Michigan State's basketball team has depth and flexibility

"I'm still nervously awaiting our bigs to get better," he said. "They're getting better, but not at the rate we need them to. That's the only part that is a little disappointing right now, but we're only a week and a half in.

"If we have to move Raymar there some and go smaller, I'll do that. We're going to play a lot of people, but we're going to play the best people. It'll be interesting to see how the competition goes."

Izzo said the days of watching starters dominate reserves at Michigan State are over. Point guard Walton agreed, saying: "The competition is great. We have a lot of players that could go to any other school and start."

Summers, Lucas and Allen will likely be reserves, although that appears to be a plus for them and the team's returning standouts.

"Our seniors and juniors better play harder, or our freshmen are going to play a ton of minutes," Izzo said. "But I don't need anybody to play a ton of minutes. That's going to help Drew Neitzel, Raymar Morgan and Travis Walton instead of the minutes they played last year."

The Spartans could be ranked among the top 10 when The Associated Press releases its preseason poll Nov. 2, and Summers expects them to live up to the hype.

"We have a lot of goals set to win championships, and I think if we keep working hard we can definitely fulfill those goals," Summers said.

Miami of Ohio coach Charlie Coles, whose team had the day off, was one of several college coaches watching and taking notes during Wednesday's practice.

"They look really good," he said.