It's a class that's been defined by its success, but it's also a class, in Valentine's eyes, that's been marked by its improvement.

"We just improved every year," Valentine said. "We just kept working. Every time they counted us out, we just came back fighting, came back swinging. So I think that's our biggest thing, is just we improved every year."

Different paths to improvement

Valentine knows a thing or two about improvement. Not many in the nation have been able to come as far as he has.

During the last four years, he's gone from a freshman year project whom MSU head coach Tom Izzo bestowed the moniker "Tragic Johnson" upon, to a national player of the year candidate, one who averages 19.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game.

"Everything we've asked that kid to get better at, he's gotten better at," Izzo said after a 30-point, 13-assist performance by Valentine on Feb. 14. "He's become a better shooter. He's become more disciplined with the ball, but he can guard people. He can guard and rebound on the one end and pass and score on the other end. I don't know anyone that I've had that can do that as thoroughly as he does it."

It's not just Valentine who has come a long way, though. Take Costello for example, perhaps one of the most underappreciated players of the Izzo era. As a freshman, Costello saw just six minutes a game and averaged just 1.5 points per game. 

Flash forward to this year, and he's been as solid as it gets, averaging 10.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game and standing just one block away from the all-time MSU record.

The story of Forbes is not one to take lightly either. Forbes, a native of Lansing and high school teammate of Valentine's, grew up watching MSU, but when all the Spartans had for him was a preferred walk-on position for the fall of 2012, he opted to go to Cleveland State University.

After two years there, however, Forbes transferred home to MSU, something Valentine said he saw coming.

"As soon as I left high school, I knew it was going to happen," Valentine said. "I was like, 'Go ahead and ball out for two years and you can come over,' because I knew it was going to happen. ... I knew he was good enough to play here obviously. It was just a matter of time."

During the last two years at MSU, Forbes has grown leaps and bounds, both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Above all else, he's become one of the best 3-point shooters in the nation. Forbes has connected on 103-of-200 3-pointers this season, good enough for a 51 percent shooting percentage.

"I kind of like the way my journey went," Forbes said. "To get back here, it was different I think. It was good for me to get away and come back and be a part of this. I think it really helped me. I think it matured me, matured my game. I think it helped me a lot going to (Cleveland State)."

Then there's Wollenman, the 6-foot-7 forward from Big Horn, Wyo. who originally came to MSU during the fall of 2011 on an academic scholarship with no plans of walking on.

But it happened. And the ride has been as surreal as it gets, Wollenman said.

"I never in my wildest dreams ever expected to play for a team like this, much less have a career that I've had, with the amount of things I've been able to experience and the kind of people I've been around and played with," Wollenman said. "It's going to be one of those things where, for the rest of my life, it's kind of something to look back on and say, 'Wow, look what I got to do.'"

Not done yet

Make no mistake about it, the four seniors know their time at MSU is coming to end. However, that's too much to think about for them right now. 

At the end of nearly every practice season, the team has broken the huddle with one word — "natty." 

This group still has some unfinished business if they're to leave the legacy they've talked about all season long.

"I don't know how I'm going to feel, honestly," Valentine said about Saturday's game. "Everybody says they feel different. I know I might be overemotional. I might be cool about it. I don't know how I'm going to be. I'm going to be as under control as I can, no matter how the game or my emotions get. But ... to sit back and reflect on all the memories, it's pretty hard to do, because we've got so much going on right now, it's much bigger than senior night or my last game at (Breslin Center). It's trying to win a national championship."

And if this team is to continue upon this group's trend of constant improvement, the next step is obvious. The last three years, MSU has advanced to a Sweet Sixteen, an Elite Eight and a Final Four. A national championship is the last thing left for them to accomplish.

"I don't think it's possible to digest it right now," Costello said of his and his senior teammates' careers. "We still have a lot of stuff we're shooting for. We're still pretty driven for what we're trying to do so as far as digesting it right now. Now is not the time for it. We'll digest it when the season's over."