EAST LANSING — Tom Izzo quickly quipped that his point guard battle between A.J. Hoggard and Tyson Walker was a “quarterback controversy.” Even jokingly compared them to Oklahoma football’s Spencer Rattler and Caleb Williams.
In reality, one of the biggest salesmen for Walker to transfer from Northeastern to Michigan State basketball during the offseason happened to be his chief competitor for minutes: Hoggard.
“I just told him it's a real family,” Hoggard, a sophomore, said after practice Wednesday. “A lot of schools preach it, I've been through it. … It's truly a family, truly a brotherhood here.