The 2021–22 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans were led by 27th-year head coach Tom Izzo and played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference. The Spartans finished the season 23–13, 11–9 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for seventh place. As the No. 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Maryland and Wisconsin to advance to the semifinals where they lost to Purdue. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 7 seed in the West region, marking MSU's 24th straight trip to the NCAA tournament, the second longest active streak. They defeated Davidson in the first round before losing to Duke in the second round.

With a win over Toledo on December 4, 2021, Izzo earned his 650th win as head coach of the Spartans. With a win over Maryland on March 6, 2022, Izzo surpassed Bob Knight for the most wins by a men's basketball coach at a Big Ten school with 663.

Previous season In a season limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Spartans finished the 2020–21 season 15–13, 9–11 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for eighth place. The 9–11 finish marked the first time the Spartans had finished with a record under .500 in conference play under Izzo. As the No. 9 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost to No. 8-seeded Maryland marking the first time the Spartans did not play in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament in the tournament's history. The Spartans received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 11 seed in the East region. The selection marked the school's 23rd straight tournament appearance which was the second longest active streak of tournament appearances. In their First Four matchup, they were defeated by eventual Final Four participant UCLA. The Spartans were led by Aaron Henry who averaged 15.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game.

Offseason

Coaching changes On April 5, 2021, it was announced that 10-year associate head coach Dane Fife had left the staff to join new Indiana coach Mike Woodson as an assistant at Fife's alma mater. This marked the first time in 10 years that the Michigan State coaching staff changed. On April 13, it was reported that MSU recruiting coordinator and former Izzo assistant Doug Wojcik had been promoted to assistant coach to replace Fife. Wojcik was previously an assistant with MSU from 2003 to 2005. Like current assistant coach Mike Garland, Wojcik left MSU for head coaching jobs before returning to MSU.

Graduate manager and former MSU player Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr. announced he was leaving to coach at his old high school, Sunrise Christian Academy.

Izzo also announced that former assistant coach and Northern Illinois head coach Mark Montgomery would return to the staff as recruiting coordinator. Garrett Briningstool, an executive assistant to Izzo the past two years, was named director of basketball operations and chief of staff. He replaced former player David Thomas who had been director for six years and left for a private sector job. Former MSU player Matt McQuaid was named assistant director of basketball operations. Another former player, Austin Thornton, was hired as video coordinator. Julian Stall was named director of creative video.

Izzo later announced that Montgomery would be shifted to one of the three assistant coach positions while Garland would transition to an assistant to the head coach position where he would focus more on players on an individual level. This would also allow Garland to spend more time with his family.

Departures Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility for all winter sport athletes. Despite this, fifth-year senior guard Joshua Langford announced he would not return to Michigan State. Langford later announced that he would not pursue a professional basketball career.

On March 24, former walk-on guard, Jack Hoiberg, entered his name in the transfer portal. On March 29, sophomore guard Rocket Watts entered his name in the transfer portal. On April 13, it was announced that junior forward Thomas Kithier had also entered the transfer portal. On April 19, it was reported that junior point guard Foster Loyer had also entered the transfer portal.

On April 12, junior forward Aaron Henry announced he would forgo his final two years of eligibility and enter the 2021 NBA draft. Henry was not selected in the draft, but signed a two-way deal with the Philadelphia 76ers after the draft.

DeparturesNameNo.Pos.HeightWeightYearHometownNotesAaron Henry0F6'6"210JRIndianapolis, INDeclared for NBA draftJack Hoiberg10G5'11"175RS JRBurr Ridge, ILTransferred to UT ArlingtonThomas Kithier15F6'8"230JRClarkston, MITransferred to Valparaiso1G6'5"200GSHuntsville, ALGraduated3G6'0"175JRClarkston, MITransferred to DavidsonRocket Watts2G6'2"185SODetroit, MITransferred to Mississippi State

Recruiting class On April 22, 2020, four-star shooting guard Pierre Brooks announced he would play for Michigan State in 2021. Brooks would later be named Michigan's Mr. Basketball for 2021. On July 7, five-star guard Max Christie, the No. 1-ranked shooting guard in Illinois and ranked No. 13 overall nationally, announced he would also play for the Spartans in 2021. Christie was later named the 2021 Chicago Sun-Times Illinois High School Association player of the year. On August 13, Jaden Akins, a four-star point guard and the No. 70 overall player in the 2021 class, committed to MSU. On February 3, 2021, Keon Coleman, a three-star wide receiver announced he would attend Michigan State to play football, but also said he would walk-on with the basketball team as a guard. On April 30, forward Peter Nwoke announced that he would join the Spartans as a preferred walk-on during the fall.

Incoming transfers On April 28, 2021, the NCAA officially adopted a measure that would allow athletes in all sports to transfer once without sitting out a season beginning with the 2021–22 season.

On March 27, Northeastern point guard and 2021 Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Walker announced that he would transfer to Michigan State. Walker averaged 18.8 points and 4.8 assists per game in his final year at Northeastern. On April 23, Purdue wide receiver Maliq Carr announced that he would transfer to Michigan State to play football and walk on to the men's basketball team. In July, it was announced that two more transfers had joined the team as preferred walk-ons: Jason Whitens from Western Michigan and Michael Peterson from Ferris State. Due to the NCAA's change in the transfer policy, all four players were eligible to play immediately.

TransfersNameNo.Pos.HeightWeightYearHometownPrevious schoolMaliq Carr15F6'5"230RS FROak Park, MIPurdueMichael Peterson20F6'6"200SRRockford, MIFerris StateTyson Walker2G6'0"170JRWestbury, NYNortheasternJason Whitens43G6'4"185SRPowers, MIWestern Michigan

Early offseason rankings Most early rankings for the 2021–22 season listed Michigan State as a preseason top-25 team. These included ESPN (No. 22), Sports Illustrated (No. 18), Yahoo! Sports (No. 13), USA Today (No. 13), CBS Sports (No. 18), Sporting News (No. 9), Stadium (No. 20), and NCAA.com (No. 16).

Preseason

COVID-19 vaccinations Izzo announced on September 28 that the entire staff and all players in the MSU program (from the coaches on down to Breslin Center janitors) had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Izzo stated he was proud of his team for being fully vaccinated.

Preseason Big Ten poll Prior to the conference's annual media day, unofficial awards and a poll were chosen by a panel of writers. Michigan State was picked to finish sixth in the conference.

Preseason rankings For the first time since 2011, the Spartans were not ranked in the initial AP poll released on October 18, 2021. MSU was 26th in the poll, receiving 87 votes. Izzo stated he was not happy about not being ranked, but understood it. The Spartans were also not ranked in the Coaches poll, but did receive votes.

Exhibition The Spartans played two exhibition games at Breslin Center prior to the opening of the season.

The first game was on October 27 against Division II Ferris State. Gabe Brown led the Spartans with 19 points while freshman Max Christie wowed with 17 points in his debut. The Spartans won easily 92–58. The starting lineup consisted of Tyson Walker, Christie, Brown, Joey Hauser, and Marcus Bingham Jr.

The second game was against Grand Valley State on November 4. The Spartans used the same starting lineup and were led by Christie with 14 points. Hauser scored 13 points, five assists, and led the team with nine rebounds. Walker led the team with six assists in the 83–60 win.

Injuries On November 3, it was announced that walk-on transfer Jason Whitens would miss the season with a torn ACL. He suffered the injury in the exhibition game against Ferris State.

Regular season

Early non-conference games

Kansas The Spartans traveled to Madison Square Garden to face No. 3-ranked Kansas on November 9 in the Champions Classic. The Spartans played well in the first half despite foul trouble for starting point guard Walker. AJ Hoggard played well, leading the Spartans with 17 points, but MSU struggled with turnovers. As a result, the Spartans trailed by seven at the half. Kansas was able to continue to take advantage of the 16 MSU turnovers and led by as many as 19 in the second half. The Spartans were able to narrow the lead to 10 late in the second half, but could get no closer, losing 87–74. Julius Marble scored 13 for the Spartans while Marcus Bingham Jr. led MSU with seven rebounds in the loss. The Spartans fell to 0–1 on the season.

Western Michigan The Spartans next played Western Michigan at Breslin Center on November 12. Following a slow start where the Broncos made four of their first eight three pointers and led 15–8, MSU took control and won easily. WMU ended up making only one other three-pointer in the game, finishing five of 28. The Spartans led 46–25 at the half and dominated the game even though they too shot poorly from three, only making four of 19 shots. Gabe Brown led the Spartans with 17 points while Marcus Bingham and Joey Hauser each had 12 points. Tyson Walker had a much better game, playing 20 minutes while scoring nine points and dishing out five assists. AJ Hoggard also played well, scoring seven and leading the team with seven assists. The Spartans dominated the glass, outrebounding the Broncos by 30 in the easy 90–46 win. The win moved MSU to 1–1 on the season.

Butler MSU returned to the road to play Butler at the historic Hinkle Fieldhouse for the Gavitt Tipoff Games on November 17. The game marked Izzo's 900th career game as head coach at MSU and his first visit to Hinkle. MSU jumped out to an early 22–8 lead, limiting Butler to only 25% from the field in the first half, and led by eight at halftime. In the second half, the Bulldogs narrowed the lead to six, but MSU responded quickly and pulled away again to win easily 73–52. The Spartans did continue to struggle with turnovers, giving up the ball 20 times in the game. However, MSU shot the ball better, shooting 46.9% from the field and 33% from three. Gabe Brown led all scorers with 19 on four of 10 shooting from three. Max Christie scored a career-high 18 and Marcus Bingham added 10 points, six blocks, and six rebounds. The Spartans again dominated the glass, outrebounding Butler 41–25. The win moved MSU to 2–1 on the season.

Eastern Michigan