It’s been 16 seasons since Goran Suton laced up his shoes for the Michigan State men’s basketball team. Now, he returns as part of the coaching staff.

Michigan State announced Monday that Suton will serve as a graduate assistant coach for the 2025-26 season. The 39-year-old Bosnian returns to a program he scored more than 1,000 points for before embarking on a 10-year professional basketball career.

After his family left war-torn Bosnia for the U.S., Suton helped Lansing Everett to a 2004 state championship before playing for Tom Izzo’s Spartans from 2005-09. The imposing center racked up 1,081 points and 887 rebounds in his career, which rank 50th and eighth in program history, respectively. Suton helped the Spartans reach the national championship game in 2009, when Roy Williams-coached North Carolina beat Michigan State for the title at Ford Field.

Suton’s college career earned a second-round selection, 50th overall, in the NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz, but he was cut in training camp and went back overseas to chase pro opportunities. Over the course of 10 years, he played in Russia, Italy, Croatia and Spain, winning two Croatian league championships in 2012 and 2014. His professional career ended in 2019.

Coming back to learn from the same coach that honed him as a player, Suton brings plenty of expertise for the Spartans’ big men. One of Michigan State’s biggest offseason retentions was Jaxon Kohler, a power forward who averaged 7.8 points and 7.5 rebounds as a junior last season. It’s no stretch of the imagination to think Suton can help unlock more in Kohler’s game, the same as center Carson Cooper and other bigs. Those lessons may also come in handy considering the Spartans lost Florida Atlantic transfer Kaleb Glenn to a season-ending knee injury last month.