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Tom Izzo spent much of the offseason having to defend moves he didn’t make.
While most college coaches spent the months of April and May restocking their rosters with transfers, Izzo largely stood pat. After previous bellyaching about the portal’s impact on the game, the Spartans didn’t take a transfer in the spring. In fact, the team’s lone roster move once the season ended was the addition of late-stock-rising freshman Carson Cooper, the clear 10th man in a 10-man Spartan rotation.
In all, MSU lost its top three scorers from last year’s team, restocked with three freshmen all ranked outside the top 50 in 247Sports’ rankings, and left three scholarships open. It was a bold bet, banking on growth from comparatively unproven pieces in an era where more known commodities have never been more available.
Yet through three games and two high-profile tests, Izzo’s bet on his young team growing up has paid off. And after coming up just short Friday against No. 2 Gonzaga, Michigan State got its signature win, rallying time after time in a wild double-overtime win over No. 4 Kentucky at the Champions Classic in Indianapolis.
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No one would have called the Spartans the more talented team compared to the highly-touted Wildcats. MSU was less deep, less athletic, less physically impressive than Kentucky. But Michigan State was Michigan State again. Sparty was tough. Sparty was poised. Sparty was physical. And Sparty never backed down, even in front of a pro-Kentucky crowd. There may not be an NBA player on this MSU team, but they perfectly fit the “Spartan Dawg” moniker MSU fans have lovingly put on their grittiest players over the years. Culture, identity, mentality, or whichever 2022 college athletics buzzword you prefer, this team’s got it. These players, who heard the noise themselves wondering why their coach wasn’t hunting for reinforcements, have made good on that bet.
“That’s what my frickin’ program stands for, and that’s what it’s going to stand for … Loyalty is a two-way street,” Izzo said. “Some of the culture that I lost during COVID and some of the things that went on at our place, I vowed we were going to get that back, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Perhaps Izzo’s biggest bet was on junior Mady Sissoko, a once-touted recruit who amassed a grand total of 60 points in his first two seasons in East Lansing. On paper, that’s a guy you recruit over with a transfer, not double down on. But after making a major impact against Gonzaga before fouling out, Sissoko was brilliant yet again, this time matching up with defending National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe. Sissoko had 16 points and 8 rebounds in the game, and avoided a critical fifth foul while matching up with Tshiebwe down the stretch in the first overtime. And once Tshiebwe fouled out, Sissoko came alive in the second OT period, scoring seven in those decisive five minutes.
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The Spartan coach also didn’t hunt for a veteran wing, instead sticking with veteran returners Malik Hall and Joey Hauser. Hauser kept MSU in it in regulation with big shot after big shot after regressing last season offensively and struggling mightily against Gonzaga. In total, Hauser finished with 23 points and 8 rebounds on 8–for–16 shooting in what may have been his signature performance as a Spartan. Meanwhile, Hall had game-tying dunks during late-game sequences at the end of both regulation and overtime to extend the game.
“I’m proud of guys like Joey and Mady,” Izzo said. “They’ve been through the wars, but all the abuse they took, but they enjoyed the process. And sooner or later, we better figure out that process is okay. The process is about getting better each year, not worrying about what’s wrong, just putting your nose to the grindstone and that’s what those guys did.”
One final big bet from Izzo: His schedule. He threw this group to the wolves early, with an incomparably-tough nonconference slate. Gonzaga, then Kentucky, then Villanova, then a trip to the loaded PK85 before a matchup with Notre Dame to round out November. The ever-quotable coach joked his team may still go 0–5 in the next five games and quipped that he had no delusions of passing Mike Krzyzewski on the sport’s all-time wins list. But he clearly believed his team could handle it, and they’re proving before our eyes that they can do even more than that.
How the Spartans finish in this remarkably difficult month-long stretch is an open question, but it’s already evident that the Spartans won’t be pushed around. This team belongs against high-level competition, even without the offseason acquisitions so many believed Izzo needed.
