‘The Godfather of the group’ – Tom Izzo believes Michigan State’s Malik Hall is poised for a jump
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has been bouncing around for the past few days from Atlanta to Iowa over the weekend – for recruiting purposes – and Phoenix on Tuesday night to watch Mat Ishbia’s team in action.
And when Izzo touches base back at the Breslin Center for spring shopkeeping, things look good there, too.
“As we sit here right now with 12 on scholarship, you never have too many and you never have enough,” Izzo said recently. “You can’t predict injuries. You can’t predict somebody coming back at the end of the summer a lot better, and some people coming back not as good.”
Izzo feels Michigan State is prepared for all of it, heading into the 2023 off-season.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “We’ll have some veterans who can hopefully mentor some of the young guys. We will have some young guys that are going to push some of the veterans, and that’s always good.”
Malik Hall, who is coming back for a fifth year of eligibility, fills many of those categories. Izzo is expecting him to do it with good health in 2023-24.
“When the season ended, he (Hall) had minor surgery to kind of straighten out the top of that foot as far as what they felt would make it so that he would never have problems again,” Izzo said. “‘Never’ is always a strange word but I feel very good about that, and he feels good about it and I think that’s going to really help him, which will definitely help us.”
Hall had a promising summer in 2022, but sustained injuries during what was supposed to be his final year at Michigan State and a breakthrough season.
Things were looking good for him early in the 2022-23 season. He scored 11, 20 and 12 in games against Gonzaga, Kentucky and Villanova before being lost for six weeks to a foot injury.
He scored in double figures eight times the rest of the year – which isn’t a bad line, but not the productivity Izzo believes Hall is capable of.
Now, Hall is expected to be a pillar on the roster, a glue guy, a potential star, a probable mentor. But he’s also a player with no guarantees of starting status.
That’s a mix Izzo can work with.
“I’m excited because I think Malik is a guy that can talk to those young guys,” Izzo said. “He’s been through it all. He’s been around. He has graduated and he is going to finish his masters and I think his basketball is going to take a big jump this summer.”
He needs to take a big jump. Hall (6-8, 220, Aurora, Ill.) has been a solid contributor for four years, but tantalizingly inconsistent.
Now, he’s set to return with seniors AJ Hoggard and Tyson Walker. Rising junior Jaden Akins is likely to return, although he has entered his name in the NBA Draft and is researching his professional stock.
Centers Mady Sissoko, Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper return, along with sophomore point guard Tre Holloman and a four-man recruiting class that is listed No. 4 in the country in the On3 Industry Rankings.
Xavier Booker, a 6-foot-11 incoming freshman with 3-point shooting ability, will compete for time at the four. Coen Carr, a strong-bodied, 6-foot-7 sky walker from Atlanta, also could see time at the four.
Hall played the four in his first three seasons at Michigan State. He was hoping to establish himself as a wing guard this past season. But when injuries interrupted his season, Akins became a starter at the three, and Hall acquiesced to a sixth-man role.
Now, with Joey Hauser having moved on to chase goals in the pro ranks, the Spartans have an opening at the four in the starting lineup. Hall has dabbled at the three but if Akins returns, Hall is best-suited to play power forward.
If he focuses on the four, Hall will be competing with Booker and possibly Carr for playing time and a starting role. But Hall will also be looked upon to help guide them.
Hall has the personality, temperament and experience for the task. And it would help if his game completely forms into shape.
Hall has never averaged double figures in a season. He averaged 8.9 as a junior in 2021-22 and 8.7 while being slowed by injuries in 2022-23. His 3-point shooting soared to 42.6 percent as a junior. But he went 0-for-10 in the last four games of this past season and his accuracy fell to 32.7 percent.
He’s capable of going off for 20 against Kentucky, or 15 against Michigan. He scored 15 or more on nine occasions as a junior, including 24 against Loyola.
Hall rescued Michigan State with 17 points in a tight victory over Seton Hall as a freshman in the third game of his college career. He started nine of the last 12 games that season, way back when Cassius Winston and Xavier Tillman were seemingly forming the Spartans into a top National Championship contender before COVID hit.
The following year, as a sophomore, Hall started nine of the last 12 games after teammate Joey Hauser went to Izzo and suggested that Hall replace him in the starting lineup.
Now Hall is coming off a season in which he had the fewest starts of his career. Yet he could be poised for his most extensive and important role.
“Malik is kind of the Godfather of the group,” Izzo said. “He is the graduate. He is one of the best students. He’s one of the more versatile players in the whole league, both on offense and defense. I think he’s excited that he is coming back and knows that he is going to be healthy.”
Some NIL sweetener has probably helped the medicine go down, too.
“It was tough to go through what he went through,” Izzo said.
Hall wants another crack at it. Considering that the Spartans felt they were sneaky close to posting Izzo’s ninth Final Four, motivation will be high this off-season for the program’s oldest player.
THE BIG PICTURE
Michigan State returns a lot of talent from last year’s team, but Hauser’s loss will be felt. Hauser became a killer from long range. He shot 46.1 percent from beyond the arc, one of the best marks in school history.
Michigan State is expected to be better at all three backcourt positions next season, with Walker, Hoggard and (presumably) Akins each sharpening their game and maturing another year into manhood. The center position will also be improved.
Better depth will lead to a better transition game and more manpower and man hours to work on rebounding in practice (something Izzo says wasn’t satisfactorily done this past season).
With those areas on an upswing, Michigan State won’t need Hall to shoot like Hauser. That would be nice, but it’s not realistic. However, if Hall can regain 40-plus percent form from deep, that will give the Spartans the stretch four threat that Izzo’s system so badly needs. Izzo believes that’s within grasp for Hall, especially if he has the type of summer he had last year – or better.
“He really did improve a lot last summer,” Izzo said. “He really improved his shot. I thought he was going to have a big year, but what happens happens, and that was out of his control.
“He has been through injuries a few times. As he got healthier, we got better, but he never really got back to where he was.”
Kohler will be pushing for more playing time. Izzo said the Spartans will try to develop Kohler into a four as well as a five. Booker is a Top 10 recruit, but has much to learn in order to play winning basketball at this level.
“Last year, we didn’t have as much pushing (for playing time),” Izzo said. “This year, we will have more pushing and I think that will be good for us and good for the guys.”
Look for Hall to be doing a lot of the pushing, and pulling, through the summer as he regains health and solidifies his standing as an important piece to what Spartan basketball hopes will be a championship puzzle.
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