MSU Hoops Report: Gavitt Games Will Be Cancelled For 2020

Per Jon Rothstein, the annual Gavitt Games event between the Big Ten and the Big East conferences will be paused this year after all. It is planned to resume next season and is contractually occurring through 2022.

The Michigan State Spartans were scheduled to participate this season after playing in the event for the first time last year. Contractually, the Spartans would have been required to play each season through 2022 under the terms agreed to by the Big Ten when the Gavitt Games were announced. Each Big Ten team is required to play four times, and MSU did not play in them from 2015 through 2018.

Last season the Spartans travelled to then No. 12 Seton Hall and picked up a big road win. The schedule was not released for this season, but it was expected MSU would likely play in East Lansing and might have hosted Butler, Marquette, or Georgetown, possibly. If the Spartans were forced to hit the road two years in a row then Creighton or Villanova might have also been opponents MSU might have faced.

The annual event began in 2015, and the Big Ten is 2-0-3 in the series thus far. It is only scheduled through 2022, but there is always the possibility it might be extended either for a longer period or just one year to make up for the 2020 cancellation.

Captains Announced

In other news, the 2020-2021 captains were announced today. Some of you may potentially be surprised by one of them:

• Joshua Langford
• Aaron Henry
• Foster Loyer

Langford is now a team captain for his third straight season after being chosen with Matt McQuaid in 2018-19, and then with Cassius Winston, Kyle Ahrens, and Xavier Tillman for 2019-2020. Langford is one of just six Spartans to earn the captain title three times in his career. Most recently Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. also earned that distinction. Juniors Aaron Henry and Foster Loyer join him for this season.