BIG CONGRATULATIONS, SPARTAN NATION! 🏆
Michigan State senior guard Jaden Akins has captured the 2024-25 Big Ten Conference Male Medal of Honor, the league’s oldest and most coveted tribute to combined athletic and academic excellence. Only one male and one female student-athlete at each Big Ten institution earn the distinction each year; Akins is the newest name on that exclusive ledger, proving that relentless hustle on the hardwood and disciplined scholarship in the lecture hall can thrive together.
From Farmington to the Breslin Rafters
A four-star recruit from Farmington, Michigan, Akins arrived in East Lansing in 2021 with a silky left-handed jumper and a reputation for two-way tenacity. Injuries nibbled at his freshman minutes, but Tom Izzo’s famously unforgiving practices forged a sturdier defender and smarter play-maker. By senior year he wore the captain’s mantle and the trust of every locker-room voice.
A Season of Statement Wins
The 2024-25 campaign belonged to Akins. He propelled Izzo’s Spartans to a 30-7 overall record and a 17-3 Big Ten mark, locking up the program’s 11th outright regular-season crown. On the stat sheet he posted 12.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while drawing the opposition’s top perimeter assignment—production that landed him on the All-Big Ten Third Team and the conference’s All-Defensive Team.
March Magic Revisited
When the calendar flipped to March, Akins’ heroics only intensified. He scored in double figures in every Spartan win en route to the Elite Eight, burying a step-back three that iced the Sweet 16 upset of Mississippi and adding 15 indispensable points against Auburn. He averaged 13.8 points across the tournament while logging more than 30 minutes a night—and, true to form, never missed a single class assignment.
Numbers That Tell the Story
Durability and consistency frame Akins’ résumé. In 138 career games he poured in 1,252 points—32nd in Michigan State history—and joined just 17 Spartans to eclipse 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 150 assists. He drilled 187 triples, sported an 81 percent free-throw clip and produced 64 double-figure scoring nights, all while shadowing the Big Ten’s most dangerous scorers.
Classroom Dominance
Akins’ academic ledger is just as sparkling. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communication in three years, landing on the Dean’s List seven times and receiving the Provost’s Award for Future Leaders. Now enrolled in a master’s program in strategic communication, he added Second-Team Academic All-America honors this spring and has taken home Michigan State’s Scholar-Athlete Award three straight years.
A Leader Beyond Statistics
Teammates swear Akins’ competitive fire burns just as hot during study hall as it does in the final two minutes. “If you’re late to class, Jaden’s already texting,” laughs sophomore guard Jeremy Fears Jr. Izzo calls him “the most complete Spartan I’ve coached in years,” while academic advisor Todd Edwards notes, “He shows that chasing championships and GPAs isn’t an either–or.”
Standing with Spartan Legends
The Medal of Honor roll reads like a who’s who of Spartan lore—Cassius Winston (2020), Kirk Cousins (2012), Morten Andersen (1982). Akins is only the eighth men’s basketball player, and the 64th male Spartan overall, to join that lineage, further knitting his name into the program’s rich tapestry.
Giving Back
Away from the Breslin Center, Akins led “Books & Buckets” literacy clinics with the Boys & Girls Club, visited Sparrow Hospital’s pediatric wing after Saturday home games, and logged 120 volunteer hours with the Greater Lansing Food Bank—service that earned him a 2025 Allstate NABC Good Works Team nomination.
Campus Reaction
Moments after the announcement, Beaumont Tower rang out the fight song while social media erupted under the #MedalManAkins hashtag. University President Kevin Guskiewicz hailed him as “a beacon for what higher education and high-level athletics can achieve,” and the ASMSU student government passed a resolution lauding his “unwavering commitment to scholarship, sportsmanship and service.” Even mascot Sparty greeted freshmen on summer-orientation tours wearing a tiny replica of the medal, sparking chants of “Go Green!—Go White!”
What Comes Next
Graduate classes are under way, but Akins will also test NBA and G-League waters this summer. Scouts tag him a “3-and-D guard with elite intangibles,” and European clubs have already inquired. Wherever his next jersey comes from, the Medal of Honor mindset travels with him.
Final Salute
On Senior Day Izzo handed Akins the ball and said, “Lead us one more time.” He did—just as he has in locker rooms, classrooms and now the Big Ten’s hallowed annals. Congratulations, Jaden Akins: you have shown that a fervent mind truly thrives in a vigorous body. Spartan Nation rises as one and salutes a champion whose legacy is etched in both marble and memory.
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