Schedule
Hillsdale (0-0, 0-0 G-MAC) at #4/4 Michigan State (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten) | 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 25 | Breslin Center | East Lansing, MI
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Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Michigan State Roster | 2022-23 Hillsdale Stats | 2022-23 MSU Stats
Players to watch*
Hillsdale: #2 Ashton Janowski, So, G, Pewaukee, WI/Pewaukee (2.2 ppg); #4 Charles Woodhams, Jr., G, Otsego, MI/Otsego (6.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg); #14 Walt Mattingly, So., F, Fort Mitchell, KY/Lake Forest (1.3 ppg); #33 Joe Reuter, Jr., F, Chippewa Falls, WI/Chippewa Falls (12.5 ppg, 6 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1 spg); #35 Eric Radisevic, Jr., F, Brookfield, WI/Central (5.8 ppg, 1.9 rpg)
Michigan State: #2 Tyson Walker, Sr., G, Westbury, NY/Christ the King/Northeastern (14.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.2 spg); #3 Jaden Akins, Jr., G, Farmington, MI/Farmington/Sunrise Christian (KS) (9.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.2 spg); #11 AJ Hoggard, G, Sr., Coatesville, PA/Huntington Prep (WV) (12.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 5.9 apg); #22 Mady Sissoko, Sr., Bafoulabe, Mali/Wasatch Academy (UT) (5.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg); #25 Malik Hall, Sr, Aurora, IL/Sunrise Christian (KS) (8.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg)
*Stats from 2022-23 season
Scouting the Opposition
One of the power programs in college basketball, Michigan State enters the 2023-24 season on the short list of national title contenders with one of the best teams on paper in head coach Tom Izzo's 29-year career.
Four starters return for the Spartans from a squad that finished 21-13 overall and reached the Sweet 16 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, with only an overtime loss to higher-seeded Kansas State keeping them from the Elite Eight. That group includes All-Big Ten guards Tyson Walker and AJ Hoggard, who both turned down potential professional opportunities to return to Michigan State for one more run, as well as skilled wing Jaden Akins and the Spartans' post rotation of seniors Mady Sissoko and Malik Hall.
If the full story of the 2023-24 Spartans was just their returning talent, they'd still be a Big Ten title contender and a near-lock to make the program's 26th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. But in addition to a strong returning core, Michigan State also has one of the country's top recruiting classes, including two consensus five stars in guard Jeremy Fears, Jr. and center Xavier Booker, as well as a third who's on the verge of five-star status in forward Coen Carr.
Those three players, along with promising four-star prospect Gehrig Normand, greatly raise the ceiling of the Spartans to one of the top national title contenders in the country. Both the AP and Coaches preseason polls have the Spartans ranked fourth in the nation, and their battles with #3 Purdue in the Big Ten should be titanic clashes.
Directing it all is Izzo, who has put together a legendary resume in 29 years at Michigan State. Along with coaching the Spartans to the 2000 NCAA National Championship, Izzo also has 10 regular season Big Ten titles, six Big Ten Tournament titles, eight Final Four appearances, and eight National Coach of the Year awards, as well as a mind-blowing .696 winning percentage in NCAA Tournament games. A native of Iron Mountain, Michigan, Izzo was the top assistant under former MSU head coach Jud Heathcote for several seasons before stepping into the top role in 1995.
Scouting the Chargers
It's a new era for the Hillsdale College men's basketball team, as new head coach Keven Bradley begins the 2023-24 era with four new starters on the court after the Chargers graduated six seniors from the 2022-23 squad.
But while it is a new beginning for Hillsdale, there's plenty of continuity with the program's recent successes and the foundation built over the past two decades. Before taking the head job this past spring, Bradley spent three seasons as Hillsdale's associate head coach, playing a critical role in guiding the program to a 2020-21 G-MAC title, three 20-plus win seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances, two Sweet 16 appearances, and a 2022 NCAA DII Midwest Regional title and Elite Eight appearance. His background makes him very familiar with the Chargers program and gives him a great opportunity to build on the structure that's already in place.
And while Hillsdale bid farewell to four starters this offseason, several important players return for Bradley in the 2023-24 season, led by the lone starting holdover, junior Joe Reuter, who earned second-team All-G-MAC honors while averaging 12.5 points and six rebounds per game for a 23-win Chargers squad in 2022-23. While Reuter has had a role to play for the Chargers since his first day on campus, this season will be a big chance for the junior to take on a key leadership role with the squad as an upperclassman.
Along with Reuter, Hillsdale also brings back a trio of important substitutes from 2022-23 who look poised to compete for starting roles. Guards Charles Woodhams, a redshirt junior, and Ashton Janowski, a true sophomore, were big in moments off the bench for Hillsdale last season and should see their roles increase in 2023-24, while fellow guards Sam Vasiu and Cole McWhinnie should take on bigger roles as well.
In the paint, Radisevic could step in as the Chargers' post presence after serving as the first big man off the bench in last year's rotation. Redshirt sophomore Walt Mattingly should also see a bigger role, as will redshirt freshmen C.J. Yarian and Garrett Bolte, who will both see their first collegiate action this season.
Hillsdale should also get some quality minutes from a five-player freshman class. Guards Logan Beaston and Mikey McCollum were both proficient scorers at the high school level and could bring some offensive punch, while Caleb Glaser and Connor Stonebraker will get a chance to break into the lineup in the post as well.
A young Chargers squad is looking to keep alive a string of six consecutive seasons with 19 or more wins, a stretch that includes four NCAA Tournament appearances and two G-MAC titles, despite a tough schedule that starts with Wednesday's exhibition against the Spartans.
Matchup History
- Hillsdale has two prior exhibition meetings against Michigan State in the last fifteen years, as the Chargers played at the Breslin Center in 2011-14, losing 80-58 to the Spartans, and in 2017-18, falling 75-44 to at Michigan State team ranked in the top five in the nation. In the distant past, when Michigan State was still Michigan Agricultural College, the Chargers and Spartans met eight times as foes during the regular season, most recently in 1948. MSU is 8-0 all-time against Hillsdale in regular season games, and has played at Hillsdale only once – in 1902.