MSU Big Man Xavier Tillman Looks Ahead To the 19-20 Season!
Breslin Student Events Center
East Lansing, MI
The #1 team in America is right here in East Lansing and of course, we are talking about the Michigan State Spartans and their Hall of Fame head coach Tom Izzo.
The Spartans kick off the season on October 29, in an exhibition contest against Albion and the season officially kicks off November 5 at 9:30 PM in New York. The Spartans will be taking on the Kentucky Wildcats in the Champions Classic. No doubt that the nation’s attention is already looking at the critical first game of the year heavyweight fight.
Tom Izzo is fired up for the season. He said about this year's Spartans that, "So while I'll embrace the expectations, while I'm excited about it, I'm hoping we're still going to remain the same blue-collar institution that we are and blue-collar program. We're going to continue to preach that. More importantly, our leaders will continue to preach that."
Izzo said of Tillman, "Tillman, a player in the post who had a great NCAA Tournament, great finish to the year. He made big steps when we moved him into the starting lineup when Nick was hurt. From when he came here as a freshman to where he is now is physically and skillfully an incredible improvement. It's not the 35 pounds or more. It's the improvement on his shot. We asked him to get better in the post. Last year we asked him to get better from the free-throw line. I think he's one of the great on-ball defenders in the country as far as defensively, and he's getting better at both pick and pops and pick and rolls, and I think Xavier is primed to have a great year."
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