Following the conclusion of the Michigan State men's basketball team's first exhibition game of the 2024-2025 season — a 70-53 victory over Northern Michigan University in Marquette on Sunday in what was coined the "Superior Dome Showdown" — MSU head coach Tom Izzo reflected on what it meant to him to return to his alma mater and his old stomping grounds in the Upper Peninsula. The Michigan State players also discussed the experience.
Additionally, Northern Michigan head coach Matt Majkrzak and his Wildcat players gave their thoughts on the game and what the weekend meant to them.
First out to take comments in the postgame press conference were three Northern Michigan players — forward Dylan Kuehl, forward Jackson Dudek and guard Julian Smith — along with Majkrza.
Majkrzak began his comments with gratitude for Izzo, the Michigan State program and the opportunity to host the event in Marquette.
"It had a dream like quality to it, the whole weekend was just awesome," Majkrzak began. "It checked every box of what we were hoping to pull off."
Nothern Michigan is a Division II program. Kuehl, Dudek and Smith all commented on what it meant to get to play against the Spartans — one of the premier programs at the Division I level.
"It was an absolute blessing ... to have the opportunity to play against such a legendary coach (Tom Izzo) and such a prestigious team ... we are so thankful and appreciative," Dudek said.
"(The support) really shows how much not only Tom Izzo, but NMU basketball means to the community," Kuehl added.
"I have been here for a short period of time and it was just so surreal looking out there and looking in the stands and seeing everybody," Smith noted. "We had 12,000 people out there."
Majkrzak was proud of his players and was pleased with what he saw in this very early exhibition game.
"To be honest with you, I thought we were tough, I thought we were gritty," Majkrzak shared. "We had eight offensive rebounds and they had nine. That says something. I think we did a great job at putting forth an effort that would make Coach Izzo proud."
Overall, all of the Northern Michigan staff and players that spoke throughout the day had nothing but positives to share and gratitude for the entire experience.
The man of the hour, Izzo, shared many comments about what this weekend meant to him and throughout his time in Marquette, the gratitude for the outpouring of love he and the Upper Peninsula received was quite evident to him.
The entire weekend was a nod to Izzo, as his No. 10 jersey was retired by Northern Michigan. Izzo played for NMU from 1973 until 1977 and also spent time as an assistant coach for the Wildcats from 1979 until 1983. He is also already in Northern Michigan's Hall of Fame (inducted in 1990).
Izzo spoke about what it meant to him to grow up in the U.P. where there was no "entitlement" and lessons his team can take from that.
“I hate entitlement — you won’t find many entitled people up where I’m from," Izzo said. "If you earn it, you get it. Entitlement means you haven’t earned it, but you expect it. There’s a process and a journey to be successful."
Izzo shared that he owes almost every part of who he is to the people of the U.P. who mentored him.
“It wasn’t about the game this time, but right now, it was about bringing a bunch of people together and being able to say thank you," Izzo said.
Michigan State players Xavier Booker and Jase Richardson were able to share what this weekend meant to them as players and as team.
“This whole weekend, it’s been great being up here,” Booker said. “Seeing Coach (Izzo) smiling and stuff, kind of brings out the kid in him."
Both Booker and Richardson said playing in the Superior Dome was a "great experience." Booker commented on the large crowd and the bright lights, sharing that the atmosphere was great to play in.
“It has a mini Final Four type of feel," Richardson said with a smile.
As a freshman on the team, Richardson shared that being a part of this team has lived up to all of his expectations so far. The true freshman guard was all smiles when discussing his experiences with the Spartans at this very early stage in his career.
When asked for more specifics about what to expect from the upcoming season, Booker shared he had been “working all summer" and he expects to take a step forward.
“This offseason, I put in a lot of work — gotten stronger, put on a lot of weight,” Booker stated. “My mindset is taking care of what I need to take care of.”
Izzo’s comments about Booker echoed these sentiments.
“He had a really good week … He has been very aggressive in practice,” Izzo said about Booker. “Xavier has to play good for us to win, but I think he’s going to play good. He has made a lot of progress — he’s 22 pounds heavier, he’s a lot stronger than he was. Now it’s taking the mental approach.”
Izzo also discussed the outlook for the Spartans' 2024-2025 season, and noted that the team still has plenty of work to do moving forward.
“I wasn’t happy with how we played totally,” Izzo said about the win over Northern Michigan
Izzo reminded fans and media members how truly early in the season it is, with preseason games usually not even staring for a few more weeks in previous years.
As far as real specifics for the upcoming campaign, Izzo shared that he will continue to focus on “effort-related stats” when choosing who the starting guys will be as the season approaches.
“I’m gonna say this publicly – I'm not determining the starting lineup, they are," Izzo said. "They are. It’ll be factual. In other words, through stats, through winning, through the things they gotta do."
Izzo ended his comments with continued gratitude for this experience and that he hopes other college programs will follow in their footsteps with events similar to this – built to uplift communities
“Boy, little did I know we weren’t just Spartan Strong and Wildcat Strong, we were U.P. strong," Izzo said. "That was touching to say the least."
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