Couch: MSU's Jaxon Kohler changed his body to change his game after a humbling freshman season

HOLT – In the hallway between the locker room and gymnasium at Holt High School, Jaxon Kohler finally found relief in the form of a drinking fountain Thursday night.

He’d forgotten his water bottle and played his game at the Moneyball Pro-Am without hydration.

This was not part of his offseason plan to reshape his body. But he’s done it.

Michigan State’s sophomore big man is a little less baby-faced, with noticeably less baby fat. It’s taken a lot of intentional work, beyond shedding a few pounds in water weight.

“When people see me, I want them to have a different image than what I left last year,” Kohler said Thursday night. “I felt like I could have finished out the season a little better. I just wasn't ready to do that, due to lack of foot speed and strength.

“So when the season was over, I made a promise to myself and to the coaches, saying, ‘I’m going to come back ready, I’m going to come back slimmer, more muscle, quicker feet, so that they have faith in me.”

Kohler remains one of the more intriguing parts to MSU’s roster. Because he has a skillset that isn’t common among centers and power forwards in college basketball — he’s got moves for days in the post, he sees the floor well and he's a gifted passer, though he didn’t show enough of that last season. But he’s also got a relatively common body. If Kohler were built like incoming freshman Xavier Booker or classmate Carson Cooper, he’d be in the NBA already.

At 6-foot-9 and as a modest athlete, he’s going to have to maximize every ounce of his natural skill and feel for the game and everything he can get out of his body in order to live his dream.

These last three months, Kohler has made moves like he’s serious about it.

He slimmed down from about 240 pounds to 230-ish and then started to build it back differently. Believe it or not, he’s heavier now — 242 pounds — than he was last season. You’d never think it to look at him. He looks relatively cut.

Once he had dropped the weight …

“I’m like, ‘OK, now I need to focus on eating chicken, eating rice, eating veggies, more intake, more protein, more protein shakes,” Kohler said.

More muscle. He’s cut his body fat down to 11%. That was his goal entering the summer.

It’s not just how Kohler looks physically that’s different. It’s his demeanor, his intent, his understanding. You can see some of it on the court, even at Moneyball. He sounds like someone who’s been through some things and endured the humbling of his freshman dreams.

“As much as I prepared myself for college basketball, you can't really prepare for it,” Kohler said. “Especially with Tom Izzo and the Big Ten. There's not a lot that anyone can say or show you that will make you ready for the Big Ten. It’s a process that you have to go through yourself. That's one of the biggest things I learned last year was, it’s not going to happen right away.

“I remember the first game, right off the bat, I tried to do some of the stuff that I wanted to do. And it was just a whole new game and a whole new set of consequences with Izzo just getting on you. I appreciate that. I'm thankful for that, because if I want to get better — and I want to — and if I want to go where I want to go, I have to be held accountable for my mistakes.”

Kohler didn’t have a bad freshman year. He played more than 10 minutes per game, mostly at center, averaged 3.0 points and 2.9 rebounds and shot 51% from the floor. He scored seven or more points in five games, including 11 in a home win against Rutgers. He also blocked 15 shots in 31 appearances. But it wasn’t what he imagined when he spoke in this same hallway after his Moneyball debut a year earlier.

The last year has made him empathetic to MSU’s incoming class. He knows what they’re going through. He knows the homesickness. He remembers how much he couldn’t wait to get back to Utah for the Fourth of July holiday last year after his first month of workouts at MSU. He’s glad this year’s freshman are getting this break now, too.

MORE: Couch: 3 quick takes on Michigan State's four freshmen from opening night at the Moneyball Pro-Am

“Getting back to family, having the freshmen get back to family, it's important for the freshmen,” Kohler said. “I remember last year, I wanted nothing but to be home and I know how tough it is to kind of go through this your first year, having all these older seniors and juniors just constantly beat you day after day after day. … I know what it was like, how overwhelming it could be.”

To that end, Kohler said he balances asserting himself with helping guiding MSU’s freshman class, including Booker, with whom he’ll be competing for minutes this season.

Because, like Booker, Kohler might see time as power forward next season. That’s part of his plan as a way to earn as many minutes as possible among a group of five players vying for time at two spots — Mady Sissoko, Kohler and Cooper at center, Malik Hall, Booker and Kohler at power forward, though Hall will likely also spend time on the wing, where he played a fair bit last season.

Kohler is skilled enough to play the 4 spot. Eventually I think his outside shot will be there to stretch the floor. It’s his foot speed and who he can guard defensively that’ll determine his versatility.

“I feel like more opportunities will open to me if I extend my game to the 5 and 4,” Kohler said. “So that's what I'm trying to focus on.”

It’s hard not to take him seriously, given the transformation over the last three months. He now looks the part.

“I just tried to work on things that Coach said I need to work on — get in that weight room and get stronger and get quicker feet,” Kohler said. “I feel like, from then until now, both have improved a lot.”

MORE: Moneyball Pro-Am basketball league schedule, rosters, MSU player pairings set for 2023 season

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU basketball: Jaxon Kohler changed his body to change his game