Michigan State University Men's Basketball

Tom Izzo was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 9, 2016, cementing his status as one of the game’s all-time greats. Now ...

Austin Thornton, a four-year letterwinner and co-captain for Michigan State’s men’s basketball program, enters his fifth season working with the Spartans and his second as an assistant coach. Thornton, who has spent more than 10 years with the Spartans including his playing career, returned to his alma mater in June 2021 as the team’s video coordinator. In that role, he helped aid the coaching staff in scouting reports, practice and game preparation, implementation of offensive and defensive strategies, along with assisting in player development. He has also been responsible for the hiring and training of MSU’s graduate assistants and student managers. In addition, Thornton has spearheaded Michigan State’s annual “Grind Week” for the last five years, which sees the return of many current NBA and professional players, as well as nearly 100 former men’s basketball players each year. He returned to MSU after spending the 2020-21 year as the head coach for both the freshman and varsity boys basketball teams at Sparta High School in Michigan. From 2017 to 2020, Thornton spent four years playing professional basketball overseas, making stops with teams in Italy, Switzerland, Australia and Hungary. Following his collegiate career, Thornton made his return to Michigan State in 2015 as a graduate assistant, spending two years on Head Coach Tom Izzo’s staff (2015-16 and 2016-17). As a graduate assistant, Thornton helped with player development, defensive scouting reports, on-campus rec

Doug Wojcik, a veteran college basketball coach with more than 30 years of experience, enters his eighth year back in East Lansing and his second season as associate head coach. In the last seven seasons, Michigan State has won three Big Ten regular season titles (2019, 2020, 2025), the 2019 Big Ten Tournament Championship, advanced to the 2019 NCAA Final Four, the 2023 NCAA Sweet Sixteen and the 2025 NCAA Elite Eight. The Spartans have also extended their consecutive NCAA Tournament streak to 27 years, officially recognized by the NCAA as the nation’s longest active streak. During that time, 13 Spartans have earned All-Big Ten honors. In the 2024-25 season, Wojcik was named the Big Ten Conference Howard Moore Assistant Coach of the Year, while Tom Izzo became the Big Ten all-time leader in conference wins. Wojcik previously spent two years (2003-05) at MSU as an assistant coach and associate head coach and was part of the 2005 Final Four Team prior to taking his first head coaching job at the University of Tulsa. In Wojcik’s nine years as a Division I head coach, he has a career record of 178-121 (.595) during stints at Tulsa (2005-12) and the College of Charleston (2012-14), leading four teams into postseason play, averaging 20 wins per season overall, winning more than 60 percent of his conference games (88-58, .602), reaching three conference championship games and transitioning both programs to higher-ranked conferences. During his seven seasons at Tulsa, Wojcik posted f

Dr. Lorenzo Guess has dedicated 13 years of his career to Michigan State University, where he holds the prestigious position of Assistant AD/ Director of Athletic Performance. Dr. Guess's responsibilities include overseeing a team of highly skilled Athletic Performance professionals who are committed to delivering optimal results for the Olympic sports program. Additionally, Dr. Guess is the Director of Strength & Conditioning for men's basketball, where he implements his vast knowledge and experience to keep the players in top physical condition. Dr. Guess's unwavering dedication and expertise have made him an invaluable asset to MSU's athletic community. Dr. Guess was named the basketball program’s Director of Strength & Conditioning in August 2022 and reunited with his former head basketball coach, Tom Izzo. Guess now trains at the state-of-the-art Draymond Green Strength & Conditioning Center. MSU's men's basketball program uses Catapult, Vald, and Eliteform technologies to enhance player performance. Dr. Guess completed his doctoral program with the United States Sports University in the summer of 2021. His research involves The Perception of Educational Barriers in Transition of African American Male Student-Athletes. Dr. Guess was named a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach (MSCC) by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa) in May 2020, the highest honor given in the strength and conditioning coaching profession. Guess is also a certified

Garrett Briningstool, in his ninth year on the full-time staff with Michigan State Athletics, was named Assistant Athletics Director/General Manager of NIL in May 2024, assuming a leadership role in advancing MSU’s acclaimed Name, Image and Likeness program, Evergreen. Briningstool, who has worked with the men’s basketball program for seven years, continues to serve as the Chief of Staff to Head Coach Tom Izzo. He joined the program in 2019 as an executive assistant before being promoted to Chief of Staff in 2021. Briningstool made the transition to men's basketball in 2019 after spending the previous two years as the on-campus recruiting coordinator for the football program. In his role with football, Briningstool coordinated all recruiting special events, including all official and unofficial visits. He also assisted in the management of gameday operations and was responsible for football and basketball gameday tickets for all recruits and their guests. In addition, Briningstool worked alongside executive director of player personnel Sheldon White on the structure and direction of recruiting related projects. Briningstool, who started working for the football program in 2010, spent three years (2014-16) as an operations intern prior to his full-time appointment. He spent four years (2010-13) as an operations student assistant at MSU prior to his internship role in operations. Briningstool graduated from Michigan State with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

Jon Borovich is in his second stint with the Michigan State men’s basketball program, returning to East Lansing in August 2022 and is starting his second year as an assistant coach. Borovich, who started his coaching career at Michigan State as a graduate assistant from 2001-03 under Head Coach Tom Izzo, returned to East Lansing in August 2022 as the program’s director of recruiting operations and was named an assistant coach in June 2024. Since his return to the full-time staff, the Spartans have extended their NCAA Tournament to 27-straight appearances, reached the Elite Eight (2025) and the Sweet Sixteen (2023) and won the Big Ten regular season title last year by three games. Borovich has also been instrumental in scouting opponents, player development and has helped lead the team’s offense. Under his guidance, several players have earned postseason honors – Tyson Walker was a two-time All-Big Ten second team selection, A.J. Hoggard twice was named All-Big Ten, Jaden Akins earned All-Big Ten third team honors and was a member of the All-Defensive Team and Jase Richardson was selected to the All-Freshman team. Over the last three years, Borovich also helped to spearhead recruiting classes that ranked among the top-ranked in the country, with two players in the 2025-26 class who were among the top-60 players in their class and the 2024-25 class that was ranked No. 15 in the country by 247 Sports. In his first year back on staff, the coaching staff welcomed a 2023-24 recruit

Michigan State men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo announced the addition of Saddi Washington, a Lansing native and the son of former Spartan great Stan Washington, to his staff as an assistant coach in June 2024. Washington came to the Michigan State program with nearly two decades of coaching experience, including eight years at Michigan. In joining the Spartans, Washington is part of a program just down the road from his childhood home and at the school where both his parents and his young brother attended. Last year, in his first in East Lansing, MSU finished the season with a 30-7 overall record, extended its NCAA Tournament streak to 27-straight appearances, reached the Elite Eight and finished the season ranked No.7 in the country. The Spartans posted a 17-3 record in the Big Ten Conference and won the league’s regular season title by three games, with two players earning all-conference honors. While at Michigan, Washington was responsible for working with the team’s wings and coordinated defensive strategies, helping guide the Wolverines to 176 wins, including a program-record 33 during the 2017-18 season when they closed the season with a national runner-up finish. During his eight-year run at UM, the Wolverines won 10-plus Big Ten games seven times (84-66) and the team won the 2021 regular season title and back-to-back B1G Tournaments (2017-18), made appearances in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, reached the 2018 Final Four and the national title game against

Former Michigan State men's basketball standout and graduate assistant Thomas Kelley rejoined the Spartans program as an assistant coach in June 2022. Kelley...