Sports: Experts Rank MSU A Top Contender
In its centennial season, MSU basketball must overcome lofty preseason rankings, a brutal schedule and possible complacency to succeed. According to preseason magazines, in March the 1998-99 MSU basketball team will be in St. Petersburg, FL, at the NCAA Final Four. So says Athlon's, Slam and Street & Smith, which picks MSU No. 3 in the nation. Dick Vitale and Basketball News have MSU at No. 5, The Sporting News at No. 7.
As MSU celebrates its 100th basketball season, one wonders--are the Spartans that good? Everyone but back-up center Dujuan Wiley returns from a team that won the Big Ten co-championship and reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. But '1998 National Coach of the Year' Tom Izzo takes nothing for granted. 'We're not that good,' he demurs, hastening to add, 'Not yet.'
Izzo believes the players must continue to work on improvement rather than savor press clippings. 'There are many questions,' he notes. 'Will we develop an inside scoring threat? Did we work hard enough in the summer to improve? Will we have the same chemistry? The same desire? How will we respond to adversity? We'll see.'
One roadblock is MSU's mine field of a schedule. In December, MSU faces three Top Ten teams--Duke in Chicago, at Connecticut and at Temple. Louisville, visits MSU in January. In between, the likes of UNC-Wilmington and Pepperdine await the Spartans at the inaugural Pearl Harbor Classic in Oahu.
The Big Ten schedule, always tough, poses a dramatic crunch in February--five games in 11 days, with Illinois, Purdue, and Wisconsin at home, and Minnesota and Michigan away. 'Quite frankly, I'm excited,' says Izzo. 'We'll be on TV 11 or 12 times nationally, 3 or 4 times on CBS and 7 or 8 times on ESPN. That's great exposure for the university and for our program.
'Sure, I could have played it safe to ensure 25 wins,' he explains. 'But I'm building a program. To do that, you need exposure. You need to test yourself against the best. People are talking about MSU, and that helps recruiting.'
MSU's marquee player is junior point guard and quad-captain Mateen Cleaves, last year's 'Big Ten Player of the Year.' Cleaves is one of four players from Flint--the 'Flintstones,' a foundation for Izzo's budding program. In a breakout season, Cleaves tallied 16.3 points and 7.7 assists per game. 'What I like most about Mateen are the intangibles,' says Izzo. 'He's our leader. He brings intensity, knowledge of the game, and is a coach on the floor. To get to the next level, he needs to improve on his shooting.'
Another key player is senior power forward and quad-captain Antonio Smith, MSU's 'Chairman of the Boards.' A ferocious presence, he led the Big Ten in rebounds as a sophomore and last year finished second averaging 9.4 caroms per game. 'Our big men are pretty good athletes, but we need more offensive production from them,' says Izzo of Smith, junior A. J. Granger and sophomore Andre Hutson, who are joined on the frontcourt by 6-9 freshman Adam Ballinger.
MSU enjoys depth at the 'two' and 'three' positions, with the likes of senior sharpshooter and quad-captain Jason Klein, juniors Morris Peterson and David Thomas, and sophomore Charlie Bell. Redshirt senior and quad-captain Thomas Kelley, back from an injury, provides offensive firepower along with on-the-ball defensive quickness. 'We can't let egos get in the way of team play,' cautions Izzo, who cites four essentials for success--leadership, camaderie, enthusiasm, and talent.
Helping emphasize those points are assistants Tom Crean, Stan Heath and Mike Garland. By the end of early recruiting season, MSU landed a highly ranked class of four incoming frehsmen--Jason Andreas, Aloysius Anagonye, Jason Richardson and Adam Wolfe--and Duke transfer Mike Chappell.
Helping MSU gain a home advantage at Breslin is the Izzone, a student group organized by Spartan Spirits of the MSUAA's Student Alumni Foundation. The block has expanded from 143 to 943 and now encircles half the lower bowl.
Special assistant Gus Ganakas, former MSU head coach, heads the centennial celebration. On Nov. 9, MSU will salute the 1979 National Championship team, and the weekend of Feb. 19-21 features a Legends game and a celebration of all letter-winners, managers, coaches and related people during the Wisconsin game half-time.
For information, call 517-355-9157.
MAGICAL MOMENTS: A CENTURY OF SPARTAN BASKETBALL, by Jack Ebling and John Farina (Sleeping Bear Press, 1998, $39.95), profiles the most memorable players, coaches, teams and games in MSU's often-spectacular first hundred years of hoops competition. The large-format edition, packed with hundreds of photos, can be ordered at 800-GO-STATE.