Long-time Michigan State men's basketball head coach Tom Izzo has said that he’s more energized for this season than he had been for the past several years. His team will have a golden opportunity to reflect that during MSU’s annual Champions Classic contest, with this year's matchup against the No. 1-ranked Kansas Jayhawks.
“Playing a number one team, as I told my players, I’ve had a chance to do it a few times,” Izzo said Monday. “I’ve been it a few times, and that is a privilege. You can go a lot of years of basketball and never play against the number one team in the country.”
The Spartans haven’t truly been in a spot to compete for a national title since the 2019-2020 team led by Cassius Winston won the Big Ten and finished ninth in the country. That team, of course, never got the chance to go play in the NCAA Tournament and make a run due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If MSU wants to be the best again, these are the types of games the program needs to go out and win in. Tuesday marks a chance for the Spartans to insert themselves back into the type of conversations they want to be in again.
“I think this is as good a measuring stick, positively or negatively, that we could have,” Izzo said about playing Kansas.
Despite a few years of supposed mediocrity, it’s a privilege for Michigan State to even be in this position. The expectation that MSU should compete for the Big Ten and national title each year is a result of Izzo’s long-standing successes.
“(Playing games like these are) a privilege,” Izzo said. “That is an advantage of having a program that people respect.”
This year marks the 14th year of the annual Champions Classic event that pairs the Spartans up against fellow blue bloods Kansas, Duke and Kentucky. All 14 years, this one included, will pit Michigan State against an Associated Pree top-10 team. MSU is 5-8 during the event and 2-2 against Kansas.
This year's contest against the Jayhawks will be played at State Farm Arena at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday. The game will air live on ESPN.
“It’s always an adventure because you don’t know how they’re going to handle the aura of being there,” Izzo said. “Next to the Final Four, it’s a who’s who event. I think we’re going to handle it well."
Scheduling games like these aren’t accidental. Izzo said that he tries to take advantage of as many “memory-making” opportunities as he can. He brought up the trip to Spain over the summer and the team attending MSU football and Detroit Tigers games as some examples of that, but it extends into the non-conference schedule as well. In just a few weeks, Michigan State travels to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational from Nov. 25 through Nov. 27 to play three quality opponents in three days.
But trips to another continent and the Maui Invitational aren’t opportunities that come around every year. The Champions Classic is a rare opportunity that has been there consistently for the Spartans since it started in 2011.
“I don’t think we appreciate it,” Izzo said about the Champions Classic. “I’m not sure our alums appreciate it. I’m not sure Michigan State University appreciates it. It is a privilege. We all know Kansas has been (around) 200 years when they invented the game and all the guys that were there. We all know about Kentucky and that. Those are some of the winningest programs — Duke — in the whole country, ever, and Michigan State’s right there with them for the last 15 years.”
There is also some heightened urgency for Michigan State to bolster its early resume for extra security down the road. Other than Kansas, MSU is only guaranteed four more games against teams currently ranked, the highest of which being No. 13 Purdue (there is a pretty good chance MSU faces a ranked team or two in Maui, though).
As is the nature of facing a top-ranked team, there’s going to be a lot of things Michigan State will have to deal with. Three KU players Izzo was complimentary of were Michigan transfer Hunter Dickinson, Dajuan Harris and KJ Adams, whom Izzo deemed “maybe the key to the whole team.”
Even outside that, the Jayhawks boast plenty more talent. Wisconsin transfer AJ Storr, who was All-Big Ten last season, hasn’t even been in the starting lineup for Kansas’ first two contests against Howard and North Carolina.
Another transfer that has thrived off of Kansas’ bench is former South Dakota State Jackrabbit Zeke Mayo, who leads KU in scoring to this point (20 points per game). MSU’s Frankie Fidler was a part of the scouting process for Mayo, as both players were each in the Summit League for the past three years, meeting eight times.
Izzo also said he discussed Dickinson with MSU assistant coach Saddi Washington. Dickinson and Washington were previously at Michigan together, but obviously the familiarity was already there from prior meetings for Izzo and MSU.
“At least the scouting isn’t half as hard as last week’s was when there were 13 new guys (on Niagara), but at the same time, the team’s a little better," Izzo said.
For Michigan State to win, it starts with the 3-point shooting. The Spartans have shot just 25% from beyond the arc in their first two games, and that figure holding steady would likely result in a loss this time.
“I don’t know if a coach keeps confidence,” Izzo said. “Players keep confidence.”
He said he’s had conversations with guys about the shooting struggles, but Izzo doesn’t feel any need to start changing everything yet.
“(I’m) not panicking over two games or four games or even six games,” he said. “It’s a long year.”
In addition, it’s going to require quality leadership, something MSU has no shortage of. Izzo compared point guard Jeremy Fears Jr. to Mateen Cleaves and Kalin Lucas in that they both get into arguments — the kind Izzo likes. Magic Johnson recently paid a visit to East Lansing and Izzo said Fears was the one listening the most intently when Johnson was talking.
MSU will also need plenty of contributions from veterans that have played in this event before. Senior guard Jaden Akins was expected to be the main guy on this team prior the season, and as someone with three games in this Champions Classic event under his belt, he will need to play like it.
“We need him to be our leader,” Izzo said about Akins.
The best players need step up in the impactful games, and this is one of them.
In addition, big-time programs are given big-time opportunities. Even if MSU has lost a step or two over the past handful of years, Tuesday is a chance for Michigan State to reassert itself on the national stage and take a big step toward contention again.
“This is a night where Michigan State people all over the world will get to watch a game and watch a night of basketball,” Izzo said. “There’s a million other programs, not just in the Big Ten, but everywhere else that would die to do this.”
