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Joey Hauser Shouldn't Be Here Yet, But Says "it's All Worth It" To ...

A few weeks ago, Joey Hauser was where he was supposed to be: standing on Stevens Point Area Senior High's home basketball court, being acknowledged with the rest of his fellow seniors for the hard work and dedication they'd shown over their prep careers, helping SPASH win three consecutive state titles. Unlike the rest of the seniors, however, Hauser was not in uniform; in fact, he technically wasn't even a student at the high school anymore.

Hauser was supposed to be in uniform. He was supposed to be chasing his fourth state title right now and, this summer, heading off to Marquette University to join forces with his brother, Sam, to chase new basketball dreams. But plans changed.

In December, Hauser badly injured his ankle, which required surgery to repair torn cartilage and prematurely ended his final season. Then in January, he graduated high school early and enrolled at Marquette for the spring 2018 semester, taking advantage of an open scholarship the team had.

The day after his SPASH senior night, Hauser was back at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, where he has been able to rehab his ankle with Marquette trainers. As he went through his exercises, though, nostalgia overtook his mind. He longed to be back in Stevens Point, feeling the excitement around the town and school as the Panthers prepared for the state tournament, which starts this Thursday in Madison without SPASH.

"My first day when I came back from senior day was a really tough day for me," Hauser said. "Being at practice, I felt like I was in the wrong spot. The coaches really help me out, reminding me why I am here, why I did this, to better myself and get right, finally, with my ankle.

"That part has been really tough, but that's kind of what I have to do: remind myself why I am here, prove myself and get a jumpstart on incoming freshman year."

That contemplative 24 hours has epitomized Hauser's first month at Marquette: the desire to still be a high schooler, mixed with strong concentration and determination to become an elite college player.

Hauser has yet to participate in basketball workouts. His rehab focuses on strengthening his ankle, calf and hips, as well as improving mobilization. He is only able to shoot free throws because his ankle cannot yet withstand the pressure of a jump shot. While Hauser had gone through similar exercises, he'd never been undergone such an intensive rehabilitation.

"Sometimes muscles you never even knew you had start to fire up and you are like, 'Dang it, I never really used that one. It's pretty weak," Hauser said. "That part of it, just knowing you are getting better and strengthening your body to improve my injury, is definitely what the main focus is. It's all worth it."

Marquette head coach Steve Wojciechowski, whose team is preparing to host Harvard in the first round of the NIT at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Thursday, has been impressed with Hauser's approach.

"I see a guy who when he is told to do something he attacks it with all his might," Wojciechowski said. "Whether that is his physical therapy, or him in the weight room. All of those characteristics will allow him when he is healthy to be a phenomenal basketball player."

Off the court, Hauser didn't have a summer to transition from high school to college. After spending the first part of the school year in class all day long, Hauser now has a regular college schedule of classes spread throughout the day.

"It is definitely an adjustment," Hauser said. "High school senior year is not that hard. Classes are pretty easy. You have one or two that are hard, a lot of off periods, so it's been different. You don't have class for as much time, so you have time to do your homework. I don't know it was a tough adjustment, not from the school side; emotionally, it is different. I've gotten the gist of it."

The transition has been somewhat easier for Joey because he has had his brother Sam, a sophomore starter for the Golden Eagles, to lean on.

"I knew I would be a lot more comfortable because he was here," Joey said. "Just getting acclimated with everything."

But Marquette is still 155 miles from where Hauser thought he would be at this time.

"I mean, he should be pursuing his fourth straight high school championship," Wojciechowski said. "He should be going down as one of the best high school players to play in Wisconsin history. That is not lost on me."

An all-state performer the last two seasons, Hauser averaged 23.6 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game as a junior en route to Stevens Point Area Senior High's third consecutive championship in 2016-17.

"I just miss going to school every day, coming home to my parents and having a home-cooked meal from my mom. I miss all of that. I miss the high school practices," Hauser said. "It is all worth it in the end."

It is all worth it. Hauser keeps saying it. Maybe it's a defense mechanism. Or maybe it is because one of Wisconsin's best high school basketball players is ready to emerge as one of the best college players in the state, when and where he's supposed to do it.

Joey Hauser: 4 Things To Know About The MSU Forward

It took a couple of seasons, but Joey Hauser finally found his stride in his third season playing at Michigan State (fourth with the program after sitting out a transfer year). After his scoring average dropped 2.4 points per game from the 2021 to 2022 season, the Wisconsin native is second on the team in scoring in the 2022-23 season at 14.3 ppg. After averaging 7.3 ppg last year, he's cleared the 20-point mark eight times, with a season-high 23 in the win over Kentucky.

Get to know one of the Spartans' key players as they prepare for their Sweet 16 game Thursday against Kansas State.

1. Joey Hauser's 2022 NCAA tourney performance against Davidson changed his career arc

It took a little longer than expected, but Hauser's redshirt senior season of the 2021-22 campaign went worse than anyone could have predicted. Heading into the NCAA tournament opener against Davidson, Hauser was averaging 6.3 ppg and around five shots per game, and most of that confidence that he came to MSU with in 2019 was long gone.

But in that win over former teammate Foster Loyer and Davidson, Hauser scored 27 points on 9 of 12 shooting and added eight rebounds.

Along with his 14.3 scoring average, he leads the team in rebounds (7.1) and 3-point shooting (46%). The Spartans are seventh nationally in 3-point shooting at 38.7% and are second-best among the remaining teams, just behind Xavier.

Michigan State's Joey Hauser, right, is fouled by Maryland's Patrick Emilien on a 3-pointer attempt during the second half on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.

2. Joey Hauser and his brother, Sam, transferred from Marquette at the same time

Hauser wasn't initially a Michigan State player. He was heavily recruited by Tom Izzo and staff coming out of high school but elected to follow his older brother, Sam, to Marquette.

Both were key cogs on the Eagles' 2018-19 team, as Joey started 31 of 34 games and Sam started all 34 as their second-leading scorer.

But both decided to transfer the following season, while making it clear they weren't necessarily a package deal at all. Sam transferred to Virginia, where he played last season before heading to the NBA. Sam is in his second season with the Boston Celtics, having signed a three-year, $6 million contract in July 2022 and has appeared in 71 of 73 games so far, averaging 15.5 minutes per game.

Michigan State Spartans forward Joey Hauser drives against USC Trojans forward Kobe Johnson during the NCAA tournament first round Friday, March 17, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio.

Joey, of course, transferred to MSU, and after sitting out a transfer year started 16 of 28 games in 2020-21, averaging 9.7 points per game. He started 29 of 35 games last year and has started all 33 games so far this year.

In the second-round win over Marquette on Sunday, he received boos from the Eagles fans when his name was announced during the starting lineups. But Hauser had the last laugh as MSU fans chanted his game at the end of the Spartans' 69-60 win.

3. Joey Hauser's waiver appeal was denied for the 2019-20 season

Upon transferring from Marquette after the 2018-19 season, Hauser was hoping to get a waiver request through to play in Cassius Winston's senior season, a season that saw MSU win the Big Ten regular-season title and looked primed for a shot at winning the national championship before the pandemic caused the tournament to be canceled.

But Hauser was denied despite having some plausibility for a waiver to go through. Hauser suffered an injury his senior year of high school, forcing him to miss the entire season, which led to him becoming an early January enrollee at Marquette. But then Hauser was redshirted his first season before becoming a starter in the 2018-19 campaign.

4. Joey Hauser won three straight state championships in high school

Even though Hauser missed his senior year, he collected plenty of hardware during his high school career. He helped lead Stevens Point Area to three consecutive state championships from 2015-17. His team went 79-5 overall in those three years, and in his 2017 junior season, averaged 23.6 points, 11.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game while earning all-state honors.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Joey Hauser: 4 things to know about the Michigan State senior forward

Couch: Joey Hauser Feels Good About His Game, About Returning To MSU ...

EAST LANSING – There's a bounce to Joey Hauser that I've never seen before. He's brimming with good energy, the sort of vibe that you'd hope for from a 22-year-old with a lot going for him. He seems like he's in a great place.

"I am," Hauser said Monday, five days after announcing he'd return to Michigan State for another season.

There are several reasons for Hauser's buoyant disposition. Some of it has to do with hoops …

"I feel like next year is going to be a really good year. I feel good about where I'm at, like with my teammates, my coaches. I'm just really excited."

Some of it doesn't.

"I mean, this is my first normal spring at Michigan State," continued Hauser, who transferred from Marquette after his freshman season, in time for the pandemic-altered 2019-20 school year. "I'm finally getting to be a normal student."

Hauser wasn't planning on coming back to MSU for next season. He thought he might be done playing basketball. But he also didn't have another plan and about the middle of last season …

"I kind of got out of that slump, finally," he said, "and I felt good about where I was at, and I was having a lot of fun doing it.

"The last month of the season, I started playing with the mentality, like, 'I don't really care what people think, or whatever, I'm just worried about what I'm doing. Just go out and have fun, you've got nothing to lose.' "

By the NCAA tournament, he was feeling good about his game and his shot. He wasn't sure whether he'd return.

"I remember thinking to myself (in March), 'This is a new season, teams get to kind of reinvent themselves going into the tournament, players get to make bigger names for themselves if they do something special,'" Hauser said.

"I just really wanted leave a mark, (have) at least something in my career that I could look back on and be like, that was an awesome memory."

Joey Hauser scored a career-high 29 points in MSU's NCAA tournament win over Davidson.

His 29 points in a one-point first-round win over Davidson will forever be that. It was made more special that he shared the court that night with his old roommate, Foster Loyer, with whom he'd spent countless days isolated a year earlier during the height of the pandemic.

"Then getting to play Duke and Coach K, and hopefully ending his career, I wanted to win that game really, really, really bad," Hauser said. "I just wanted to make a deep tournament run and get to the Final Four, get to the second weekend and give ourselves a chance.

"When I finally got subbed out with 10 or 15 seconds left (and we weren't going to win), it hit me right there … and also a little bit, 'Who knows what I'm going to do now.' "

After a conversation with MSU coach Tom Izzo and visits with his parents back home in Wisconsin and, in Boston, with his older brother (who plays for the Celtics), he knew he wanted to come back to East Lansing.

"My parents said, 'What's the plan here?' " said Hauser, who already has his communications degree from MSU and is halfway to a Master's in sport coaching, leadership and administration. "And I just said, 'I've just got to keep doing this. There's no way I can be done. I just got back to to being myself in terms of playing basketball and the love for it.' "

"He went through $#!& and he survived it," Izzo said, referencing, in part, behavior from fans on social media. "And boy, it would be nice if he could flourish now and I think he can. I think it's a good move for him. For us, too. But I do think it's a good move for him."

Izzo has always believed in Hauser. "Sometimes more than I believed in myself," Hauser said. "He knows what me at my best could look like. I think I have a lot to offer."

Izzo told Hauser that he doesn't need to average 29 points per game, but there's no reason he can't put together that sort of performance more often.

Another factor in Hauser deciding to return was Izzo's response to Hauser and Malik Hall saying they wanted to play together more regularly — at both forward spots — rather than so often it being one of them or the other on the court.

"I think with me and him on the court, it provides a lot of versatility and I think it's going to help us," Hauser said of his hopeful pairing with Hall. "We both move the ball really well. I think we're both pretty smart players, but to have us just kind of, when he's in, I'm out, when I'm in, he's out … I think we deserve to be on the court together."

"They both have a feel for the game," Izzo said. "They both can pass it. Malik has improved his shooting so much. And Malik's gotten a little better with the ball, he can guard more people. And I think they enjoy each other. So I think they can be a dynamic twosome and really do some things for us and do them together."

Malik Hall, left, and Joey Hauser, right, close in on their former teammate and Hauser's old roommate, Foster Loyer, during their NCAA tournament game on March 18 in Greenville, South Carolina.

The very real possibility that Max Christie isn't coming back adds to the opening on the wing. The loss of Julius Marble last week to the transfer portal, which caught Hauser and just about everyone else by surprise, does not mean the plan is now to play Hauser for extended minutes at center.

"The 5 position is really not my position," Hauser said. "It wouldn't be my preference. If I have to, I'll do whatever."

"It's a little unknown what we're going to do with everything (at center)," Izzo said, not tipping his hand on options, including the potential of an incoming transfer. "I see Joey playing a lot like last year. He could play some (center), against smaller lineups."

MORE: Couch: 3 quick takes on Julius Marble entering the transfer portal and what it means for Michigan State

What Izzo is most excited about is feeling like he might have the person and player back that he watched work two years ago, while Hauser sat out after transferring from Marquette, back when transfers were ineligible for one season.

"Coach knows I really struggled with that COVID year," Hauser said of his first season on the court in 2020-21. "The isolation for me, it was tough. I was really excited to make an impact right away. And then (COVID) happened. Everything was just uncertain about what we were going to do. That's enough to drive someone crazy. And once we found out what we had to do to play a season in terms of staying in our apartments, the testing every day, I mean, I really didn't even want to play. I didn't want to be confined to my apartment every day after practice. Have to only go here (to Breslin Center). It drove me crazy to sit (home) and not seeing my family after a game, not seeing fans in the stands, not even being able to go out to eat after a (game). It was really hard to deal with. And I didn't deal with it very well.

"I think (now) he feels like he can really just coach me the way that he envisioned it. How I envisioned it. He doesn't have to worry about whatever was going on with me.

"Me and him are just on the same page. And I'm really excited. I think my role on this team is going to expand. I want to be a leader for this team. I know I'm one of the older guys, and this is my fifth year of college basketball. I just really feel like I can have a large impact on this team and be one of our go-to guys."

MORE: Couch: Dwayne Stephens finally gets his shot, at WMU. This is a big moment for him – and for Tom Izzo, too.

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.Com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU basketball: Joey Hauser excited to return and play with Malik Hall

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