College basketball games right before or after New Year’s Day are often what can be described as "snoozefests." The students are gone on winter break, matchups are sometimes uninspiring and most don’t have the energy to attend an 8 p.m. Eastern Time game on a weeknight anyway.
Once a season, absolutely none of that matters in East Lansing when Michigan State University alumni converge on the Breslin Center in the Izzone reunion game.
“I hope any media person, every alum, every student and every fan appreciates the specialness we have here,” MSU men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo said after a dominant win over Washington on Thursday night. “The alumni reunions that we have every year are incredible. For that many former Izzone members to come back over 20, 30 years — it was special. It was special for me (and) I think special for my team.”
The regular Izzone is already considered one of the best student sections in the entire country and helps make the Breslin one of the toughest places to play in as an opposing team. It’s packed full of kids aged around 18 to 22 years old who can jump and yell with no issue.
During MSU’s 88-54 destruction of Washington on Thursday, the alumni — who some might think would struggle with the demands of being an active Izzone member —arguably did a better job of creating a great environment than the regular Izzone has done so far in this 2024-2025 season. And that is not a slight at the students — the alumni were just that good.
“(It was) super loud,” freshman guard Jase Richardson said after the game. “They did their thing today. They got us energized … it was electric today.
“That was one of the better crowds I’ve played in front of."
It was not just Richardson who felt that the alumni helped catalyze the Spartans against the Huskies.
“It felt like a student section the way they brought that energy tonight,” senior guard Jaden Akins said on Thursday. “I feel like we tried to make those tough plays so they could get on their feet.”
Redshirt freshman point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., who recorded 12 points and 10 assists on Thursday night to secure his first career double-double, also had a lot of praise for the fans.
“Our alumni came out,” Fears said. "It was loud and rowdy. They helped us, and we try to come out and put on a show, so hopefully we did that.”
This isn’t necessarily normal around college basketball, but for Michigan State it is in the best possible way for the program. The tradition has been around East Lansing for a while now, so it may be a little bit difficult for Spartan fans to grasp how unusual it is to let people from the class of 2005 (or any past class) sit in the student section again because they have seen it before. Not many other schools do this, though, which makes it unique for MSU.
The boost the alumni provide the team can be and has been measured. Michigan State has won 10-straight games on the night of this tradition and has won by an average of 21.4 points per game.
“That group, it’s just so much fun to see,” Izzo said. “Some of these guys now have been out 25, 30 years, right? So that makes them a little older and still to be acting like idiots? That is awesome. How can you ask for more than that?
“They were cheering and getting fired up — Jase (Richardson) made that block and that whole section (cheered). I will save that tape and I told my video people, ‘Make sure you’re getting a lot of crowd.’ It probably doesn’t mean as much to you guys (the media), but it means the world to me.”
This is also not just a group of alumni that drive over to campus from somewhere close like Okemos or Jackson either. People travel from around the country for this specific game.
“I’ve known over the years it’s been Texas, Florida, California, if they can get here,” Izzo said. “(For) some of them, this is that important to them.”
It’s also a lot easier for the crowd to truly get into it when Michigan State is completely suffocating its opponent. There is no real way to quantify if a 42-13 halftime lead is because of players feeding off the crowd, vice versa, or a little bit of both. Regardless of what it really is, there is a reason that Izzo goes out of his way to talk about how good the atmosphere is and that his players say similar things.
“(Coach Izzo) said it might not have been a big deal to us, but it’s a big deal for a lot of people to come back and come watch us play,” Richardson said. “That’s something he definitely harped on at the beginning and it was really special.”
Fears also said that Izzo told the team that this game is “big for them," and that things like this do not happen everywhere.
“(Coach Izzo said to) make sure we come out and try to have fun and (that it is) a big moment for them and ourselves.”
Unfortunately, Izzo’s team won’t have much time to think about how good the atmosphere was Thursday night inside of the Breslin Center. The Spartans are set for another road test on Sunday against a Northwestern team that will have six days of rest and preparation to MSU’s two days.
“We have not fared very well over there lately, so we’ve got to get ready for them starting right (after this game)," Izzo said about Northwestern.
Michigan State has dropped two of its last three games in Evanston and lost by 14 points at Welsh-Ryan Arena last season.
Tipoff for the Spartans' game against the Wildcats is set for noon Eastern Time and 11 a.m. Central Time on Sunday. MSU’s quest to improve to 5-0 in Big Ten play will be televised on FOX.
