Michigan State's Alex Gauna, a freshman forward from Eaton Rapids, is going to redshirt this season. Redshirting is nothing new for true freshmen, as it takes some players a year or two to develop and often times there just isn't enough playing time to make spending a year of eligibility worthwhile. For Gauna, both of those things factored into his decision, which Tom Izzo let him make.
↵↵↵"I can't look at what's going on right now, I have to look at down the road," Gauna said after Sunday's practice. "That's kind of hard to do at first, but hopefully this will pay off in the end."
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Playing on one of the top teams in the country, it's not easy to decide to spend an entire season sitting on the bench for games. Gauna will still be able to practice and all that, but knowing you can't play will be tough. Even so, as Izzo pointed out, it's probably for the better. There isn't exactly a ton of playing time available for Gauna this season, so the benefits outweigh the negatives of waiting a year for Gauna to begin his playing career at MSU.
↵↵"I will say this, I'm more excited about him redshirting than I was, but for a positive reason," Izzo said. "He's actually shooting it really well and played really well. I think he's got a chance to be really good. That's why I want to redshirt him, 'cause I don't think he'll get enough minutes this year to make up for what I think he can do down the road."
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