Feature: 100 Seasons of Spartan Basketball
Special milestones and memories in a century of MSU basketball.
In 1998-99, MSU celebrates its 100 Seasons of basketball. There have been 503 lettermen and 16 head coaches in the first 99 seasons of men's basketball at Michigan Agricultural College, Michigan State College and Michigan State University. Those Aggie and Spartan teams have had five homes: the Armory, a gym in today's IM Circle complex, Demonstration Hall and, of course, Jenison Field House and Breslin Center. In the program's centennial year, MSU could find itself at home atop the conference standings and among the top teams in the country, with all five starters back from a 22-8 squad that reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. As 1998 National Coach of the Year Tom Izzo and his players prepare to defend a Big Ten co-championship, it is time to remember moments we have cherished. Here are 16 selected momentous events:
1. THE RECRUITMENT OF MAGIC JOHNSON--Arguably the three most important moments in school history are the arrival of John Hannah, who transferred from the University of Michigan; admission to the Big Ten Conference, over stiff opposition from U-M, and the commitment of Johnson, who broke the Wolverines' heart in 1977. Amazingly, some people still wonder why there's a rivalry. If the Lansing Everett High All-American had gone to Ann Arbor, MSU wouldn't have won a national title and might not be in Breslin Center, at least not one with a No. 33 banner hanging from the rafters.
2. MAGIC-BIRD AND A 1979 NCAA TITLE--After a 4-4 Big Ten start when no more than two league teams could advance to a 40-team tournament, an emotional team meeting helped turn the season around. With a baffling zone defense and a refueled fast break, MSU won 14 of its last 15 games. By smashing Lamar, LSU and Notre Dame, the Spartans advanced to their first Final Four in 22 years, then steamrolled Penn and stopped 33-0 Indiana State in what's still the highest-rated college basketball game--the first of many classic matchups between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
3. TOURNEY THRILLS AND SPILLS IN '57--After a 10-game Big Ten win streak put MSU into its first NCAA Tournament, Forddy Anderson's club made the most of that chance. A win over Notre Dame and a monumental upset of host Kentucky in the Mideast Region, thanks to a near-perfect second half, sent the Spartans to Kansas City. In the greatest game in school history, MSU fell to unbeaten North Carolina in triple-overtime in a Final Four semifinal, after missing a free throw to ice the win and having a shot disallowed for being a millisecond late.
4. 19 YEARS OF JOKES AND JUD-THUDS--He arrived from Montana in 1976 and immediately said things would be done his way. That they were, with few exceptions, through nearly two decades of heart-stopping finishes and head-pounding fun with Jud Heathcote. He's the winningest coach in school history. But a 340-220 record, with three league titles and seven 20-win seasons, doesn't begin to measure his impact. For that, you have to look at Izzo, his protege and designated successor, and at his autobiography, ``JUD: A Magical Journey'' (Sagamore).
5. SMITTY AND STUNNING SUCCESS IN '90--Heathcote was among the first to spot a skinny kid from Detroit Pershing and said, 'He's going to be our next great guard,' before Steve Smith ever scored a Spartan basket. The two-time All-American finished with 2,263 points, then a school record. As a junior, he led MSU to its winninest season--a 28-6 gem with an outright Big Ten title, a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a trip to the Sweet 16. But if a showdown win over Purdue was the best game in Breslin history, a clock-error loss to Georgia Tech was one of the worst nightmares ever.
6. FLINTSTONES AND A GREAT FUTURE--Antonio Smith was Izzo's first recruit as a head coach. And when Morris Peterson and prep All-Americans Mateen Cleaves and Charlie Bell followed, the city of Flint had produced 80-percent of a lineup that could win most leagues this side of the NBA. In last season's breakthrough, Cleaves became the first Spartan since Johnson to be named both the Big Ten Player of the Year and a first-team All-American as a sophomore. And with a solid recruiting base, the best is yet to come.
7. SPECIAL K AND A '78 BREAKTHROUGH--Before Johnson arrived on campus, Gregory Kelser was an excellent player. By the time they left for the NBA, Kelser had become the first player in Big Ten history to have 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. In 1977-78, MSU improved from 12-15 to 25-5, then to 26-6 as a repeat conference champ and more. And though everyone remembers Johnson from the NCAA Tournament, Kelser was brilliant, prompting NBC analyst Al McGuire to say he was clearly the better basketball player.
8. SKILES AGAINST THE WORLD IN '86--No one ever played basketball with more passion or drew stronger reactions, pro and con, than Scott Skiles, a too-short, too-slow point guard from Plymouth, Ind., who still holds the NBA record with 30 assists in one game. As a senior, 'Jud Jr.' led MSU to a 23-8 mark, an unforgettable sweep of the Wolverines and a win over Georgetown that meant a trip to the Sweet 16. After brushes with the law and battles with frustrated rivals, he was named Basketball Times' National Player of the year--and rightly so.
9. GREEN AND GROWING WITH FORDDY--Johnny Green was the greatest player any school never recruited. He showed up unannounced and put on a dunking demonstration in the upstairs Jenison gym that is still being talked about more than 40 years later. But with Green, Jack Quiggle and friends, the Spartans crashed a college basketball party in 1957. And two years later on Anderson's greatest team, Green teamed with Horace Walker for the top rebounding tandem the Big Ten has known.
10. FROM IRON MOUNTAIN TO THE IZZONE--He was a walk-on point guard at Northern Michigan who became a third-team Division II All-American. And he was a part-time coach at MSU who kept climbing until he did the best job of any head coach in Division I. If MSU hadn't begun to recruit better in the late 1980s, largely due to Izzo's personality and persistence, a string of 10 straight post-season tournaments--soon to be 11--would never have happened.
11. WITH BROTHERLY LOVE FROM LANSING--Together, Jay and Sam Vincent accounted for a Big Ten brother-record of 3,765 points and three conference scoring titles. From 1977-85, public-address announcers said, 'Basket by Vincent,' so often opponents wondered if the guy had lifetime eligibility. What they both had was an incredible ability to put the ball in the basket and tough luck with foot and ankle injuries. Still, they stand fifth and sixth on the school's all-time points list. Too bad there were only two of them.
12. GUS AND THE SHOOTING STARS--Gus Ganakas finished his coaching career with five straight winning seasons before becoming an administrator and broadcaster. Taking over after the death of head coach John Benington in 1969, he coached three of the best offensive players the Big Ten has seen. Ralph Simpson averaged 29.0 points per game in his only season before joining the ABA. Mike Robinson won Big Ten scoring titles as a sophomore and junior and finished with a 24.2 career average. And Terry Furlow was the champ his last two years, scoring an MSU-record 50 points against Iowa in 1976.
13. NEWELL AND THE NEW YORKERS--The Spartans' first Big Ten game was a win at Northwestern in 1951. But under new head coach Pete Newell, many of the wins in that era were due to a pair of confident Brooklyn kids, guard Rickey Ayala and forward Al Ferrari. Ayala, MSU's first black player, brought Ferrari to campus. And all Ferrari did was set a school career scoring mark. To this day, 'Pete's Boys' get together each year for a reunion.