Jaden Akins' biggest challenge for Michigan State basketball? Boredom after foot surgery
EAST LANSING — Watching from the sidelines is something new for Jaden Akins. So is dealing with an injury.
“Boring,” is how he described his ongoing rehab after surgery Sept. 10 for a stress reaction in his left foot.
Michigan State basketball’s sophomore guard no longer is wearing a walking boot but remains out of practice, though he said he remains on track to be ready for the Spartans’ season opener Nov. 7 at home against Northern Arizona.
“I'm feeling pretty good,” Akins said Thursday. “I feel like that's a decision (to be made), but I think I'll be able to. We'll see.”
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The wiry 6-foot-4, 190-pound combo guard from Farmington averaged 3.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 0.6 steals in 14.8 minutes a game last season. He shot 39.4% overall and 38% on 3-pointers, finishing a plus-20 thanks to quick feet and hands on defense.
With classmate Max Christie making his NBA debut Tuesday as part of the Los Angeles Lakers' opening-night roster, Akins appeared headed toward a starting job all summer until the injury popped up in early September. MSU coach Tom Izzo has been using Tyson Walker off the ball alongside point guard A.J. Hoggard during early practices, but he believes Akins can become a Gary Harris-type presence with his ability to defend multiple positions and shoot from outside.
“Akins will be a big key,” Izzo said. “Having him out has been a problem. But it also gives ... some other guys a chance to get better. We've moved some people around. But Jaden Akins, I expect him to be one of our better players.”
Senior forward Malik Hall, who is back to full speed after spending the first nine days of MSU’s practice sidelined with a toe injury, said he didn’t see much boredom from Akins as they rehabbed, noticing Akins “always gets down with his business.”
“I've been saying this since last year, I used to see him in here late at night. When I would be leaving, he'd be coming in here,” said Hall, a captain last season. “I'm really excited to see how he how he plays. It's like somebody hurt him. That's how I feel when I look at him play, I'm like, 'Dang, bro, who hurt you?' He just goes out there and he wants to get it all. I'm really excited to have him back not only, but to kind of see his progression over the next, like, five to 10 years with how he is as a player.”
Right now, Akins’ primary business is getting his foot healthy and maintaining his cardio with work on treadmills both underwater and on an incline, plus bike exercise as he sits out. But he admits that is only a step in being ready for the first game.
“I really won't know until I can really be out there and practice again,” he said. “I feel in good shape doing that type of stuff. But you're not in basketball shape until you're really getting up and down playing, so we'll see how that is when I return to practice.
“I miss it a lot. I never been injured before. So it's eating at me every day to get out there. I'm trying to stay patient make sure I'm ready.”
Getting started
It might not be a real game, but MSU’s season starts Sunday with a trip to Tennessee for a scrimmage against Rick Barnes’ Volunteers.
Izzo scrimmaged against Gonzaga before the season in 2018 and 2019, but the Spartans face the Bulldogs on Nov. 11 in the Armed Forces Classic in San Diego.
“It'll be good before the gauntlet starts,” Izzo said of facing Tennessee, which is No. 11 in the preseason Associated Press rankings.
As for facing No. 2 Gonzaga, Izzo said he does not expect President Joe Biden to be aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, as President Barack Obama was when MSU and North Carolina met in 2011 for the first game on an aircraft carrier. The opportunity to play another Armed Forces Classic came about late in the Spartans’ scheduling process and was one Izzo couldn’t pass up despite an already arduous nonconference slate.
Unranked MSU’s first month includes facing No. 4 Kentucky on Nov. 15 in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis; hosting No. 16 Villanova on Nov. 18 as part of the Gavitt Games against Big East squads; opening the three-game Phil Knight Invitational in Portland, Oregon, against No. 20 Alabama on Nov. 24 in a difficult bracket that includes No. 1 North Carolina, No. 21 Oregon and potentially a rematch with Villanova; then closing with a visit to Notre Dame on Nov. 30 for the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. That stretch is followed by conference games at home vs. Northwestern on Dec. 4 and at Penn State three days later.
“The schedule has always been good. It's borderline, I would say, elite,” Izzo said. “I think it's the best schedule Michigan State has ever had, maybe the best schedule in the Big Ten. Maybe the best preseason schedule ever when I look at those seven games in a row that it couldn't be and should be. ...
“The only thing I worry about is we're not going to get guys a chance to breathe. We're not going to get a lot of chance for a lot of mistakes. I'm not going to get a lot of chance maybe to develop our young guys as much except under fire. The advantage is we'll see where we are, we'll know what our weaknesses are, we'll be able to hopefully correct some of them.”
Heading north?
After the scrimmage at Tennessee, the Spartans host Division II Grand Valley State for its lone exhibition game Nov. 1 at Breslin Center (7 p.m./BTN+).
Izzo always has been a fan of scheduling smaller schools, being a former Division II All-American point guard himself. But he hinted that MSU might take one exhibition game against an in-state foe next year on the road for the first time — to his alma mater, Northern Michigan.
“I'd like to play Northern next year,” he said. “I'm gonna try to play them up there, just so I take my guys up where it's snowing in September, but in an exhibition game.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan State basketball counting on Jaden Akins' versatility
