Big Ten Women's Basketball Preview: No. 8 Michigan State
Can Sparty live and die on one star player again?
This is the fifth of the ongoing series of previews for all 14 teams in the Big Ten heading into the 2021-22 season. This is the third full preview of one team, and focuses on my projected No. 8 team in the conference.
Here is last week’s preview of No. 9 Minnesota
While Minnesota is interesting because of how little it lost during the offseason, the Spartans had a very typical summer in the modern era of the transfer portal. There’s enough lost to have concerns, but enough stayed to think that Michigan State can more or less be the same team it was in 2020-21. But, can it improve?
Michigan State
Last year’s record: 8-7 Big Ten | 15-9 Overall
The Spartans had a strong campaign last season, finishing eighth in the Big Ten and making the NCAA Tournament as a 10 seed. They then lost a close one to No. 7 Iowa State in the Round of 64, but all in all it was a nice turnaround after a rather lackluster 2019-20, where Michigan State almost certainly would have missed the tournament with a 16-14 record.
Head coach Suzy Merchant has led this team to 10 NCAA Tournament appearances in 14 seasons, but has only gotten out of the second round once, in a Sweet 16 run during her second year.
Last season, the Spartans had a great offense (75.2 points per game, No. 27 in the NCAA) and a defense that, by Big Ten standards, was strong (68.8 points per game, fifth in the conference), both of which led to a point differential of plus-6.4, better than both Iowa and Northwestern, who held better Big Ten records.
Again, it was a pretty good year, and Merchant has given Michigan State consistent success that the program really had not seen before. But the Spartans have also been a little stuck in place, and there is one player who gives them a chance to get out of that.
Senior guard Nia Clouden has been a key contributor in each of her first three seasons with Michigan State, but she took it to another level in 2020-21. The first-team All-Big Ten selection was fifth in the conference with 18.7 points per game while also making an impact on the boards and as a facilitator.
The difference last year was Clouden’s efficiency, which was more of an issue in her sophomore season (38.1 field goal percentage, 27.4 three-point percentage). She upped those numbers to 46.4 percent and 32.4 percent as a junior, a big jump that helped her carry the load in some close victories.
While she is not alone – juniors Alyza Winston and Julia Ayrault are good secondary guard options to help open up space on offense – this team relies heavily on Clouden’s output, and she will need to take it up another notch if the Spartans are to get out of eighth place this season.
Sure, there are six names on here, but there is not all that much production lost from the 2020-21 team. Kendall Bostic is a former four-star and looked to have some potential in limited action, while Janai Crooms was a sixth player of the year candidate in the conference thanks to strong all-around play.
But I don’t think there is anything here that is irreplaceable, and Michigan State should be ready to run it back with its top seven scorers all coming back this season.
The Spartans also bring in some key additions that could help Clouden and company get over the hump and enter the top half of the conference.
Tamara Farquhar is a wing that should be able to see sizable minutes for Michigan State immediately, but past that, the Spartans have also prepared for a world without Clouden next season with four freshman that, primarily, can get some small minutes to likely prepare more for 2022-23.
That is with the exception of point guard DeeDee Hagemann, who I would be stunned to not see a lot of this year. Hagemann is a near five-star prospect who was named Miss Michigan Basketball for her efforts, and will likely run point off the bench with the Spartans being so deep at guard for this year.
Elsewhere, Michigan State could improve inside, and Lauren Walker, Isaline Alexander and Brooklyn Rewers will at the very least give the team some depth to work with.
When a team returns its top seven producers from a year ago, the offseason haul doesn’t have to be substantial, but simply earning the commitment of Hagemann and getting Farquhar out of the portal is enough to put the Spartans in a place to compete for a top five spot in the Big Ten.
Much like how I felt about Minnesota, I don’t think that Michigan State has done anything wrong to stay in the bottom half of this conference. It moreso speaks on just how talented the Big Ten seems to be going into this season, which makes me more excited than ever.
Next week, we finally move into the top half with the No. 7 ranked team for the Big Ten preview. Before that, I will have a new post on a random topic for you this Thursday.
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