The Michigan State basketball program made the NCAA Tournament and defeated Mississippi State in the Round of 64. They then fell to 1-seed North Carolina, but it was still a decent year for Tom Izzo's squad. There will be a lot of changes next season as always, and one big loss is the expected departure of A.J. Hoggard.
Hoggard, the senior guard, is expected to test the pro waters and is officially not returning to the Michigan State basketball program next year either way, per a report from Kyle Austin of mlive.com.
“A.J.’s looking to make a pro career. He could go back to college. It wouldn’t be here,” Izzo said. “I think he’d like to get into pro ball, whether it be Europe, whether it be the G-League,” Izzo said. “Nowadays, everyone will look at college, too, depending on offers from different places.”
But, despite Hoggard being expected to depart, Izzo remains excited about what the team will look like.
“I’m excited about our team,” Izzo said.” I think people are going to be surprised. When you get a quarterback, things fall into place.”
Add this to Izzo's comments after their season ended against North Carolina, and there are a lot of reasons for Spartans fans to be excited: “I'm gonna get back to a deeper run in this tournament, or I'm going to die trying.”
A.J. Hoggard had an impressive run at Michigan State
Hoggard has spent all four years with the Michigan State basketball program, so moving on somewhere else will be new for both sides. He was the starting point guard for the Spartans the past two years had averaged 10.9 PPG with 5.0 assists and 3.1 rebounds in the 2023-2024 season. He was a regular part of the rotation for the Spartans and will leave a big hole on the roster.
Hoggard averaged 12.9 PPG in the 2022-2023 season, so his scoring took a small dip last season. But, still, there is a lot to like about his game, although it remains to be seen how things go in the NBA Draft process.
At the end of the 2023 season, Hoggard entered his name into the NBA Draft while maintaining his eligibility and then withdrew from the draft a month later, returning to the program and giving Tom Izzo's team Final Four hopes.
Hoggard is not a common name in some of the latest 2024 NBA mock drafts, so if he does decide to go pro, a path to the G League or overseas might be more realistic for Hoggard. Nonetheless, he has time to enter the portal and play one more year of college basketball.
If he does, it won't be at Michigan State, so it's the end of an impressive run for Hoggard in East Lansing.
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