Of all the glaring holes Michigan State tried to navigate this season, none was larger and deeper than the void at point guard. The Spartans tried make up for what Cassius Winston, the Big Ten’s all-time assist leader, left behind. They couldn’t.
Now comes Tyson Walker. A transfer from Northeastern, the 6-foot point guard announced Saturday he’s heading to East Lansing, marking the Spartans’ first roster addition since ending the season against UCLA in the NCAA Tournament First Four. By all appearances, the talented junior immediately becomes MSU’s top option as lead guard in the backcourt. He’s most likely a Day 1 starter.
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Because all NCAA athletes have been granted an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Walker can play upwards of three seasons at Michigan State. He was the No. 16 player in The Athletic’s ranking of the best available players at the time of his commitment.
Based on conversations with a few opposing CAA coaches and game film on Synergy, here’s a broad-based evaluation of what Walker might bring to MSU.
As a sophomore, Walker averaged 18.8 points in 34.8 minutes per game. He shot 50.6 percent on 2s and made 2.1 3s per game on 35.4 percent shooting, and averaged 4.8 free-throw attempts per game, shooting 77.2 percent. He was named first-team All-CAA and the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.
As a freshman in 2019-20, he was named to the CAA All-Freshman team after averaging 13.6 points on 44.6 percent shooting with 3.9 assists per game.
Walker is a natural point guard, but also a natural scorer. He excels most in ball-screen sets. This season he was used in roughly 16 ball-screen plays per game, producing 0.941 points per possessions on both passes and shot attempts. Notably his usage of pick-and-rolls breaks down as nearly an even split — 50.7 percent as a passer, 49.3 percent as a shooter.
Playing for longtime Northeastern coach Bill Coen, Walker was used in a variety of ways and in all kinds of screens. He’s at his best splitting a screen — finding any little crevice to slip through — and making a play in space as a scorer or a passer. He’s deadly when reading where the help defender is coming from and firing passes to the corner or the wing. He led the CAA in assist rate (33.7) and averaged 4.8 assists and 3.3 turnovers per game. He delivers passes on time and on target.
As a scorer, Walker is a little right-hand dominant, but he can finish going both ways. He’s fearless attacking the rim, despite his size. When driving to the basket, Walker likes to use both a Euro step and a big jump stop, and he has a slithery style of sneaking around and between bodies to flip up an assortment of shots. He’s quick and crafty. Of his shot attempts off of screens, about 50 percent were off-dribble jumpers, 11 percent were in-between runners and 35 percent were attempts near the basket (4 percent miscellaneous).
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Walker’s shooting range is probably one step out beyond the 3-point line. He’s a good shooter, but not exactly a knock-down deep threat. He went 1-of-8 on 3s in Northeastern’s season-ending loss to Drexel in the CAA tournament. He also went 7-of-12 on 3s against Towson three weeks earlier. Overall, Walker made 57.8 percent of his attempts at the rim, 43.8 percent on “other 2s,” and 34.8 percent of his 3s. Of his 40 made 3-pointers, 59.0 percent were assisted.
Athletically, Walker is small, but his speed and quickness make up for it. He’s fast enough to beat a Big Ten guard off the bounce, and he’s quick enough to turn a corner.
Walker is listed at 6-foot, 170 pounds, but some opposing coaches think Walker might be a touch smaller than that. He has dealt with some injury issues related to his right (shooting) shoulder.
As a defender, Walker led the CAA with 2.4 steals per game and stood out as a solid on-ball defender. Because of his size, he could be a bit susceptible to post-ups by guards in the Big Ten, but his speed and ability to read the game can make him a menace. Northeastern played almost exclusively man-to-man defense.
Like any up-transfer in college basketball — a player going from a low- or mid-major to a high-major —the primary question surrounding Walker is, how will his game will translate to a spike in competition? How will he perform against more size, more length? Will it bother him? Finishing at the rim in the CAA versus finishing at the rim in the Big Ten is vastly different. So is beating a Big Ten defender off the dribble.
As one opposing CAA coach put it: “He’s really good. He’s a tough kid. He’s got some of that swagger to him. I’m not exactly surprised to see him trying to take a jump up in competition. I did wonder if he was frustrated at times. Does that change at that high of a level, like at Michigan State, versus when he’s the best player on the court? Quite likely. I definitely think he can play at that level, but of course there are questions.”
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Walker’s most notable game against high-major competition as a sophomore was a Feb. 17 matchup with North Carolina. He finished with 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting (including 4-of-7 from deep), one assist and four turnovers. In the first half, Walker was making shots, driving to the basket and looked like one of the one or two best players on the floor. The second half was another story. The Tar Heels started trapping and hard-hedging, and Walker struggled to adapt. North Carolina won, 82-62.
Walker scored 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting with three assists and five turnovers in a 75-51 loss to West Virginia. He scored 19 points on 8-of-18 shooting with six assists and two turnovers in a loss to Georgia. He scored seven points on 2-of-5 shooting with four assists and four turnovers in a loss to Syracuse.
Northeastern finished the season 9-7 overall and 8-2 in the CAA. The Huskies were hit with a long COVID-19 pause in February, derailing the season down the stretch.
At Michigan State, Walker will join a backcourt in flux. As of Saturday, the program’s returning point guards are A.J. Hoggard and Foster Loyer, along with Rocket Watts, who was used in 2020-21 as both a point guard and shooting guard. As is the case throughout college basketball, just because that’s the roster today doesn’t mean it will be the roster tomorrow. The transfer portal is spinning rapidly. The only Spartan listed in the portal is deep reserve guard Jack Hoiberg, a former walk-on.
As it stands, with Aaron Henry expected to move on to the NBA Draft, Walker’s commitment pushes Michigan State one over its allotted 13 scholarships for next season. That’s only on paper, though. Some roster movement is indeed anticipated.
In addition to Walker, Michigan State is also adding freshmen Jaden Akins, Max Christie and Pierre Brooks for 2020-21. Of the three, Akins is the only option who could see time at point guard. Christie is a natural two-guard, while Brooks is a wing.
As a high schooler, Walker was a three-star recruit after playing four years at Christ the King (N.Y.) and spending one post-grad year at the New Hampton (N.H.) School. His older brother, Andre, was a four-year starter at Loyola (Md.) from 2015 to ’18 and scored 1,682 career points.
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All told, Walker fills a massive need for Michigan State. One of the fatal flaws for the Spartans this season was a total lack of proven point guard play entering the year. In hindsight, the staff should’ve found an experienced lead guard in the portal a year ago. Back then, it was hoped Watts would develop and take over the position. That didn’t materialize, though, and the issues at point guard ended up having major residual effects. In the end, Michigan State reached the NCAA Tournament as an 11-seed. One wonders what could’ve been with even satisfactory play from the point.
Walker should, at minimum, bring that next year. By all accounts, though, he’s capable of much more.
(Photo: Grant Halverson / Getty)