh’s staff at Michigan in 2019 as an offensive analyst. After Castillo’s lone season at Michigan he went on to be the Chicago Bears offensive line coach in 2020 and 2021, then the Washington Commanders in 2022 and 2023 as offensive line coach and run game coordinator, with his most current stop being offensive line coach at UCLA in 2024.

While Castillo has coached a variety of positions in his career, his bread and butter is clearly coaching the offensive line. Castillo, 65, will likely be working closely with Michigan offensive line coach Grant Newsome. In June of 2024, the NCAA made a big rule change, lifting restrictions on football analysts and allowing any staff member to provide “technical and tactical instruction” to student-athletes. In short, Castillo will be able to provide on-field instruction and coaching at practices. Castillo’s presence should be beneficial to Michigan’s offensive line and to Grant Newsome, who’s considered an ascending coach at 27 years old.

With the year winding down, let’s reflect on the rollercoaster 2024 for Michigan State Basketball.

Michigan State started the new year with optimism, even with a record of 8-5. It seemed like the Spartans had recovered from the nightmare start to the season with a win over No. 6 Baylor in Detroit. 

However, once Big Ten play got into full swing the Spartans regressed to the team they were at the beginning of the season. 

After back-to-back road losses to Northwestern and Illinois, the Spartans were at rock bottom, 1-4 in conference play and 9-7 overall, on the wrong side of the tournament bubble with two months remaining.

On Jan. 30, Michigan State beat the Michigan Wolverines 81-62, clinching Coach Tom Izzo’s 700th win as head coach.

By the middle of February, The Spartans proved they could hang with the best in the conference after beating No. 10 Illinois 88-80 at the Breslin Center.

Then the Spartans regressed again, losing three straight games by less than 7 points. Their season would conclude with a frustrating loss to two-time Naismith Player of the Year, Zach Edey, and the No. 2 Purdue Boilermakers. 

Despite a 30-point effort from Walker, Michigan State lost their final regular season game to the Indiana Hoosiers, 65-64. Finishing the regular season 18-13 and 10-10 in conference play.

The Spartans needed at least one win in the Big Ten Tournament to feel confident about their chances of making the NCAA tournament for the 26th straight season under Tom Izzo.

They would avenge their regular season loss against the Golden Gophers, beating them in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament and solidifying a trip to March Madness. 

After starting the season as the No. 4 team in the country, the Spartans ended with the No. 9 seed in their region, a far fall from contention for a national title.

But Michigan State handled the No. 8 seed Mississippi State out of the SEC. With the first-round win, the Spartans were rewarded with playing the No.1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels.

The Spartans came out hot, taking an early 12-point lead; it looked like another vintage Izzo upset in March until the Tar Heels woke up. Eventually, North Carolina caught fire from range and took care of Michigan State, ending a wild season for the Spartans in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Izzo came under fire for his squad not living up to expectations. Many fans criticized his reluctance to use the transfer portal as a reason why the Spartans floundered.

So over the summer, Izzo changed his recruiting philosophy and dipped into the portal. He didn’t pick up big names but found players like forward Frankie Fiddler from Omaha and center Syzmon Zapala from Utah State. 

The overall sentiment from critics was that these additions wouldn’t be enough to replace the departing talent from seniors like Hall and Walker. As well as losing guard A.J. Hoggard and center Mady Sissoko to the portal. 

But Izzo stayed the course, trusting that his young squad would develop over the course of the season.

There were a lot of questions heading into the 2024-25 season and the picture wasn’t so clear early on.

Especially after scraping by with a close win against Bowling Green and getting crushed by Kansas in the Champions Classic, there wasn’t much hope for Michigan State to get back to the top of the sport.

Then there was a turning point for the mood of fans at the Maui Invitational. Izzo made a few lineup adjustments and perimeter shots started to fall. After beating North Carolina in the third-place game, the Spartans reached a high that hadn’t been felt in a while.

The development of the 2023 recruiting class entering their second season and the rise of freshman Jase Richardson have flipped the expectations for this team.

Michigan State continued to impress, taking care of business against mid-majors. The Spartans re-entered the AP Top 25 for the first time in over a year in early December and currently sit at No. 18 in the country with a record of 10-2. 

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