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.

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.

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