The outlook for Michigan State in 2017-18 was already bright, particularly after freshman phenom Miles Bridges announced he'd put his NBA dreams on hold to continue his career with the Spartans. It's even brighter now that Ben Carter, who missed all of last season due to a knee injury, was granted a medical hardship waiver by the NCAA on Monday and has been awarded a sixth year of eligibility.
Carter began his college basketball career with Oregon in 2012, however after two seasons he transferred to UNLV before eventually landing with the Spartans as a graduate transfer last season. He averaged 8.6 points and 1.6 assists per game for the Running Rebels in 2015-16.
"I feel blessed," Carter said in a statement Monday. "First of all I want to thank the NCAA for granting the waiver, and everyone at Michigan State, especially the compliance office, for all their hard work. I honestly didn't know if the waiver would be granted, but I kept praying that I would be able to play one more year of college basketball."
The Spartans have a young core centered on Bridges, who will potentially enter the preseason as a first team All-American. Depth—more specifically, veteran depth in the frontcourt—is a luxury Carter will give the Spartans that they weren't afforded last season. Michigan State's most used lineup last season featured four freshman—Cassius Winston, Josh Langford, Miles Bridges and Nick Ward, and just one sophomore, Matt McQuaid.
While teams like Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin all lose large chunks of their respective rosters last season such as Nigel Hayes (Wisconsin), James Blackmon Jr. (Indiana), and Derrick Walton (Michigan), to name a few, Michigan State continues to build momentum and bolster its roster for the upcoming season. With the news that Carter, a 6-foot-9 forward, will get an extra season, the Spartans' frontcourt will be the engine that could power them to a Big Ten title. Expectations, however, will be more lofty than that for Tom Izzo and his crew who return all five starters from last season's roster that struggled to maintain its health throughout the course of the season.
