Michigan State Basketball: Can Valpo's Brandon Wood Help the Spartans?

According to lansingstatejournal.com, Valparaiso guard Brandon Wood is considering a transfer to Michigan State next season. The great thing about Wood's possible transfer is that he can suit up for the Spartans without sitting out the mandatory year because he is on pace to graduate this month.

The 6'2" guard from Kokomo, Indiana has been an impact player for the Crusaders since his transfer from Southern Illinois after his freshman season, and has averaged nearly 17.0 ppg over the past two seasons.

The Spartans are lacking depth at the guard position with the departure of seniors Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers, and the dismissal of Korie Lucious (Iowa State.) It appears that Wood could help provide a scoring spark for a team that loses two of its top three scorers (Lucas and Summers). 

The addition of Wood is a low-risk move by Tom Izzo because he brings depth and experience to Michigan State, and will allow the Spartans to have another scholarship for the highly touted class of 2012.

Let's take a look at Brandon Wood's career, and you be the judge if he deserves to don the green and white next season.

Wood Provides an Instant Scoring Threat for the Spartans

After a sub-par freshman season at Southern Illinois (3.7 ppg), Wood transfered to Valparaiso and became an immediate scoring threat. In his first game as a Crusader, Brandon led the way with 25 points, and followed that performance with a 30-point performance against North Carolina. Seven days later, our very own Spartans struggled to contain Wood, as he scored 24 points in a lopsided blowout.

Any player who can step his game up to perform against the highest level should be a welcomed addition to the Spartan family.

Check out Brandon's highlight film from the 2009-10 season. (Courtesy of YouTube.com)

Thanks to espn.com for providing us with his 2009-10 statistics:

2009-2010 Game Log (Valparaiso)											Rebounds
DATE	OPP	RESULT	MIN	FG	FGA	FTM	FTA	3PM	3PA	PTS	OFF	DEF	TOT
11/13	@Ball St	L 88-78	30	9	23	4	4	3	6	25	4	1	5
11/15	@UNC	L 88-77	34	12	19	0	1	6	10	30	0	1	1
11/19	IndSB	W 78-56	23	4	10	4	6	0	3	12	1	2	3
11/22	@Mich St	L 90-60	31	7	18	9	10	1	6	24	0	2	2
11/27	@G Southern	W 97-89	36	13	18	10	12	3	7	39	1	8	9
11/28	@Troy	L 80-64	29	6	14	3	4	4	9	19	2	2	4
11/29	Ark Fort Smith	W 86-74	34	5	8	2	4	0	2	12	1	6	7
12/5	@Butler	L 84-67	27	2	6	2	2	1	3	7	0	1	1
12/9	@Purdue	L 86-62	32	6	14	6	6	3	4	21	2	7	9
12/12	Toledo	W 81-49	28	5	10	2	4	1	3	13	0	5	5
12/19	CncrdiWI	W 83-57	27	8	13	4	5	1	3	21	1	5	6
12/22	@IPFW	L 75-72	31	9	16	1	4	4	7	23	2	4	6
12/27	@Akron	L 77-57	33	7	17	1	2	3	8	18	1	4	5
12/31	Milwaukee	W 55-54	37	6	15	6	6	4	7	22	0	5	5
1/2	Green Bay	L 64-58	36	6	14	4	4	2	3	18	0	8	8
1/8	@Detroit	L 77-67	27	6	10	0	1	1	1	13	0	2	2
1/10	@Wright St	L 59-57	34	2	8	2	2	0	0	6	1	4	5
1/14	YSU	W 70-66	35	6	13	6	6	2	4	20	2	4	6
1/16	Clev St	W 78-71	34	6	12	3	4	2	5	17	0	4	4
1/21	@Ill-Chicago	W 64-58	32	5	17	5	6	1	5	16	0	2	2
1/23	@Loyola-Chi	W 86-67	25	5	11	4	4	0	2	14	3	3	6
1/29	@Milwaukee	L 85-82	33	4	13	4	4	0	3	12	2	6	8
1/31	@Green Bay	W 84-79	32	7	13	11	13	1	4	26	0	4	4
2/4	Wright St	L 75-71	31	7	16	3	5	1	6	18	2	7	9
2/6	Detroit	W 74-70	35	6	15	4	4	2	5	18	1	2	3
2/8	Ill-Chicago	W 83-82	34	6	11	5	7	1	4	18	1	2	3
2/11	@Clev St	L 80-71	34	6	9	1	1	1	3	14	0	3	3
2/13	@YSU	W 77-75	35	8	13	2	3	4	5	22	0	2	2
2/17	Loyola-Chi	W 84-73	34	3	10	3	3	1	5	10	1	2	3
2/20	@BGU	L 87-70	27	5	14	0	0	0	4	10	2	1	3
2/26	Butler	L 74-69	32	2	9	0	0	0	4	4	1	3	4
3/2	Detroit	L 89-82	32	9	18	2	2	3	9	23	1	1	2

Welcome Home Brandon Wood?

Wood's second year at Valpo continued his legacy as a team leader and impact scorer. The junior guard became a member of the Crusader's 1,000-point club with a 24-point performance against Wisconsin-Green Bay. In only two seasons, Wood established himself as a premier scorer as he produced 14 20-point performances and three of those efforts surpassed 30 points.

He also continued his stellar play against top competition, highlighted by a 20-point outing against Purdue and a season high 35-point game against a NCAA Tournament team, Oakland University.

Perhaps most impressive was his demeanor during an interview after Valparaiso's victory in ESPN's "Bracketbuster Saturday". Brandon seems very down to earth and puts his team first. A perfect fit for Tom Izzo and the Spartans.

Watch the video and decide for yourself if Brandon Wood should be the next Michigan State Spartan.

Wood's 2010-11 season stats (Coutesy of ESPN.com)

2010-2011 Game Log (Valparaiso)											Rebounds
DATE	OPP	RESULT	MIN	FG	FGA	FTM	FTA	3PM	3PA	PTS	OFF	DEF	TOT	AST	TO	ST	BLK	PF
11/12	Indiana-Northwest	W 111-64	20	7	16	3	4	3	7	20	0	2	2	6	1	1	0	0
11/15	@Kansas	L 79-44	28	4	14	1	2	0	4	9	2	5	7	4	2	1	1	0
11/18	Purdue University-No	W 98-44	24	6	11	2	2	2	5	16	1	5	6	7	2	2	0	0
11/23	@Ohio	L 78-75	37	6	21	3	3	2	10	17	1	5	6	7	4	2	0	2
11/26	N Colorado	W 76-61	35	3	9	2	4	1	3	9	0	3	3	5	1	2	0	1
11/27	@TAMU-CC	W 68-62	29	2	6	0	1	0	3	4	0	2	2	1	0	1	0	1
12/2	@Ill-Chicago	W 68-66	34	6	11	7	10	0	2	19	1	5	6	1	1	2	0	3
12/4	@Loyola-Chi	W 66-56	29	6	13	0	0	0	2	12	2	2	4	3	5	1	0	0
12/7	Purdue	L 76-58	34	7	11	2	6	4	5	20	2	3	5	3	1	2	0	3
12/11	@Toledo	L 75-72	39	7	15	1	2	2	6	17	1	4	5	6	3	1	0	4
12/18	IPFW	W 63-47	32	6	9	0	0	0	3	12	0	4	4	1	3	0	0	1
12/20	@E Michigan	W 74-67	34	7	11	6	8	1	3	21	0	4	4	5	2	3	0	1
12/21	@Oakland	W 103-102	38	12	20	7	8	4	6	35	1	6	7	4	2	0	0	3
12/28	Ball St	W 69-52	35	6	11	1	3	4	6	17	1	6	7	2	3	2	1	0
1/1	@Butler	L 76-59	34	4	10	0	0	1	4	9	0	2	2	4	4	3	0	1
1/7	YSU	W 79-55	33	7	16	2	2	1	4	17	2	5	7	4	2	3	2	1
1/9	Clev St	W 64-58	33	3	9	1	3	1	4	8	0	3	3	4	1	2	1	1
1/14	@Wright St	W 71-60	33	11	16	1	1	3	5	26	0	2	2	1	3	0	0	4
1/16	@Detroit	W 78-68	29	8	15	1	3	0	1	17	2	2	4	1	2	4	0	0
1/21
1/23
1/29	Butler	W 85-79	33	4	9	6	8	1	3	15	2	3	5	1	2	3	0	5
2/3	@Clev St	L 76-65	27	2	7	2	3	0	1	6	1	2	3	2	2	2	0	3
2/5	@YSU	W 86-78	38	11	21	6	12	3	6	31	2	3	5	4	4	4	0	1
2/10	Detroit	W 82-74	30	6	16	1	2	4	10	17	1	4	5	3	0	1	0	2
2/12	Wright St	W 58-56	33	4	9	0	0	2	5	10	0	1	1	2	3	2	0	0
2/16	@Milwaukee	L 79-76	33	8	15	3	5	4	11	23	1	3	4	4	2	1	0	3
2/19	Missouri St	W 80-67	32	9	20	3	5	3	10	24	2	3	5	5	4	4	0	1
2/21	@Green Bay	L 81-80	40	9	19	2	2	4	8	24	0	5	5	3	2	1	0	1
2/24	Loyola-Chi	L 68-48	30	1	8	0	0	0	4	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0
2/26	Ill-Chicago	W 79-65	29	5	13	4	4	0	2	14	2	3	5	2	3	0	0	2
3/1	YSU	W 80-71	31	7	15	6	8	0	2	20	3	10	13	5	1	1	0	1
3/4	Detroit	W 88-78	31	11	22	1	1	7	10	30	2	1	3	0	2	1	0	3
3/5	@Milwaukee	L 70-63	35	9	19	3	4	3	10	24	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	2
3/16	Iona	L 85-77	21	3	10	0	0	1	3	7	0	2	2	1	3	1	0	1