Michigan State Beginning To Garner National Acclaim
3/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 21, 2001
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Tom Izzo, almost begrudgingly, admitted something for the first time Sunday.
He was asked if Michigan State has an elite basketball program yet.
"I guess so, at least for the time being," Izzo said after the Spartans beat Fresno State 81-65 to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament for a fourth consecutive year. "This is a dream come true to go back for a fourth straight year, because I do know how difficult it is."
Michigan State, the No. 1 seed in the South Regional, will face No. 12 Gonzaga on Friday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Until Sunday, Izzo had been reluctant to label his program as elite despite winning a national championship, four straight Big Ten titles and going to the Final Four two years in a row.
"They're an elite program, no question about it," Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian said. "Tom had a great recruiting year, so his program is going to be right there again.
"Like I said coming into the game, it was an honor to play Michigan State."
After Izzo went from being Jud Heathcote's assistant to Michigan State's head coach in 1995, he used to say the same things when the Spartans played teams such as Arkansas, North Carolina or Connecticut.
Now opposing coaches are heaping praise on Izzo and his program.
Izzo always said it takes several years to build an elite program. One national championship and four conference titles were not enough for him to label his program as an elite one.
Elite teams? Yes, he said.
Elite program? No, he used to say.
His opinion changed as he faced a horde of reporters and television cameras just outside Michigan State's locker room.
Izzo has always said Duke provided the ultimate benchmark for an elite program because of the way it consistently won championships over a period of time and how its players conducted themselves on and off the court and in the classroom.
Guess what two teams in the country have advanced to the Sweet 16 over each of the past four years?
Duke and Michigan State.
The Blue Devils have graduated many of their players over the years and the Spartans have done the same.
This season, Michigan State's five seniors will graduate while high-profile programs across the country search for ways to keep their best players in school for more than a year or two.
The most serious off-the-court transgression this year happened when freshmen Marcus Taylor and Zach Randolph were late for a team meeting.
Izzo has also tried to build a program without inflated egos.
Michigan State could attempt to recruit every McDonald's All-American in the country, but that would be going against his plan.
He has always wanted to sprinkle a few blue-chip players among a group of blue-collar types, mostly from Michigan, who are willing to defend, rebound and dive for loose balls.
The Spartans handled Fresno State in a game that saw Jason Richardson, their most talented player, make just 3-of-11 shots.
Five other players scored in double figures.
Role players like Aloysius Anagonye, David Thomas and Mike Chappell were the main reason Michigan State won rather easily. Taylor and Randolph could be starting for most teams, but were happy to come off the bench to contribute.
"That's what was so neat today," Izzo said, "Every guy did something."
Senior Andre Hutson, who has played long enough to remember facing North Carolina with Vince Carter and Antwan Jamison four years ago in the Sweet 16, agreed with his coach's assessment of Michigan State.
"I think we can say we are an elite program," Hutson said. "We've done a lot of things the past four years that not too many teams can say they've done. We're trying to set a tradition here and our senior class is trying to really set a mark that we're all about winning championships."
