Throughout the course of his 21 years at MSU, head coach Tom Izzo has built his program the old fashioned way. Freshmen come in and play less minutes than they might at other schools, but they grow each year. Sophomores and juniors add to their arsenal, and come senior year, it’s their time to lead the Spartans into battle.
That’s the same path senior guard Denzel Valentine has taken from his freshman season to today as team captain. But when Valentine went down with a knee injury in mid-December, it was senior forward Matt Costello, another four-year Izzo player, who answered the calling and began leading the team.
It was just what Izzo ordered, and the other players knew it, including junior guard Eron Harris.
“This is his fourth year being in this system, so that’s expected from him and I expect him to keep getting better every game — he could get a double-double every game,” Harris said.
Costello has upped his game both on and off the court, leading to what Izzo thinks could be the best stretch of basketball in Costello’s career at MSU.
“I think he’s had the best week of his life, I think he feels the best about himself, so hopefully that can continue,” Izzo said. “We’ve made some progress with our inside guys, I mean Gavin (Schilling) made a couple shots and (Deyonta Davis) made some big shots down the stretch.”
Costello said much of his recent success is a result of simply being more aggressive in the post and being more decisive when he gets the ball down low out of necessity.
“I think with (Valentine) being out it’s made us be more assertive in the post, (Schilling), (Davis) and I,” Costello said. “I’ve had to do a lot more and be a little more aggressive.”
Valentine has said for the past week that he believes Costello’s continued development has transformed him into one of the best big men in the country. “I think he’s taken on more of a leadership role,” Valentine said. "(With) me being out I think more weight is on his shoulders, and Matt’s a tough kid so he’s going to accept the challenge and I think he accepted the challenge a little bit as far as doing more.”
One of the most noticeable improvements in Costello’s game this season has been at the free-throw line, where he is shooting 77.6 percent, up from his 67.1 percent just one year ago.
This improvement has been huge for MSU this season, as it allows MSU to have a veteran big man presence on the court late in games without having to worry about him missing critical free throws.
“Matt being able to shoot so well from the free-throw line, I think he’s shooting over 80 percent really helps us (late in games),” Izzo said. “So one of the things we talked about today is ‘you’re playing better so now you’ve got to be more of a leader.’”
And as a result of the increased role in Valentine’s absence, Costello has been able to take a better look at his game and find where he needs to improve through increased film study.
“Defensively is one (area I can improve),” Costello said. “Even though I am being assertive in the post I’m still not making the best moves. I’m screwing up every once in awhile, so just making better moves, being more confident and continue to play well.”
Although Costello will likely receive less touches when Valentine returns, he still believes he can continue to perform at a high level and help Valentine lead MSU to its goals of a Big Ten championship, and possibly more.
“I’ve been talking to Mateen, and he just keeps saying, ‘keep building, keep building, you got a lot to do so just keep it going,’” Costello said.
And he can continue to build to his Spartan legacy. Costello currently sits just 19 blocked shots away from tying MSU’s all-time record for blocked shots in a player’s career, which is 142 blocks held by former-MSU forward Branden Dawson.
The Spartans’ next game will be at home Thursday against Iowa at 7 p.m. The Hawkeyes dealt MSU its only loss of the season on Dec. 29, 2015.
