Tom Izzo says MSU freshmen are even better than advertised

Enough time has passed for Tom Izzo to let the sadness of an early exit from the NCAA tournament grow into an appreciation for the senior class that Michigan State lost.

“I didn’t like them, I loved them,” Izzo said Wednesday. “Unbelievable guys. Good talent -- not the best talent I’ve had, but darn good talent. Those guys made themselves players. … I’m disappointed because I definitely think that team could have been a Final Four team. But the goods way outweighed that one bad night.”

Seeing the talent coming in to replace them buoys Izzo.

Miles Bridges, Joshua Langford, Cassius Winston and Nick Ward all have been on campus, taking classes and working out this summer, and Izzo has been impressed.

“The guy that’s impressed me the most on how he’s handled things is Miles,” Izzo said. “The guy that’s impressed me a lot with the way he’s played has been Ward. The guys that are giving me a lot of what I expected and more are Cassius and Josh.”

Denzel Valentine, Matt Costello, Bryn Forbes and Colby Wollenmen last season formed one of Izzo’s best group of seniors in his 21 seasons. One was a first-round NBA draft pick, two have signed NBA contracts, and the other is headed to medical school. It was a group that led the team to a 29-6 record and what Izzo called “one of the greatest years I’ve had here,” despite a shocking, season-ending loss to Middle Tennessee.

The newcomers who are following them arrive with a much higher pedigree, Izzo’s highest-rated class of freshmen. All four players were ranked among ESPN’s top 40 in the nation: Bridges at No. 8, Langford at No. 19, Winston at No. 31 and Ward at No. 39. Only Kentucky's and Duke’s six-player classes were ranked higher than MSU’s.

Winston and Langford enrolled in first-session summer classes in June. Bridges and Ward got to East Lansing not long after. All four became showmen during the Moneyball Pro-Am League in Lansing, where their arrival drew big, curious crowds to see whether the hype was warranted.

Bridges didn’t disappoint. He became a fan favorite during the summer league with rim-rocking dunks. The 6-foot-7 Flint native appears to be a star in the making.

Izzo, however, has been more surprised by how Bridges is carrying himself off of the court. The reports he got were that the 18-year-old was personable, approachable and affable. Oh, yeah, and really good at basketball.

“He works,” Izzo said. “Miles has gotta improve in some things. His shooting is decent, but it could be real good. His shot selection, I think, can be better. I think he’s improved on his ballhandling, I think he’s going to improve on his running of the court. But he has a couple of things that you can’t coach: He’s got athletic ability, he’s got toughness, he’s got strength, he’s got a good basketball IQ, he knows when to pass and where to pass.

“I think he’s got a chance to be a special, special player here.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise about Ward, a 6-9 power forward/center, is that he’s further along than MSU coaches expected. Izzo called him “a poor, poor man’s Zach Randolph” with his wide-bodied size, foot quickness, soft hands and touch around the rim. Ward scored 54 points in one of the Moneyball games.

“You can say nobody guards anybody -- and I don’t see those games, but I’d probably agree,” Izzo said. “But if I sent a lot of guys down to the gym by themselves, they couldn’t score 50 points in 40 minutes. That kind of tells you something.”

The Randolph comparison also holds up in that Ward, like the NBA All-Star did when he arrived at MSU in 2000, is shedding weight. The Gahanna, Ohio, native arrived weighing 278 pounds and already has slimmed down to 255.

“He’s just got to improve his work ethic, like 99% of big guys, but it’s taken a giant step. That’s evident by the weight he lost,” Izzo said. “I think that, every five pounds he lost, I think he realized how much better he is. He started the year wearing a sweatshirt, and he ended the year coming around in a tank top. He’s feeling better about himself, and I’m really proud of the job he’s done in cutting that weight and doing it in a correct way where he’s not starving himself.”

Izzo also has witnessed a growing bond between point guard Winston and shooting guard Langford, who expect to play together often in the backcourt.

Detroit native Winston received lofty praise, with Izzo saying the 6-foot reigning Mr. Basketball “is gonna beat you with intelligence.” He said Winston’s unselfish ability to deliver post-entry passes from the perimeter will help MSU’s big men offensively. He says the University of Detroit Jesuit grad also is a better outside shooter than the coach realized.

“What I’ve really liked about Cassius is I was worried about his communication and his shooting,” Izzo said. “He’s shot the ball very well, and his communication has been so much better than I gave it credit for. I don’t think there is a guy I’ve had that is as basketball-savvy. I mean, he can thread the needle and throw passes.”

Winston and Alabama native Langford, Izzo said, share a similarly advanced intellect for the game. Langford, a 6-foot-6 McDonald’s All-America, has a strong work ethic, too, Izzo said. Langford, Bridges and Tum Tum Nairn have been at the Breslin Center, working out together, at 6:30 a.m. every day this summer.

“He spends time on his game, he has a basketball IQ,” Izzo said of Langford. “If there’s a negative, he’s almost too hard on himself. He’s always looking for perfection, and he sometimes gets bummed out when he doesn’t achieve that. I’d say that’s the only negative I’ve seen.”

It’s too early to say whether one, two or all of them could start. There’s enough talent on the Spartans’ roster for the freshmen to ease into the college game, but they also possess enough to seize starting jobs immediately.

There’s no question that -- barring injury -- they’ll each play a pivotal roles. And there’s no doubt that their baptism to the college game will be immediate, with MSU potentially facing Arizona, Kentucky, Louisville and Duke in its early nonconference schedule.

They’ll also have to adjust from Izzo, the recruiter, to Izzo, the coach. His expectations won’t change because of his players’ inexperience.

“You’re trying to win the Big Ten, you’re trying to get to the Final Four. That’s just where the program’s at,” Izzo said. “That really doesn’t change much for me. The goals at the beginning do.

“I gotta be realistic and try to keep some of the pressure off these kids. … You could be 3-5 and be pretty damn good. I have to make sure that doesn’t define our team in December, when it needs to be defined in February and March.”