Ex-Spartan Jaxon Kohler Receiving Interest From Louisville

It’s been a few weeks since the ruling trickled down allowing high school graduates from 2022 to re-enter collegiate sports for a fifth year of eligibility.

Through that, many questions were raised about whom the ruling would apply to and if those players would return to Michigan State, especially for the basketball roster of a team preparing for a national championship run.

Though there were a lot of questions surrounding it, Tom Izzo put it clearly on a podcast just last week when he explained that if this had happened in April, Michigan State would have been able to scout the players and get the team ready.

That would have involved guys like Jaxon Kohler, Carson Cooper and Tre Holloman, who were all part of the group of players potentially able to return to college basketball under the fifth-year eligibility ruling.

Izzo made it clear that because the ruling came so late in the process, his roster had already been made up and set for the season.

That, right there, eliminated the thoughts, hopes and, for some, dreams of getting a fifth year of Jaxon Kohler in green and white or even a return from Holloman, who had expressed interest in returning to Michigan State if eligible.

With the news that Izzo would not have any of his players returning to the team who were eligible for the additional year, it opened the door for other schools to pursue players like Holloman and Kohler.

We already knew that Kohler was receiving interest from schools such as Kansas, Kentucky and BYU, and the door was open for him to return to college basketball.

Now, the latest report via John Rothstein on social media says that Kohler has been receiving interest from Louisville as well.

According to Rothstein, Kohler told him that Louisville is now pursuing him.

Louisville is the same team that Michigan State knocked out of the NCAA Tournament last year in the second round, adding another interesting layer to the possibility of Kohler landing with the Cardinals.

For Michigan State fans, the thought of seeing Kohler in another uniform will certainly be a difficult one.

However, the possibility of a reunion on the court could make things even more interesting down the road.

Last week, we also saw Kohler’s father, Jeff Kohler, talk about how it was the right thing for Izzo to move forward with his team in a social media post.

He compared Cam Ward to a pit bull once he is taken off his leash, along with Kaleb Glenn being “Jon ‘Bones’ Jones Jr. in a basketball uniform.”

It will be hard for Michigan State fans to see Kohler playing for another team, but as Jeff Kohler said, it would be fun to see the two match up on the other side of the bracket in the Final Four in Detroit this year.

Spartan fans remain grateful for Kohler’s time in East Lansing and hope for the best for him outside of any games he might play against the Spartans.

Currently, Louisville is not slated to play Michigan State during the regular season, but there are still games remaining to be announced.

It would certainly be an interesting matchup, whether it came during the regular season or, even better, with the Michigan State Spartans facing off against Jaxon Kohler and his new team deep into March.