I have seen a few projections of minutes by fans and it looks like a difficult task. Often these predictions allot about 8-9 minutes each for Fears, Booker, and Carr. 

I am wondering, have any other recruits of similar status at MSU played so little as freshmen? Of course, every year circumstances change, but did Gary Harris, or Delvon Roe, or Cassius Winston, or Paul Davis, or Jaren Jackson play under 10 minutes a game as a freshman?

With both Walker and Hall back, that makes us seemingly 12 deep.  When has Izzo ever played 12 deep?  My recollection is never, but there could always be a first time.  A concern may be if the Walker and Hall returns lead to a domino effect, causing someone else to transfer.  I sure hope not.  

HazelMotes, as to your question, I had recently taken a look at Jaren Jackson and he had played around 21'ish minutes a game.  That's more than I had remembered as he seemed to have frequent foul troubles.  From my recollection, all the other guys you named played as much or more as Jackson.  

Minutes are going to be very very hard to come by.  If our starting lineup is all juniors and seniors with Hoggard, Walker, Akins, Hall and Sissoko, that then leaves the following freshmen and sophomores coming off the bench:

PG Holloman, Fears

SG Normand

SF Carr

PF Booker

C Kohler, Cooper

That's as formidable of a bench as we've ever had!  Even if we didn't have our juniors and seniors, I'd expect such a team to be very competitive. 

Needless to say, this is the year, our best chance at a 2nd Izzo title and 3rd overall.  

Posted by: @elarson284568176374567

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Well Tyson is coming back for his COVID year. We expect Hall to announce the same today. Still waiting on Joey who hasn’t yet announced interest in the draft that I’m aware of. Minutes are going to be much tighter this year assuming everyone stays healthy. 

Are we sure that Joey Hauser is still considering coming back? Didn’t he announce via Instagram that he’s done? Or did he make that announcement and afterwards people reached out to him to reconsider?

@lejachr well, Joey didn’t definitively say he was going pro. I think everyone (probably including himself) assumed he was done with college. But the substantial NIL deal has made him pause. 

I suspect the delay in hearing from Hall is somewhat due to 1) giving time for people to talk about Walker and (2) the decision from Joey. Hard to see where they all fit in with both Joey and Malik still there. 

Posted by: @elarson284568176374567

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@lejachr well, Joey didn’t definitively say he was going pro. I think everyone (probably including himself) assumed he was done with college. But the substantial NIL deal has made him pause. 

I suspect the delay in hearing from Hall is somewhat due to 1) giving time for people to talk about Walker and (2) the decision from Joey. Hard to see where they all fit in with both Joey and Malik still there. 

That's a surprise.  Certainly, we never know until we know.  That, however, would be quite the development.  If it were to be Hall too, that'd then make us 13 deep?!  At that depth, it'd get awful hard not to imagine there wouldn't be a chain reaction of a transfer or two or three.  Still, I can't imagine you could say no to either Hauser or Walker, they were our most consistent players last year and we'd have been much worse off without either.  As far as Hall too, I'd say his worth is more of an X factor as it was proved by his absence (as we weren't nearly as good of a team without him).

I'm already happy with just Walker and I like our chances next year no matter what. However, perhaps Covid and NIL and transfers too (Hauser and Walker) are all coming together to produce a tidal wave of benefits to the green and white.  It'll be interesting to see it unfold.    

@elarson284568176374567 got it! Thank you. 

looks like hall just announced this afternoon. This season is going to be so much fun!

@houseizzorockin you’re correct.  All of those guys were starters as freshmen. 

I don’t worry about the minutes allocation at this point.  I think we’ll see all the starters play a bit less, so that’s a beginning point. Part of that will be a general desire to keep them fresh and part of it a result of what I expect to be a team playing more often in transition. The thing to remember is that all of the freshmen save Fears provide something last year’s team lacked, and Fears is so good and so mature at the most important spot on the court that he’ll factor in. I pointed out on our podcast that in October of their freshman seasons, there did not appear to be any available minutes for Draymond Green or Xavier Tillman. By March, those guys were firmly established in the rotation. So the opportunity will be there for any of these guys to carve out a role.