Tom Izzo: Michigan State plans to redshirt freshman Gehrig Normand
Tom Izzo signed one of the top recruiting classes of his career to Michigan State in the lead up to the 2023-24 season, but one of the freshman who made up the nation's No. 5 class will be sidelined for now.
On Monday, while previewing the Spartans' matchup against No. 9 Duke in the Champions Classic tonight (7:00 p.m./ESPN), Izzo confirmed that MSU's current plan is to redshirt former four-star small forward Gehrig Normand (No. 122 overall in 2023 class, according to 247Sports composite rankings).
"It's the plan. I talked to his family and I talked to him," Izzo said. "The way he shot it in practice the last two weeks you'd say, "Why?", but we also think he's got to get stronger and some things he's got to improve on."
Michigan State has gotten off to an abhorrent start to the season in terms of 3-point shooting, as the Spartans went 1-for-20 from deep in a shocking 79-76 upset loss to James Madison last Monday, and followed that up with a 1-for-11 effort from three in a 74-51 win over Southern Indiana.
Shooting is considered an area of strength for Normand, but with Michigan State's deep rotation it may have been difficult for Normand to find minutes. With that said, Izzo left the door open for the freshman to play this season.
"He's a very good athlete. We're very high on Gehrig," Izzo said. "We're very high, to the point I told his parents we may un-redshirt him. You take a look at these couple games, we'll take a look at these couple games — we're not going to do that in January, but for right now."
The NCAA's rules regarding redshirting players is vastly different in basketball compared to football, something Izzo called "strange" and doesn't understand. In football, players can compete in up to four games (out of 12) and still take a redshirt season. In basketball, redshirted players are only allowed to compete in a program's two preseason exhibition games, and not any of the roughly 30 games of the regular season.
"I'm not sure I'm for or against many things, but if they get a third of the year [in football], we've been fighting in our community that that should definitely be something [for basketball players]," Izzo said.
"That makes it very, very difficult," Izzo said of the tight restriction on basketball players. "And [Normand] was hurt the first exhibition game, if you remember. So, the gameplan is to try to do it. That is not etched in stone yet. That will be something that Gehrig and I and his parents and my staff figure out in the near future."
In Michigan State's first exhibition against Hillsdale College, Normand scored two points on 1-for-2 shooting (0-for-1 from 3-point range) and had a steal in seven minutes of action. Normand did not play in the second exhibition against Tennessee.
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