Tom Izzo heaps praise on freshman amid initial plan to redshirt

EAST LANSING – Following a season-opening win on Monday night, Tom Izzo spent 16 minutes at the podium talking to the media before walking off.

The Michigan State coach returned seconds later to pick up his glasses, use that as a shot at the refs and provide a roster update.

Izzo said the plan, at least for now, is for freshman forward Jesse McCulloch to take a redshirt this season.

"I don't want to play him four minutes a game and waste his eligibility because I think he and his family have been one of the loyalist people we've had," Izzo said, "and I ain't worried about him leaving."

With a logjam including veterans in the frontcourt, McCulloch seemed like a likely redshirt candidate heading into the season. He watched from the bench Monday night as the Spartans won 81-57 in the opener against Monmouth .

Michigan State hosts Niagara on Thursday before the first major challenge of the season on Nov. 12 against No. 1 Kansas in the Champions Classic in Atlanta. Team health appears solid so far and that's a major factor early in the outlook for McCulloch to redshirt.

"If we've got a guy injured in January, I wouldn't ruin his year of eligibility," Izzo said, "but if something happened (earlier), he's still on hold."

McCulloch, 6-foot-10 and 240 pounds, is a former three-star prospect from Cleveland and one of trio of signees in Michigan State's 2024 recruiting class. Freshman guards Jase Richardson and Kur Teng got on the floor Monday night against Monmouth while McCulloch will have to wait for an opportunity.

"In this day and age, you don't waste time or money on a kid who's not worth it – if you think about it, you just don't do that anymore," Izzo said. "We think this kid is really going to be worth it and I mean really going to be worth it."

After initially walking away from the podium on Monday night, Izzo's return to announce the plan for McCulloch to redshirt lasted three minutes.

"Read between the lines, there's a reason," Izzo said. "I really think this kid has a chance to be really good."