Could the Bears’ Khalil Mack guard Zion Williamson? Michigan State’s Izzo would try it

Zion Williamson is such a unique player he even makes it hard on the officials, but the opponents, and whomever the opposing coach decides to have guard the All-American power forward, still have it toughest.

There’s no clear-cut answer for how Tom Izzo and the No. 2-seed Michigan State Spartans will deal with the Duke Blue Devils’ All-American in the Elite Eight on Sunday, but the coach has an idea of what the ideal defender might look like.

“You all know I’m a big football fan,” Izzo said at his pregame press conference Saturday in Washington. “Khalil Mack is a guy I look at and say, ‘Geez, if I could borrow somebody from the Bears, maybe we could cover him.’”

Somehow, the physiques aren’t too far off.

No. 1-seed Duke lists its star freshman at 6-7 and 285 pounds. The Chicago Bears list their All-Pro linebacker at 6-3 and 252 pounds.

Both are mostly just balls of muscle who do most of their work thanks to a lightning-quick first step. Mack might struggle with Williamson’s height, but at least he could match him with mobility and mass.

“He’s got the most incredible first step. That’s why he’s getting all those steals,” Izzo said of Williamson about 24 hours before his team faces the forward’s at 5:05 p.m. ET at Capital One Arena. “He can take one dribble and cover more space than most human beings that I know can do and so then he has the strength to finish at the end. So he’s not Superman, but he’s damn close.”

In reality, Izzo won’t have the luxury of calling in a 28-year-old NFL veteran.

He’ll have to make do with what’s on his roster, which is unusually devoid of top-end NBA talent.

A year after forwards Jaren Jackson Jr. and Miles Bridges were both first-round picks out of Michigan State, the Spartans started Aaron Henry, Xavier Tillman and Kenny Goins as their forwards in their 80-63 rout of the No. 3-seed LSU Tigers on Friday.

Tillman, whom Michigan State lists at 6-8 and 245 pounds, has the most Williamson-like build of the Spartans’ starting forwards.

Ultimately, it will have to be a collective effort for Michigan State to slow down the national player of the year frontrunner.

“We’re just going to have to figure out a way and I think most people have, that great players usually take more than one person to cover them,” Izzo said. “The problem is they have some other weapons, but everybody that’s said everything about him, I think they’re all true.”