Michigan State Basketball: How High Is Gavin Schilling's Ceiling with Spartans?

Michigan State forward Gavin Schilling needs to find a basketball, wrap his arms around it and lay a big old smooch on its logo. Once that happens, the 6’9”, 245-pound sophomore will have completed a major step in his athletic evolution, therefore allowing him to reach his full potential.

It’s really as simple as that—about as cut and dried as it can get, actually.

“Gavin—this is, you know, my honesty will get in me trouble—but Gavin needs to fall in love with the game, you know,” head coach Tom Izzo said during Thursday’s season-ending presser at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. “I think sometimes we assume that every player that plays football, basketball or hockey is just—baseball—is just committed. There’s a ‘commitment,’ and then there’s a ‘commitment.’

"And to be great, there has got to be a commitment that’s as consistent as, you know, breathing.”

That statement may seem harsh, but it’s absolutely true, from top to bottom. Izzo didn’t apologize for being honest nor should he have to do such a thing when asked to truthfully evaluate his personnel.

At times during this past season, Schilling appeared disengaged, like he was somewhere else. His body was on the floor for roughly 17 minutes per game, but he wasn’t always as involved as Izzo would have liked.

Then there were moments when he appeared ready to turn the corner, such as when he scored 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting during an 80-67 win Feb. 17 at Michigan, or when he put up 13 points and grabbed six rebounds during an 84-77 overtime victory Jan. 11 at Northwestern.

Getting the job done on the road can only add to a player’s worth. Those games were signs of things to come.

Izzo sees a world of possibilities with Schilling, who scored just 18 points and snagged nine rebounds during the Spartans’ five-game run to the Final Four, and he hopes that Schilling will one day see the same thing.

Schilling had an up-and-down ride during the 2014-15 season, but some of the highs helped negate some of the lows—such as his lukewarm showing during the national tournament. He’d been committed to drastic improvement during the past three months, reaching a new level that impressed even Izzo from time to time.  

The effort since late January had trumped anything Schilling had done before.

“It’s a coach’s job to push him, but I learned when I was really little that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. That has been our deal with Gavin. I’ve seen improvement this year in that.”

Izzo later added: “I saw at the end of the year in practice him improving his shot a lot—a lot. So, what he does starting—we gave him the week off—starting next Monday will really determine who and what he is.”

Translation: The summer of 2015 will ultimately decide if Schilling booms or busts. There’s that Izzo honesty again.

Upside

PPG	RPG	APG	Double-Doubles	10-point games
5.1	3.8	0.4	2	7

At the high end of the spectrum, Schilling could easily average 10 points and eight rebounds per game. Those aren’t groundbreaking numbers—just a baseline for someone who could see another huge increase in playing time.

As he stands now, Schilling is a key piece of Izzo’s frontcourt and could command as many as 25 minutes per night next season, if not a few ticks more than that. However, before assuming that role, he must first find a way to fuse his fluid style with a bit more brawn.

Remember, he didn’t grow up playing Americanized basketball; he learned the subtleties of the game via Euro style, which stresses athleticism more than pure strength. But he can’t be effective in the Big Ten or on the national stage if he can’t bang with the big boys, such as Jahlil Okafor, a 6'11", 270-pound freshman who owned Schilling this past Saturday during Duke’s 81-61 Final Four victory in Indianapolis.

Schilling eclipsed the 10-point mark just seven times this season, a far cry from what was expected. But three of those seven sprees came against Big Ten opponents.

As mentioned above, he scored 10 versus Michigan and 13 versus Northwestern, but he also contributed 10 points during a 66-60 victory over Penn State. Sprinkle in 11 rebounds, and that win marked his second double-double of the year.

Generally speaking, Schilling can be as good as he wants to be, said Izzo. That’s an incredible upside to possess.

Downside

Lack. Of. Passion.

Izzo couldn’t dress it any other way: Schilling just doesn’t have the extra oomph that separates “good” from “great”—not right now, anyway.

If serious commitments aren’t made during the offseason, Schilling could end up losing a ton of ground, making his modest progress all for naught. Izzo doesn’t want to see Schilling—or any player, really—waste his potential.

Athletically, the goods are there. Schilling’s problem is foul trouble. Of course, fouls are a part of the game, especially if it’s a rough-and-tumble brawl such as the Spartans’ 72-66 senior-day victory over Purdue. But there comes a time when a player must learn to play smarter.

Typically, that time is in March, but Schilling found himself once again plagued with calls. With three infractions, he flirted with disaster during his team’s 70-63 tournament-opening win over Georgia. Because of that, and the fact that he couldn’t score, he played just four minutes.

The same story was true throughout March Madness. Izzo simply couldn’t predict what Schilling would do, and that made it difficult for the coach to extend the leash.

Intelligence goes a long way, and knowing when to leave your feet, stay put or roll off a screen is the difference between being tagged with three infractions or, in Schilling’s case, wandering into the Land of No Return and fouling out of a contest.

Schilling is a smart player, Izzo said. But he doesn’t always make the best decisions. Perhaps out of frustration, he racked up four fouls in 12 minutes while attempting to defend Okafor, who finished the night with 18 points and six rebounds.

Conversely, Okafor had just two fouls on the night. He found a way to outwit Schilling, not necessarily outplay him. They’re different types of players, but the end result of heady competition is clear, and the rule is pretty self-explanatory: Keep your head in the game.

Schilling will either be everything Izzo hopes for and more, or he’ll settle for good enough and watch others surpass him.

The choice belongs to Schilling. Izzo can only lay out the options.

Follow Bleacher Report’s Michigan State Spartans basketball writer Adam Biggers on Twitter @AdamBiggers81.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes and references were obtained firsthand by the writer via press conference, press release or other media availability.