This Offseason is the Most Critical Yet For Michigan State's Carson Cooper
Michigan State men's basketball forward Carson Cooper is now a veteran on Tom Izzo's team, and that comes with a much larger responsibility.
Cooper made a big leap from a reserve in the rotation in his freshman season to one of the key big men in Izzo's lineup.
That, and more, will be expected of him again this coming season.
"I think where I'm at now is going to be my biggest step," Cooper said when he joined "The Drive with Jack" on Friday. "Coach [Izzo] has really stressed, especially for me and Tre [Holloman] and Jaxon [Kohler], guys that are going to be juniors -- that are stepping into more of a bigger role this year -- that are going to be juniors. And we have a say now, we've been through the ropes, we've earned our veteran status a little bit. So, just Coach coming up to us and letting us know that, 'All right, well, this is going to be a lot different than from your first two years when you can kind of just follow guys. But now it's like, you're in the spotlight more. You're the leader the younger guys look up to now. It may not feel like it, but you got to be able to adapt and just step into that new role.' So, that's what I'm excited about."
Cooper still has a ways to go before he gets to where he wants to be, but he knows what is expected.
"I would say that -- I mean, you could probably ask any Michigan State basketball fan in the country, and they'll probably tell you ... over the summer right now is a big year for me to get my offensive game developed and just getting comfortable with that," Cooper said. "And that's my big focal point.
"I obviously took a big step from freshman to sophomore year, defensively, being able to find my rhythm and being able to get stops when I need to and being able to be fluid in our defensive sets and being able to guard guys -- that's good and all, and that's probably ultimately what Coach wants you to do when you go on the floor, but it's limited to what you can really do and how people can guard you. So, for me, it's just being able to have that comfortability, be able to maybe have a consistent 15-footer, be able to have a go-to jump shot, jump hook in the post, being able to -- just be more versatile is just going to be the biggest thing."
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