The 2018–19 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans were led by 24th-year head coach Tom Izzo and played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference.
With a win over in-state rival Michigan on March 9, 2019, the Spartans earned a share of the Big Ten regular season championship, marking back-to-back championships for the school. It also marked the school's ninth conference championship under Tom Izzo. They finished the season 32–7, 16–4 to earn a share of the Big Ten championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan for the third time on the season to win the tournament championship. The win over Ohio State on March 15, marked Tom Izzo's 600th career win. The Tournament win marked the school's sixth championship, the most in the Big Ten. The Spartans received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East Region. There they defeated Bradley and Minnesota to advance to the team's first Sweet Sixteen since 2015. In the Sweet Sixteen, they defeated No. 3-seeded LSU to advance to the Elite Eight. There they defeated overall No. 1 seed Duke to advance to the school's 10th Final Four and eighth under Izzo. In the Final Four, they lost to No. 3-seeded Texas Tech.
Guard Cassius Winston was named the Big Ten Player of the Year, the ninth time a player in MSU history had received the award. Winston was also named to several All-American lists, including the AP and Sporting News first team.
Previous season
The Spartans finished the 2017–18 season 30–5, 16–2 in Big Ten play to win the regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they beat Wisconsin in the quarterfinals before losing to Michigan in the semifinals. The Spartans received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, their 21st consecutive trip under Izzo, as the No. 3 seed in the Midwest region. They defeated No. 14 Bucknell in the first round before losing to No. 11-seeded Syracuse in the second round. As a result, the Spartans failed to make the Sweet Sixteen for the third consecutive year, a first for the Spartans with Izzo as head coach. The 16 Big Ten wins for the Spartans marked a school record and the 30 overall wins was only the fourth time in school history that the Spartans had won at least 30 games (all under Izzo).
The Spartans were led by Miles Bridges (17.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game), Cassius Winston (12.4 points and 6.9 assists per game), and Nick Ward (12.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game).
Offseason
Departures
On March 28, 2018, Miles Bridges announced he would hire an agent and declared for the NBA draft, ending his college career. On April 2, Jaren Jackson Jr. announced he would also enter the draft and sign with an agent.
Recruiting class
On April 5, 2016, four-star power forward Thomas Kithier announced he would attend Michigan State. On November 22, 2016, four-star point guard Foster Loyer committed to MSU. He is the son of former Detroit Pistons Head Coach John Loyer. After receiving an offer three days prior, four-star small forward Gabe Brown announced on June 20, 2017 that he will play for the Spartans in 2018. On June 30, 2017, three-star power forward Marcus Bingham Jr. announced he would play for MSU in 2018. On September 11, 2017, four-star small forward Aaron Henry committed to play basketball at MSU in 2018. According to scout.com, after the commit of Aaron Henry, the Spartans had the third best recruiting class in 2018.
Coaching rumors
Following a tumultuous season off the court, it was rumored that the Orlando Magic were interested in at least interviewing Tom Izzo for their vacant head coaching position. Shortly thereafter, it was reported that Izzo would not take the job.
Early offseason rankings
In April 2018, most early pollsters included Michigan State as a preseason top-15 team for the 2018–19 season. These included ESPN (No. 11), Sports Illustrated (No. 12), Yahoo! Sports (No. 9), USA Today (No. 8), NBC Sports (No. 13), CBS Sports (No. 11), Sporting News (No. 10), and Bleacher Report (No. 19).
Following the deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft, many media outlets released updated early top 25 rankings for the 2017–18 season. Most pollsters included Michigan State in the preseason top 25 for the 2018–19 season: ESPN (No. 9), Sports Illustrated (No. 9), NBC Sports (No. 13), and CBS Sports (No. 11).