Michigan State basketball gets a 'winner' as Joey Hauser transfers from Marquette

Michigan State had an open scholarship, and it filled it with a player it had long coveted.

Joey Hauser, once a four-star recruit out of Stevens Point, Wis., who Tom Izzo pursued as part of the 2018 recruiting class, announced on Tuesday he was transferring to Michigan State after one season at Marquette.

“Proud to announce that I have committed to Michigan State University,” Hauser said on Twitter. “Thank you to Coach Izzo and his staff for this opportunity. Once again, thank you Marquette University for allowing me to represent them this past season. I can’t wait to take this next step in my college career!”

Hauser, along with his brother, Sam, announced in mid-April they would be leaving Marquette. The belief was the brothers wanted to transfer together and that they would head to Wisconsin. But reports began to surface over the last couple of days indicating the brothers would go their separate ways, a move confirmed Tuesday when Sam Hauser said he was transferring to Virginia with Joey becoming a Spartan.

 “We’re very excited to add Joey Hauser to our roster and welcome him to the Spartan family,” Izzo said in a statement. “Joey is a kid we recruited out of high school and we were very familiar with him and he knew us. We believe in him as a person and really love what he brings to the table as a player. He’s a hard-working player who is versatile, has a high basketball IQ and is a winner. We think he’ll be a great addition for our program.”

Hauser will sit out the 2019-20 season and have at least two years of eligibility remaining with the chance of petitioning for a third. He graduated from high school early after missing most of his senior season following ankle surgery and enrolled at Marquette for the spring 2018 semester, during which he redshirted.

The 6-foot-9 Hauser averaged 9.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last season while shooting 42.5 percent from 3-point range and hit 79.1 percent his free throws. He was named to the Big East all-freshman team after being named the league’s Freshman of the Week five times.

The arrival of Hauser leaves Michigan State’s roster in quite a different place than the days after the loss to Texas Tech in the Final Four. A little more than a week after the final game, Izzo said he believed his roster would remain stable heading into next season.

Then Nick Ward decided to forgo his final season of eligibility and enter the NBA draft, leaving the Spartans with one open scholarship. In the meantime, the Hausers made their surprise announcement they were transferring, leading the Spartans to start looking at options to fill out the roster.

They began to pursue Joey Hauser, a player they recruited heavily out of high school before he opted to head to Marquette where his brother was already on the roster, as well as Virginia Tech graduate transfer Kerry Blackshear.

With Hauser’s arrival, Michigan State now has a full roster of 13 scholarship players with the addition of incoming freshmen Mark “Rocket” Watts, Malik Hall and Julius Marble. After sitting out the season, Hauser will essentially be joining the 2020 recruiting class, which currently includes four-star guard Jalen Terry of Flint Beecher.

Coming out of high school, Hauser was ranked among the top 50 players in the nation by 247Sports.com after helping lead Stevens Point Area High to three-straight state titles. He averaged 23.6 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game as a junior en route to the squad’s third championship. He was a unanimous selection to the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association All-State team and claimed co-player of the year accolades in the Wisconsin Valley Conference in 2016-17.

MSU to face Seton Hall

Michigan State will play at Seton Hall this season as part of the Gavitt Games, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

This will be the first time the Spartans have played in the eight-game series between the Big Ten and the Big East that began in 2015.

In addition to the trip to Seton Hall, Michigan State will play Kentucky in the Champions Classic Nov. 5 in New York and will be part of the Maui Invitational from Nov. 25-27. The Spartans also will play an opponent to be determined in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, likely to be played at home.

mcharboneau@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @mattcharboneau