Top 5 transfer portal targets for Tom Izzo, Michigan State basketball
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Despite entering the 2024-2025 season unranked, Tom Izzo did what he does best and led Michigan State to another deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Yet, for the fifth straight season, the Spartans failed to come out of their division despite entering the bracket with a high seed. Michigan State now prepares to begin another offseason rebuild, starting with the college basketball transfer portal.
In the college basketball transfer portal era, Izzo has still managed to typically maintain continuity on Michigan State’s roster. With six key players eligible to return, he has another chance to retain the bulk of his team. Jeremy Fears Jr., Tre Holloman, Jaxon Kohler, Coen Carr, Carson Cooper and Xavier Booker all have the option to return to East Lansing. Yet, the portal tends to make such situations highly unpredictable.
Before considering who might return, the Spartans must evaluate their departing assets. Leading scorer Jaden Akins exhausted his eligibility, along with reserve forwards Frankie Fidler and Szymon Zapala. Freshman Jase Richardson is also widely expected to enter the 2025 NBA Draft. On a team that depended on chemistry and cohesion as much as Michigan State does, losing four key players will be noticeable.
Unlike most title contending teams, Michigan State has not been one to make many significant additions from the transfer portal. Instead, Izzo tends to make his recruiting classes the highlight of his offseasons. However, the Spartans’ 2025 recruiting class currently consists of just two commitments. While certainly still incomplete, only three-star recruits Cam Ward and Jordan Scott are expected to join the team in the fall at present time.
The college basketball transfer portal might not typically be Michigan State’s offseason approach, but the experienced roster and disappointing recruiting class would unmistakably benefit from such additions. The Spartans’ season might be over, but Izzo’s job is only beginning to heat up.
SG Ryan Conwell (Xavier)
Michigan State tends to have a team-based approach, but its lack of a go-to scorer visibly hurt them down the stretch of the season. Akins and Richardson were both capable of taking over a game in moments, but neither were the type of dominant bucket-getters capable of leading a team to a championship. The two guards were the only members of the team to average double figures with neither averaging more than 12.8 points per game.
Scoring should certainly be a focal point in the offseason with few transfer portal options better than former Xavier guard Ryan Conwell. In his lone season in Cincinnati, Conwell averaged 16.5 points per game, second on the team behind sixth-year big man Zach Freemantle.
Conwell’s impressive junior campaign came after he averaged 16.6 points per game with Indiana State in 2023-2024. He also finished on the team in scoring on a team led by fan-favorite center Robbie Avila. Conwell’s stint at Xavier should put any questions about his ability to impact the game against increased competition to bed.
With Akins and Richardson likely both departing, Tom Izzo will need to replace the scoring in his backcourt. Holloman will likely return to the starting lineup in 2025-2026 but serves as more of a floor general than a true scoring threat. Conwell plays as well off-ball as he does with the rock in his hands, hitting 41.2 percent of his three-pointers at Xavier.
Playing for three teams in as many years, perhaps Conwell’s instability will be a red flag for Izzo. Regardless, few players still available in the portal can affect a game the way he does.
SG Myles Colvin (Purdue)
A former four-star recruit and top-100 player of his class, Myles Colvin might be one of the most overlooked players in the 2025 transfer portal. After two uninspiring seasons at Purdue, nobody is going to break the bank for Colvin, but he proved he can be a key contributing piece to any championship team.
The offensive game might not yet be there for Colvin, but he is clearly already an elite defender. Despite averaging just 5.4 points per game in 2024-2025, Colvin’s pesky perimeter defense earned the trust of Matt Painter to keep him in Purdue’s rotation. A defensive-minded guard with the athleticism and energy to impact a game without high-scoring numbers perfectly fits Tom Izzo’s mold.
As a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, Colvin committed to the Boilermakers early, before many teams could get involved in the process. As an early enrollee, he is still just 19 years old with two years of college basketball experience. The rawness in his game can be painful at times, but a coach as adept at development as Izzo is has to keep an eye on Colvin.
Maybe Colvin is not a player Izzo chases in the college basketball transfer portal, but he has to be on Michigan State’s radar. Colvin does have a connection to at least one player on the roster, joining Xavier Booker as an Indiana All-Star in 2023.
SG Josh Dix (Iowa)
Whether it was Gary Harris, Bryn Forbes or Matt McQuaid, Tom Izzo’s teams have always been best with a knockdown shooter in the lineup. Historically, the three-point shot has been a large part of Izzo’s offense. But in 2024-2025, that element was virtually non-existent with Michigan State hitting just 31.1 percent of their shots from behind the arc, the worst in the Big 10.
Former Big 10 rival Josh Dix could be the missing link that gets Michigan State over the hump. An Elite Eight finish is hardly a disappointment, but nearly every game the Spartans lost was the result of inefficiency on offense. Dix is not a guy who will lead any team in scoring, but, after hitting 42.2 percent of his threes in 2024-2025, he is arguably the top shooter available in the portal.
With Holloman and Fears appearing likely to return, slotting Dix into a lineup with such playmakers would open up the Spartans’ offense more than it was in 2024-2025. Adding shooting has to be as much of a priority as scoring is for Michigan State in the offseason.
After averaging 14.4 points per game with Iowa as a junior, Dix is clearly looking to join a contending team from the portal. A shooter like Dix will receive endless attention from the college basketball transfer portal, but he could have the biggest role at Michigan State. East Lansing would also allow him to be closer to home, which seems to be a priority.
Landing Dix will be a difficult task, given his value on the market. But if there is one thing Izzo needs to address, it is his lack of shooting on the current roster. No Elite Eight team had as blatant of a weakness as Michigan State, giving the team a clear target to chase in the college basketball transfer portal.
PF Keanu Dawes (Utah)
At first glance, Keanu Dawes’ 2024-2025 campaign is nothing worth noting. He only averaged 8.0 points per game in his lone season at Utah after putting up 6.6 the year before with Rice. However, Dawes’ impact on the game as a physical enforcer often does not show up in the box score. With Fidler and Zapala leaving, Tom Izzo has holes to fill in his frontcourt that Dawes would certainly fill.
While inconsistency often plagued him, Dawes found a rhythm at the end of the season. In Utah’s last 10 games, Dawes posted five double-doubles with six double-digit rebound performances. Averaging just 18.3 minutes per game with only one start on the year, his per-minute production was among the best in the Big 12.
Dawes’ final game as a Ute came in the College Basketball Crown. In a game he did not need to play in, the sophomore led Utah with 19 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes. That performance came after he notched 21 points and 15 rebounds against UCF in his team’s Big 12 Tournament first-round exit.
Even with Kohler likely returning to Michigan State for his senior season, the Spartans have not had a physical presence in the paint since Mady Sissoko entered the 2024 college basketball transfer portal. A versatile scorer, Kohler fit into the team’s play style but is far from an imposing paint presence. At 6-foot-9, Dawes is not the biggest player in the world, but his physicality and grit allow him to compete with anybody in the country.
Dawes is likely not a player who will ever take over a game with his scoring, but not everybody in the portal is. However, he can certainly change the complexity of any given contest with his physicality and tenacity. Izzo’s success with players like Draymond Green, Gavin Schilling and Xavier Tillman show his affinity for players like Dawes.
PF/C Flory Bidunga (Kansas)
Michigan State needs to add size in the college basketball transfer portal, especially with seven-foot center Zapala graduating. With Kohler entering his final season of eligibility, adding a young center like Flory Bidunga would be ideal for Tom Izzo and the Spartans. Bidunga will not be listed among the top transfer portal targets but will liekly be viewed and pursued as one.
Still just 19, Bidunga is oozing with potential that he just did not get the chance to show at Kansas. Working behind Hunter Dickinson, Bidunga averaged 5.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in 16.3 minutes per game as a freshman. Although he is just 6-foot-9, his physicality allows him to compete in the trenches, much like Dawes.
In Bidunga, Izzo would find a similar skill set to many big men he previously worked with. Bidunga’s athleticism and strength mirror that of Sissoko, Tillman, and Nick Ward, each of whom enjoyed successful careers as a Spartan. The Congolese’s aggressiveness rolling to the rim would pair nicely with the playmaking of Holloman and Fears.
Bidunga’s stats do not show it, but his potential is nearly limitless. He landed in Lawrence as one of the most athletic big men in the country, committing to the Jayhawks over offers from Duke, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky and many others. Michigan State was among the teams who extended an offer but did not host Bidunga for a visit. One year later, Izzo has hardly forgotten about him.
After spending his freshman season behind Dickinson, Bidunga might be looking for additional opportunities. Spending another year on the bench behind Kohler might not suit him. Yet, from a long-term perspective, Bidunga could carve out a successful career with Michigan State over the next three years.
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