EAST LANSING — Jase Richardson escaped a major injury scare.
The Michigan State basketball freshman was back working out Thursday afternoon, two days after suffering a left ankle sprain in the waning moments of an 83-75 win over Samford.
Coach Tom Izzo said he made “a coach’s decision” to keep Richardson out of live action during practice as a precautionary measure, but the combo guard did go through shooting and noncontact drills and is expected to be ready for next week’s three-game Maui Invitational in Hawaii.
“I let him ride the bike and get some shots up,” Izzo said after practice Thursday. “I just didn’t want (the ankle) to get a little puffy, because it really didn’t, and then take a 10-hour flight, which would expand (the injury). So it wasn’t worth it to me, so I even overruled my trainer a little bit and I just said, ‘No, we’re gonna take care of him,’ and he agreed. But he’s good.”
PLANNING AHEAD: Michigan State basketball vs. North Carolina, Thanksgiving Day 2025 in Fort Myers Tip-Off
The 6-foot-3 Richardson scored a season-best 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting before landing while trying to defend a shot and twisting his ankle with 52.6 seconds left Tuesday night. He also had four steals, three rebounds and three assists against the Bulldogs.
“I mean, we’re lucky, because if you look at the way it was sprained on the film, it was a pretty good sprain,” Izzo said. “But because some guys don’t swell up, some guys just heal quickly, he really seemed to have very little problems the next day and today. So by time we get (to Maui) tomorrow, I think he’ll be ready to go.”
Richardson, the son of MSU and NBA great Jason Richardson, has emerged as one of coach Izzo’s top options off the bench after suffering a significant knee injury in high school that required surgery in 2022. Through his first five games as a Spartan, the younger Richardson is averaging 8.4 points and shooting 62.5% in 20.8 minutes a game.
“It was a fear factor for me, because I didn’t know if it was his ankle or his knee. But he’s been nothing but healthy since he’s been here,” Izzo said of Richardson, who also grabs 2.6 rebounds with 2.2 assists and is 9-for-9 at the free throw line. “And to have a sprain like that and bounce back the way he did, I mean, I think he would have gone back in (Tuesday), I don’t know. I feel good where he’s at.”
MSU (4-1) planned to leave Friday morning for Maui, opening play in the three-day event at 5 p.m. Monday against Colorado (ESPN2).
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jase Richardson should be ready for Michigan State basketball in Maui
