WEST BLOOMFIELD -- Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was all smiles Monday, and not just because he was dressed in a Spartans shirt and plaid golf pants ready to tee off in the Charlie Sanders Foundation golf outing.

Michigan State also has a pretty good basketball team, and from the reports Izzo has gotten on his players this summer heading into the start of workouts next week, little has changed the team's preseason outlook as a national championship contender.

"Right now, we're having the best summer we've ever had," Izzo said. "There have been more guys in the gym. (Adreian) Payne has been good, and (Gary) Harris is really getting a lot better. (Branden) Dawson I think has made big strides from what I hear."

Izzo said everybody on the team was healthy after Harris went into the offseason needing to rehab a nagging shoulder injury.

Dawson's offseason is crucial to his development because he wasn't able to participate in workouts last year at this time while recovering from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament. The mental and physical effects from the surgery slowed Dawson at times during the season.

The Spartans are being touted as the No. 2 team in the nation in the preseason by some after Payne and Harris decided to remain in school rather than declare for the NBA draft.

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