Michigan State Men’s Basketball: Big man Julius Marble enters transfer portal, per report

A blow to Michigan State’s already thin front court depth was dealt on Tuesday as junior forward/center Julius Marble is reportedly headed to the transfer portal.

The assumed starting center for the upcoming season is leaving the program after three years. He’s coming off a season where he played in all 36 games, averaging 14.4 minutes, 6.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 59.2 percent from the field. He had nice flashes during the season, like his 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting against Purdue and his 15 points on Thanksgiving to help defeat Connecticut in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.

Overall, Marble played in 90 career games for Michigan State with 13 starts. He averaged 10.2 minutes, 4.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game during that span, while shooting 58.4 percent overall from the floor.

On Monday, rumors started to swirl about Marble’s potential surprise departure from the program, which we were also hearing here at The Only Colors.

With this departure combined with Marcus Bingham Jr. turning down his additional year of eligibility, this puts MSU in quite the bind next season. Mady Sissoko — who averaged 4.5 minutes per game and only played double-digit minutes in two games — is now the only center on the current roster. Incoming freshman Jaxon Kohler, senior Malik Hall and potential returner in Joey Hauser could help bolster the paint, but ideally those are three players who will play the four position, with Kohler the most likely to play at the five-spot when ready.

Tom Izzo and his staff will need to pull a starting-caliber big man (or two) out of the transfer portal if Michigan State plans on contending for a Big Ten title for the 2022-2023 season.

Marble joins walk-on forward Peter Nwoke and former walk-on-turned-scholarship guard Davis Smith as members of MSU’s 2021-2022 team to enter the transfer portal.

Marble officially announced the decision on his Instagram: