Five questions facing Michigan State basketball for the 2026-27 season

In the college basketball cycle, March is where we get to see what these teams really are, April is when we recap the prior season, and May is when we finally start to look ahead to the next season. It's often a time of optimism, but can occasionally be one of pessimism depending on the situation.

For Michigan State basketball, there should be plenty of optimism around the program. After two straight respectable NCAA Tournament runs, MSU will presumably be reaching the prime of two of its stars, Jeremy Fears Jr. and Coen Carr , and should be gearing up for another big run.

However, there are some questions about this team going into next season. We outlined five of those burning questions below:

1. Who will start at shooting guard?

To me, this is the most interesting question going into next year. Heck, it was a major question this year as well. When Tre Holloman decided to transfer , and Jase Richardson decided to go pro , the shooting guard position went from being a strength to a weakness for Michigan State basketball.

Last season, transfer Divine Ugochukwu (who has since entered the portal again), a player who was designed to be more of a backup to Jeremy Fears Jr., took over that role until he was injured. Ultimately, it was Jordan Scott , a player who many thought would redshirt, who emerged as the most reliable option at that spot after Divine's injury. Kur Teng also played heavy minutes at shooting guard as one of the Spartans' top shooters, but he was limited on defense.

This year, Michigan State has an absolute monster shooting guard coming in when Jasiah Jervis joins the program . That being said, Scott also performed admirably and feels like he has earned an opportunity to take that spot. Kur Teng is the best shooter on the team and will also be the veteran of the three, and will have a case to make that he should get that role.

In my early rotation projection , I predicted that Scott would start the season at shooting guard, but I've seen others put Jervis in that spot. It'll be an interesting battle to watch unfold.

2. Will Anton Bonke be ready to start?

It was pretty obvious that Michigan State needed to find a center this offseason, and to their credit, they went out and grabbed one of the top centers in the transfer portal in Charlotte's Anton Bonke . The popular consensus around Bonke is that he's a gifted offensive player who can struggle on defense.

Obviously, Bonke played in the American Conference last year, a far cry from Big Ten Basketball. I think everyone is assuming he will start from day one, but if his defense isn't up to snuff, the Spartans may have to turn to Cam Ward or Jesse McCulloch in that role.

3. Will Jeremy Fears Jr. be back next year?

I don't want to raise any cause for alarm, but I also think it's been a little understated that we don't know for sure that Jeremy Fears will be back in East Lansing next year. Fears was formally invited to attend the NBA Draft Combine and has entered his name in the draft , while maintaining his eligibility.

I personally think it would be shocking if Fears stayed in the draft, but I also think if he wanted to go pro right now, he probably could. Again, personally, I think it would be smart for him to stay in school and develop his jumpshot before trying to make that move, but every player is going to make their own decision and we'll have to see what kind of feedback he gets in the draft process.

4. Will Coen Carr take the shooting step this summer?

This past season, in my opinion, Michigan State made a huge sacrifice for their own team's success to do right by Coen Carr. The best thing for Coen Carr's future is to learn how to play small forward. The problem is that with his lack of shooting, he's probably a better fit at power forward in college. At times, playing him at the three made the Spartans' offense look awkward and took a lot of the spacing away for Fears to operate in.

That's a sacrifice you have to make because it's the right thing to do for the player, and it also helped MSU start Carr, Jaxon Kohler , and Carson Cooper together, three of their most talented players.

The hope is that Carr takes a big step forward with his shooting this summer to make playing small forward a cleaner fit. Presumably, Cam Ward will be starting at power forward. Cam Ward is obviously not the shooter that Jaxon Kohler is, so things could get clunky if Carr doesn't take that step.

5. Will the defense take a step back?

It cannot be understated how good Carson Cooper became these last few years, especially on defense. Now, the Spartans will try to replace his stellar play with Anton Bonke, a player who is known to have some weaknesses on that end of the floor. It makes you wonder if MSU's defense will take a step back this year. Of course, you still have Cam Ward, who I think will take a step forward on defense, but this is a huge question to monitor this summer.

Contact/Follow us @ The SpartansWire on X, and like our page on Facebook  to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Andrew Brewster on Twitter @ IAmBrewster .

This article originally appeared on Spartans Wire: Five questions facing Michigan State basketball for the 2026-27 season