Michigan State’s Thomas Kithier Enters Transfer Portal

The Spartans got some disappointing news this week as fans learned forward Thomas Kithier would be entering his name in the transfer portal. Kithier has been one of the team’s top frontcourt options over the last few seasons. His departure will be part of Michigan State’s reset for next season after a disappointing 2020-’21 campaign.

Kithier played in a total of 86 games during his three seasons with the Spartans, including 14 starts last season. However, his production was relatively underwhelming, averaging just 2.4 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in his final year in East Lansing. Michigan State went to the NCAA Tournament in each of his three seasons with the program.

Most expect pretty significant roster changes for Michigan State this offseason, so it’s difficult to project how Kithier’s departure might impact the Spartans moving forward. However, given his playing time faded dramatically over the last two months of the season, it’s hard to say this is a significant on-court loss. Tom Izzo has plenty of options outside of Kithier and the team should be able to move along effectively. We’ll have to stay tuned to see how things sort out and whether the program might look into the transfer portal itself to replace Kithier.