| Hc Year: | 12th |
| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 1987–88 |
| Team: | Michigan State Spartans |
| Conference: | Big Ten Conference |
| Captain: | George Papadakos |
| Captain2: | Carlton Valentine |
| Captain3: | Ed Wright |
| Short Conf: | Big Ten |
| Record: | 10–18 |
| Conf Record: | 5–13 |
| Asst Coach2: | Herb Williams |
The 1987–88 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Michigan and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Jud Heathcote in his 12th year at Michigan State. The Spartans finished with an overall record of 10–18, 5–13 to finish in eighth place in Big Ten play.
The Spartans finished the 1987–88 season with an overall record of 11–17, 6–12 to finish in seventh place in Big Ten play.
| - | 1987–88 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Name | Pos | Year | Height | Pts | Reb | Ast |
| 45 | Carlton Valentine | F | SR | 6–5 | 13.3 | 5.6 | 1.5 |
| 20 | Ken Redfield | F | SO | 6–7 | 11.7 | 5.1 | 2.3 |
| 21 | Steve Smith | G/F | FR | 6–6 | 10.7 | 4.0 | 2.9 |
| 41 | George Papadakos | C | SR | 7–0 | 10.1 | 5.7 | 0.6 |
| 35 | Ed Wright | G/F | SR | 6–6 | 6.2 | 1.8 | 3.3 |
| 10 | Kirk Manns | G | SO | 6–1 | 5.0 | 4.0 | 0.5 |
| 24 | Todd Wolfe | G | JR | 6–5 | 4.4 | 2.1 | 0.8 |
| 43 | Bobby Worthington | F | SR | 6–7 | 4.0 | 4.1 | 0.5 |
| 23 | Jesse Hall | G | FR | 6–3 | 3.3 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| 44 | Scott Sekal | F | SR | 6–8 | 1.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| 22 | Andre Rison | G | JR | 6–0 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 2.3 |
| 55 | Mario Izzo | C | SR | 6–11 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 34 | David Mueller | F/C | SO | 6–9 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.2 |
| 30 | Jim Sarkine | F | SR | 6–9 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
|-!colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season|-!colspan=9 style=| Big Ten regular season