Six potential targets for Michigan State's backup point guard role

USA Today

05-05-2025

Six potential targets for Michigan State's backup point guard role
It has been an eventful offseason for Tom Izzo and Michigan State in 2025, and it still isn't quite over yet. The Spartans are still in the market for someone to round out the roster as a backup point guard, that can also give the team minutes at the two.
After three departures from the MSU roster, followed by the acquisition of Kaleb Glenn and Trey Fort, the Spartans are shaping their roster into the form that Izzo sees fit for 2025-26. That will include another ball handler.
Michigan State made a run at 5-star guard Darius Adams, looking to tab him for the role, but he ultimately decided to play for Maryland, leaving MSU looking back at the transfer portal and other avenues for a potential add.
With Izzo and his staff having a clear role that has to be filled, they will find themselves parsing through the portal and European markets. The complexity of the portal has changed, with a ton of prospects withdrawing, committing to a new school, or having clear leaders in their recruitment. Now, let's take a look at six names the Spartans could pursue for their backup point guard role:
Divine Ugochukwu (Miami)
The most recent prospect that is picking up steam amongst the Michigan State community is Divine Ugochukwu, who MSU had been in heavy contact with in recent weeks. Now the two parties are reportedly conducting a Zoom meeting on Sunday night, meaning the recruitment is truly picking up steam.
MSU is in the mix along with USC and Texas Tech, vying for the final three years remaining in his collegiate career.
Jon Sanders (Northwestern State)
A prospect with local ties, Jon Sanders is from Detroit and played his high school basketball at Southfield Christian Academy. His college career then started at East Los Angeles College before he played a season at Coastal Carolina and then a season at Northwestern State.
In his two seasons at the division one level, Sanders averaged 8.0 points, 2.1 assists and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 38.3% from the field and 35.7% from 3-point range, including a 40.4% 3-point season a year ago.
The 6-foot-2, 180 pound Detroit native is also the nephew of Michigan's Fab Five team member, Jimmy King.
Jordan Mason (Illinois-Chicago)
A San Antonio (TX) native, Jordan Mason played his first two years of college ball at Texas State before spending this past season at Illinois-Chicago. A 6-foot-2 guard, he has experience playing in the Sun Belt and Missouri Valley conference, where he averaged 9.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists over his three total years in college.
Nate Pickens (UC-Riverside)
After spending three years with UC-Riverside, Nate Pickens has made the decision to enter the transfer portal. After easing into a role as a freshman, these past two seasons have seen Pickens average 9.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists. In those 67 games he shot the ball 38.1% from the field and 35.9% from 3-point range, showing improvement in shooting the long ball in all three seasons.
There is no reports that MSU has made contact, but most recently, BYU hosted Pickens on a visit this past weekend.
Zae Blake (Wagner)
Zae Blake began his career at Southwest Mississippi Community College before spending one season at Green Bay and last season at Wagner. He missed the 2023-24 season with an injury.
In his two years at the division one level, Blake averaged 9.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists while shooting 44.1% from the field and shooting 42.7% from 3-point land.
Noam Yaacov (Hapoel Tel Aviv)
The European route is something that many in the college basketball world have explored vastly, and reports have indicated that the Spartans have inquired about Noam Yaacov, a 20-year old point guard that plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League. From Denmark, Yaacov has experience and the skillset that would fit what MSU wants.
Prior to Hapoel Tel Aviv, he played with ASVEL Basket of the French Professional League, LNB Pro A and the EuroLeague, he averaged 17.8 points, 8.2 assists, and 1.5 steals in 31.0 minutes per game.
Euro route
As mentioned before, the European route is becoming more and more popular, while the Spartans have shown an interest in exploring the route already, meaning MSU might continue to dabble in the route to fill the void they have.