Michigan State men’s basketball has had a fair share of iconic moments under head coach Tom Izzo:
-26 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances
-Eight Final Four appearances
-10 Big Ten regular season titles
-Six Big Ten Tournament championships
Twin brothers from Okemos, Michigan, Brennan and Colin Walton were there to witness a lot of those moments, whether it was on TV or in person.
Both twins were in attendance with friends for Miles Bridges' game-winning 3-pointer to beat No. 3 Purdue in 2018.
“We came to a lot of (Michigan State) games,” Brennan Walton told Spartans Illustrated. “We were always pretty into it, always watching March Madness, always watching games, and watching the Big Ten Tournament. We’ve always been fans of Michigan State.”
Brennan and Colin played basketball and baseball at Okemos High School. Now, they are walk-on true freshmen on the Michigan State basketball roster.
“Being a walk-on here is different than being a walk-on anywhere else, especially with Coach Izzo and all the facilities,” Colin said. “It’s a great place to play, even if you’re just a walk-on. If this didn’t work out, I probably was going to go to Central (Michigan), which is an hour away from my family, not too far, not too close. Then, this came up and I thought it was a great opportunity, can’t turn it down.”
During their varsity season last winter, Okemos had a game at East Lansing. Izzo was in attendance to watch Kelvin “KJ” Torbert Jr. (Okemos) and Cameron Hutson (East Lansing). Through a mutual connection, Izzo was introduced to the Waltons.
At the time, the twins didn’t think much of it. They were planning to attend Central Michigan for academics only. They received offers from non-Division I schools for both baseball and basketball, but it was nothing they truly entertained.
Then, Michigan State had them out to watch a practice. From there, conversations progressed and they even played pickup with some of the players.
Michigan State assistant coach Jon Borovich called the Walton twins over the summer to give them the good news – they both had a spot on the 2024-25 team as walk-ons.
“I’m going to Michigan State,” Colin said when asked what his reaction to the call was. “I’m going to be a walk-on. Like, this is going to be awesome.”
It didn’t take much convincing from anyone. The Waltons knew they wanted to make this happen. They were just waiting for that call.
“We knew we wanted to do this,” Brennan said. “This is something we want to do and something we want to be a part of.”
One of the biggest holdups in giving the Waltons walk-on spots was figuring out the roster makeup. They were able to make it work for this season, but there is no guarantee the Waltons will be on the team even for next season. The twins knew that this was going to be the situation going in, due to the expectation that the NCAA will expand the scholarship allotment to 15, but also only allow for 15 total spots on men's basketball rosters, pending court approval.
“Embracing it, soaking it all in,” Colin said about how to deal with that uncertainty for the following season. “Even if it’s only a one year experience, we’re going to do all we can to help the team this year.”
Being a part of the Michigan State program is not taken lightly by the Waltons.
“Being a Spartan, the sense of community around it, there’s so many people that care about your success and care about Michigan State basketball — it’s pretty surreal,” Brennan said. “It makes me feel valued even though my role is very minimal on this team, but I feel like I’m doing something for the team as well as the community.”
Some of the qualities of being a Spartan were evident in the Okemos natives, even in high school.
“'Spartan Dawg,' that’s the motto, I think that’s what we did to get noticed,” Colin said. “We weren’t flashy. We weren’t jumping out of the gym. We were tough. We were tough to play against.”
The two officially joined the program in July. They are both listed on the roster as 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds. They went from watching Izzo and the Spartans from the green seatbacks in the Breslin Center to being a part of a program coached by a Hall of Famer.
“He’s a great coach,” Colin said about his initial impressions of Izzo. “I think he’s tough on his players, but I also think he has good connections with them. They talk to each other on the sidelines. He’s a tough coach, but a players' coach.”
Brennan added that his preconceived notions of Izzo have turned out to be true.
“I think he’s very tough on his players, but this is Division I basketball and they’re trying to win games, and hopefully the Big Ten and hopefully make a deep run in March Madness,” he said. “His coaching style is definitely tough on players, but when you coach like that, people react. Like when they get yelled at or talked to, they’re gonna play better. They’re gonna really understand what he was saying.”
High school careers
Brennan and Colin played baseball at Okemos High School as well. It helped them take their mind off solely basketball.
“I think it just helped me have fun, helped me build more relationships,” Brennan said about playing baseball. “If I was so zoned in on basketball, I don’t know if it (basketball) would be as fun because I would just be worried about this one thing.”
Colin thought that playing baseball helped him not get burned out.
“You play basketball, you have a great time,” Colin added. “Then, you play some baseball, you play some more basketball. That’s always how it was for both of us.”
Their basketball career at Okemos wasn’t without its challenges. While the team went 18-5, the 2022-23 season wasn’t what Brennan and Colin envisioned for their junior seasons.
The twins felt like they played well when they were on the court, but inconsistent and lack of playing time was a point of frustration for them.
“Junior year wasn’t fun, that’s for sure,” Brennan said. “There were definitely moments where it was like, ‘This sucks, is this something that I want to continue doing?’"
It didn’t help matters that Okemos blew a 23-point lead in the third quarter to lose the district semifinals against Holt, all while Brennan and Colin watched from the bench.
Despite the frustration, Brennan and Colin stuck with it and had a much better senior season. They got their love back for the sport because of the teammates around them.
All that has led the Waltons to Michigan State where Brennan is studying actuarial science and Colin is studying kinesiology and they are teammates at a program they were fans of growing up nearby.
