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Michigan State's Jaxson Kohler, Divine Ogochukwu & Coach Tom Izzo after ECU win, ahead of #UNC game
Nov 25, 2025
Michigan State #GoGreen #SpartanNation #MSU
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0:01
Um it was a good feeling, you know, cuz
0:04
uh you know, sometimes the the shots go
0:07
in and sometimes hard to kind of get in
0:08
the flow. Um trying to working on the
0:10
consistency and when you uh when you
0:14
knock down that first three like I did
0:15
earlier in the game, like it just
0:16
there's a there's a flow that starts to
0:18
develop and one after another, it just
0:20
felt better and better and better. And
0:22
uh when that fourth one went down, it
0:23
just it it was an amazing feeling. the
0:26
timing of those those first two. You may
0:29
bring up the first you have one when
0:30
it's it's 99 and it sort of begins that
0:33
run you guys were on and sort of change
0:35
took a life out of them and then there's
0:37
another one after their quick puckers in
0:39
the second half. When you think about
0:40
like your role in hitting shots, the
0:42
timing of shots you hit, how important
0:43
is that to you this season?
0:45
Um it's very important because there's
0:48
sometimes where either it can be at the
0:50
beginning of game or actually anytime at
0:52
any point of the game. Um,
0:54
if you consistently work on your shot
0:56
and you, you know, you do the reps, you
0:58
do the work, um, it doesn't matter, you
1:01
know, what time of the game it is, you
1:03
know, it's going to go in. You have to
1:04
have confidence in your shot. That's
1:05
another part of it. Um, and like to like
1:08
what you said, the timing of it is very
1:10
important. I don't think it adds any
1:11
pressure to, oh, the shot better go in,
1:13
shot better go in. No, it's just you've
1:15
done the work. You're it's an open shot.
1:18
You shoot your shot just like you do in
1:19
your work. Um, and I feel like that's
1:22
what a lot of us are kind of starting to
1:24
unlock. You know, we got guys um in a
1:27
lot of threes right here. Um,
1:31
yeah, we're just we're keep working on
1:32
our confidence with that three.
1:34
The u for you
1:36
this game was, you know, Jeremy gets in
1:39
foul trouble there. You got a long run
1:40
in the first half with a lot of
1:42
different lineups. How comfortable did
1:44
you feel out there and and and how much
1:45
do you feel like at this point Isa was
1:49
trusting you to to to run the show for
1:51
that long?
1:52
Yeah, I felt pretty comfortable. You
1:53
know, uh I practiced with the first
1:55
group and second group. I practiced it
1:56
was at the one or the two. So, you know,
1:58
I just built chemistry with them all
2:00
summer. So, we finally like got in the
2:03
game and finally kind of paid off and
2:05
just trusting me to lead the team and
2:07
just not turn over the ball. So, I've
2:08
been good. that run in the first. I
2:10
mean, what did that feel like for you to
2:11
have that sort of run for the first time
2:13
maybe this season? Yeah.
2:14
You're really driving things.
2:15
No, for sure. Definitely just a big
2:16
confidence booster. So, I think like I
2:18
really needed that. So, that was really
2:20
big for me.
2:21
When you say you really needed that,
2:22
like what does that mean?
2:23
Uh, you know, just I've been I've been
2:25
starting the season pretty slow, I
2:26
think, for my expectations. So, I think
2:29
that was just it kind of just exploded
2:31
for me right there.
2:32
Question. Both of you guys with when you
2:34
see Cohen go down in the first half,
2:36
maybe there's an injury scare there.
2:38
What's the reaction like when you see
2:39
him come back from that to be able to
2:41
contribute to you guys?
2:42
Jack, take that first.
2:43
Um
2:45
when when we have anyone on our team go
2:47
down, especially kind of the way that he
2:48
did, we were obviously worried and you
2:51
know, just the fact that, you know, he's
2:53
a captain and a starter. Um and how much
2:56
of an impact on our team has, you know,
2:58
it's it's, you know, it's really scary,
3:00
but the fact that he, you know, got he
3:02
overcame that and came back in and
3:04
contributed to the team is huge. I mean,
3:06
that kind of that kind of shows you the
3:08
Michigan State toughness. You know, you
3:10
knock us down, we might be down for a
3:12
sec, but you know, we'll we'll always
3:13
come back up and uh I think that's
3:16
exactly what he did.
3:18
Yeah, just like Jackson said, Michigan
3:19
State toughness. So, him just playing
3:21
through it and just no matter what, just
3:23
trying to keep fighting, which is really
3:25
big for us.
3:25
Time for a couple more.
3:26
Jackson, can you speak to Devon's
3:28
performance today and sort of his his
3:30
start to the season sort of coming along
3:32
and what you need from him?
3:33
Yeah. No, I mean I I wanted to I wanted
3:36
to make sure I said this, but shout out
3:38
to Divine for you know, stepping up and
3:40
uh you know, leading the team when
3:42
Fierce kind of got uh you know, in
3:44
trouble early. Um it's not it's not an
3:47
easy job. You know, being a point guard
3:49
for Michigan State with Tomo, it's not a
3:51
it's not an easy job. I think people
3:53
don't understand that. And you know,
3:57
Divine's been working so hard, you know,
3:58
and stepping up in all these areas. you
4:00
know, you know, leading the team,
4:02
talking about, you know, like getting in
4:03
the rotation with us, like he's done an
4:06
unbelievable job to, you know, the
4:07
beginning of the season to where he is
4:09
right now. There's so much growth and,
4:11
you know, leading the like leading the
4:12
team and his shots, you know, select
4:14
shot selection and and now like now
4:17
we're starting to see the confidence,
4:18
you know, like the the confidence that
4:20
he had tonight. It was is something that
4:22
I'm really happy that he found, you
4:24
know, and you see that build and build
4:25
and build and he does that in practice,
4:27
too. That's something that, you know,
4:28
not a lot of guys see is that, you know,
4:30
in practice, he keeps taking steps and
4:33
that's that's what we we need from him.
4:35
We're we're uh we're going to need to,
4:38
you know, keep
4:41
we're going to we need to keep seeing
4:43
steps and, you know, we need to keep
4:45
seeing growth and I feel like he's
4:47
perfectly capable of that.
4:48
You talked about toughness. It was a
4:50
very physical game out there. the way
4:52
you felt.
4:54
Um, yeah, it was a very physical game.
4:57
Uh, they had some some big uh big men
5:01
and we we knew that going into the uh
5:03
going into the game and we had to make
5:06
sure that uh you know we we set the tone
5:09
with our defense, not just the bigs, but
5:10
also the guards. You know, that's that's
5:12
a big staple in our program is making
5:13
sure that we establish, you know, the
5:16
physicality, the toughness first. You
5:17
know, that's part of our uh program.
5:19
That's part of our DNA. you know, the
5:21
grit. Um, and no matter what game it is,
5:25
that's what we always have to establish
5:27
first.
5:28
You guys eight last year. Uh, what's it
5:30
going to take for you guys to get back
5:32
that far? You were two games away from
5:34
the championship.
5:36
Sorry, can you repeat that again?
5:37
You guys went to the lead eight last
5:39
year. Two games away from the
5:40
championship. What do you think's going
5:41
to get you back there?
5:43
Um,
5:45
I feel like
5:47
what what helped us get uh that far last
5:50
year was kind of our togetherness, our
5:52
bond, you know, our our chemistry,
5:53
strength and numbers. Um, I feel like
5:56
for, you know, a lot of guys leaving and
5:58
guys coming back or a lot of guys
6:02
leaving and then new additions to the
6:04
team, I feel like we we have that bond.
6:06
We have that togetherness uh from the
6:08
summer to now. We have that uh that
6:11
strength. Um, I feel like defense is
6:13
something that we could we need to keep
6:14
improving on. We need to keep
6:16
controlling the boards. Um, we need to
6:19
keep, you know, shooting the ball like
6:20
this. If we can shoot the ball like
6:22
this, I feel like we can, you know, keep
6:24
going another couple games or two.
6:26
Thank you guys.
6:27
Thank you. Appreciate that.
6:30
question a little bit because um what
6:33
I've been telling my guys and it's hard
6:34
for reporters, fans, even coaches to
6:38
understand is um the landscape that's
6:41
changed so much. I'm just not sure where
6:45
everybody is. I'm not even sure where we
6:47
are yet. Um, and so, you know, I figure
6:50
it's going to take 10, 12 games to
6:52
figure out whether some of these big
6:54
wins are big wins or whether those teams
6:56
aren't quite good enough or maybe those
6:58
teams get better. It's going to be a lot
7:00
of things that happen and it's a long,
7:02
long season. So, don't get fooled um
7:06
where we are, but uh I would like to say
7:09
I was proud of my team today. I think
7:12
they did play hard. I think that team is
7:14
very physical. I thought we our post
7:16
guys did an unbelievable job. Uh and
7:19
second on the list was our fans. Uh our
7:22
fans were phenomenal. I mean uh I think
7:26
we come down here and have a crowd like
7:28
that and hopefully we'll get a lot of
7:30
them back on Thursday. But uh that's one
7:33
of the fun things about this job is when
7:35
you go places and you get a following
7:38
like you get. So players in the post did
7:41
well, our fans did well and we shot the
7:44
three a little better. I think we still
7:47
got to get better at the free throw
7:48
line. I was kind of disappointed but sad
7:51
for Cohen because he missed those first
7:53
three and then he played pretty well
7:55
after that and um we just got to keep
7:58
getting better.
7:59
You said about your fans coming down
8:01
here. You like coming down here to Fort
8:03
Myers area. Is this a place that you
8:04
like to visit?
8:05
Love it, you know. Love it. As long as
8:07
we can win games. We didn't win games, I
8:10
probably wouldn't love it as much. You
8:11
know, I I enjoy the sun like everyone
8:14
else, but uh you guys are missing out on
8:17
the on the snow, too. You know, a little
8:19
snow doesn't hurt me. Toughenage up a
8:21
little bit. You guys get soft down here.
8:23
You guys are 30 40 points not letting
8:26
up. Is that what you're trying to press
8:28
upon these guys at this time of year to
8:29
make it? Well, we have not played um I
8:34
don't know if we played down to our
8:36
competition some some games although we
8:39
did not play a lot of what I would call
8:42
cupcakes you know we played a Colgate
8:44
who's won their league four five out of
8:46
six times and so uh but we needed to get
8:50
a game where we made some threes got on
8:52
our run our defense caused the turnovers
8:55
points off turnovers 31 to6 or eight or
8:58
something and uh those are good stats
9:00
for Yes.
9:01
Um with Divine, you get the situation at
9:04
the end where Jeremy's in a little bit
9:05
of foul trouble and you had to lean on
9:06
him and and the first time this season
9:08
he looked I don't know. It was a pretty
9:10
good stretch for him. I'm wondering what
9:11
you thought of of that stretch.
9:12
Yeah, you know, it is a pretty good
9:14
stretch and there was times it was a
9:15
good stretch for uh for Trey, too. I
9:18
mean, those two guys, I love them and
9:20
they drive me crazy because, you know,
9:22
they they just got to continuously
9:26
realize that it's not football. football
9:29
is it's really easy. You know, the great
9:31
defensive players play defense, the
9:33
great offensive players play offense,
9:36
but in basketball, they have to play
9:38
both ends of it, and it makes it a
9:40
little more difficult, and those guys
9:43
have struggled on on on that. I thought
9:45
they were both better tonight, but um
9:49
yeah, Jeremy got in a little bit of foul
9:50
trouble. Uh you know, I thought he did a
9:53
good job. I thought Denham did a pretty
9:55
good job when we took him in there first
9:57
half. Made a couple of great plays and
10:00
and uh and Cohen became a little bit
10:02
more of a playmaker. Had three four
10:03
assists, but that was definitely
10:05
Divine's best game offensively and
10:07
defensively and he just got to keep keep
10:10
working.
10:11
Is that what you're hoping by the time
10:12
you run into that situation in late
10:14
January or February where you can trust
10:16
him by then to to deliver? Yeah, I mean,
10:20
uh, I I I'm hoping that all my guys get
10:22
better, you know, by the end of the
10:24
year. I can't wait till January for them
10:26
to get better. And that's And yet, in
10:28
fairness to them when they come and they
10:30
played in different systems a couple
10:31
times and now your system is different
10:33
than the one they've been in, it's not
10:34
always their fault. It's it's one of the
10:37
downsides of of these crazy rules we're
10:40
in, but it is what it is. And, uh, you
10:43
know, we're just trying to speed the
10:44
process to be honest with you. Every day
10:46
we're trying to speed the process.
10:49
and coach him every second, you know, on
10:52
the bench. We get back to the hotel and
10:54
be going over the mistakes they made and
10:57
and trying to, you know, I it's really
11:00
interesting to listen to Jackson, even
11:03
though sometimes he's crazy, but he I
11:06
love crazy people because he comes every
11:08
day and plays so hard. The toughness
11:11
Cooper did that, you know, I thought
11:14
Oliver Banks Cohen did that, got some
11:16
steals. Um that is the culture of our
11:19
program and uh it'll be tested on
11:21
Thursday that's for sure.
11:22
What are your thoughts about the
11:23
challenges that North Carolina will
11:24
bring? Obviously a taller and different
11:26
role to be facing than you ever talk to
11:28
David now.
11:29
Yeah, they are a different team. Um you
11:32
know and they got a hell of a player in
11:34
Wilson you know I mean he's uh I mean I
11:37
do believe he's a he's every bit as good
11:40
as they say. Um and they do have size.
11:43
you know, they're 610 at the wing for
11:44
God's sakes. But, uh, you know, they got
11:48
to guard us, too. So, uh, it'll be a
11:51
hopefully it'll be a great game. I I
11:53
think it'll be an incredible atmosphere,
11:55
and I'm sure they'll bring a lot of
11:57
people. I know we'll have people waiting
11:58
outside. Um, this is what makes uh these
12:04
kind of games is what makes basketball
12:06
in November, you know, otherwise it just
12:07
kind of drifts away and is the JB
12:10
football. But um when you have these
12:12
good games and good matchups and good
12:15
fan interest, that's it makes basketball
12:17
pretty exciting.
12:18
What does your team present differently
12:20
than last year's North Carolina?
12:22
What what North Carolina team? What are
12:24
they different than than last year?
12:26
Well, Wilson's a big difference because
12:28
I got a legitimate star if you ask me. I
12:31
mean, he's he's very good. And then the
12:34
big kid, you know, and I haven't watched
12:36
a ton on them. You know, I got other
12:38
things, but the big kid from Europe,
12:40
he's uh, you know, he can make threes,
12:42
he can shoot the ball, and they're
12:44
they're working in their point guard,
12:46
too. You know, kid from Colorado State,
12:48
they're working him in. Takes him a
12:50
little time, you know. So, um, we're all
12:53
doing the same thing. That's why I said
12:55
I I wouldn't put a lot into bunch of
12:57
wins or bunch of losses till we're 10,
12:59
12 games in. then I think we'll have a
13:02
better idea who's who and who's what.
13:04
What I'm proud of is I think the
13:06
schedule we put together
13:08
um gives us a chance to challenge
13:11
ourselves and at least have some kind of
13:13
measuring stick and now we'll see if we
13:17
or they live up to the billing of how
13:19
good they are right now. very resilient
13:21
from Owen to go down with that injury
13:23
early and then come back and
13:24
Yeah, I was a little worried about that
13:26
injury because uh a groin injury or a
13:29
pulled muscle for a
13:32
for a athlete like that is probably the
13:34
worst injury can. I'm hoping it'll uh
13:38
it'll be okay, but he's a tough sob and
13:42
uh you know just said don't worry about
13:44
me. I'm fine. So I said I do worry about
13:46
you but I'm glad you're fine.
13:49
one final one over there.
13:50
Coach, the the Associated Press in
13:53
Boston wanted me to ask you about 10
13:55
years ago you played at Matthews Arena.
13:58
Um I think they they said they thought
14:00
the reason why you wanted to go there is
14:02
that it was a historic arena and wanted
14:05
your guys to experience what it was like
14:07
playing there. Is that is that kind of
14:10
what you remember?
14:11
That is very true. you know, and uh I
14:14
also took them to the polestro
14:17
and I'm not sure it's for my guys. I
14:19
think it's for their coach, you know. I
14:22
like to be in places where
14:26
when men were men and basketball was
14:28
basketball instead of what we have
14:29
sometimes now, you know, and um God, if
14:34
you didn't play hard in those places,
14:36
you dove for a loose ball on the
14:38
sidelines, you were landing in, you
14:40
know, the the fans. And um so I like to
14:44
try to get to every place that I never
14:47
been to that is historic. And those two
14:51
were definitely high on my list. And uh
14:54
you know bent a lot of the great ones
14:56
and Cameron and all the others. But uh
14:59
that was that was a special treat that
15:02
night just the history of it and uh the
15:05
way we did it. And and I also like going
15:08
places that gives our fans a chance.
15:10
There's nothing neater than, you know,
15:12
everybody wants home games, but it's
15:15
really neat when you can go out and give
15:17
your fans a chance to see you that never
15:19
get to see you.
15:20
I think they that was their first
15:23
sellout in 20 years.
15:24
Yeah. So, thank God we won. I I I don't
15:28
mind helping them, but I I think it
15:30
helps Michigan State, too. I really
15:32
believe that. I I think it I think it's
15:35
important that the fans that we're
15:37
asking to help us that we bring our
15:40
product to them and uh I just love when
15:44
our players interact with them like they
15:46
did at the end. Um that those are memory
15:49
making moments that uh I know the fans
15:52
will take away but you know 10 years
15:55
from now those players they're a little
15:58
more entitled now than they used to be
15:59
but they're going to appreciate that
16:00
too. All right. You talk about your
16:02
point guard. You have a really good
16:04
point guard. You lead the country in
16:05
assists. You've had some good point
16:07
guards.
16:10
Yeah.
16:12
Smith.
16:13
Yeah. Team Cleaves. I mean, we've had
16:15
we've had enough of them. And uh that's
16:18
why we've gone to final fours. Good
16:20
quarterbacks get you to final fours.
16:22
Good quarterbacks get you to win
16:24
championships. It's not good coaching.
16:26
It's good quarterbacks. And uh and I
16:29
think I got one in the making. you know,
16:30
he's, you know, he went through the
16:32
injury and it's taken up some time to
16:34
get where he want, but started to shoot
16:36
the ball better. He's really sees the
16:38
court well. Him and Cohen and him and
16:40
Coupe have credible
16:43
um kind of feel for each other on those
16:45
lobs and uh Jeremy gets his defense back
16:49
to where it was cuz he used to be able
16:51
to doggy defensively. Um you know, it
16:54
gives us another chance. So, I
16:56
appreciate it and I'll see you guys
16:57
Thursday.