Tom Izzo talked about Jaden Akins on his pregame radio show. Izzo stated that Akins is going to be playing, but there’s a catch.

Akins is going to be on some type of a pitch count and will be playing anywhere from 10-15 minutes against Northern Arizona per Detroit Free Press’ Chris Solari.

It looks like Izzo is wanting to not rush Akins back from his foot stress fracture and make sure that the Michigan State G is going to be 100% for the upcoming non-conference schedule.

Gonzaga, Kentucky, Villanova, Alabama, and Notre Dame all await the Spartans after their season opener.

The expectation for Akins is that he’ll be playing in a larger role for Michigan State this season. Michigan State went to the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament last season before losing to Duke 85-76.

A new campaign for Michigan State and Izzo starts at 7 p.m. ET on BTN+.