The men’s basketball team did more than just win a championship last year - it ultimately convinced Kevin Bakker that he belonged at MSU.

“It was between here and Arizona, and to be honest, I chose MSU because of the basketball team,” said Bakker, a pre-optometry freshman.

“I hope my dad doesn’t figure that out.”

Bakker was one of more than 150 Spartan fans who waited at Breslin Student Events Center on Wednesday afternoon to attend a pep rally honoring the Spartans before they headed off to Memphis, Tenn., where they’ll compete in a first-round NCAA Tournament game against Alabama State on Friday.

The rally was organized earlier this week by Brad Johanson, a finance senior and co-director of the Izzone, the basketball team’s notorious student fan section named after MSU head coach Tom Izzo.

“We have very high hopes for them this year,” Johanson said. “We are trying to give the team one last kick before they get to the airport.”

So it’s no surprise that Lanita Brown showed up.

The Lansing resident and former MSU employee says she has become the team’s adopted mother.

“I see them off before every game,” she said. “It really is great the amount of people that are here. Last year no one showed up before they left for the tournament. It is really important to the players.”

Before the team boarded its bus, people crowded around a pathway, ready to cheer as the bus departed for the airport. Amidst cheers from the crowd, players on board could see and hear the enthusiasm of their fans.

Jarrod Folsom, a marketing senior and Izzone co-director, said the rally was important for both the team and the Spartan faithful.

Especially since opening-round games in Memphis are more than 700 miles from East Lansing.

“We’re not sure a lot of students are going to be able to go to Memphis,” he said. “This was an opportunity for them to show their support.”

Izzo, who mingled with students before the team took off, said the support was crucial for the team.

“The support really has been enormous, and it has helped make the program something special,” said Izzo, who’s led his squad to a third-straight No. 1 seed in the NCAA tourney. “We get a lot of interest from a lot of different people - it’s really neat.”

Emily Dilworth, a business freshman, said she showed up Wednesday because she felt student support was important to the team before it left.

“I really want to see them win again this year,” Dilworth said. “They aren’t going to have all the fans they should out in Memphis.

“So they need to know we are here.”

Mat Ishbia, a junior guard, said the fans’ presence is significant - even if they can’t make the journey to Graceland this weekend.

“We love the support,” he said. “It’s great to see the crowd so excited.”

It wasn’t just students who showed up outside Breslin on Wednesday. Some made quite a drive.

Dave Horny, a resident of Durand, located just west of Flint, drove to East Lansing to cheer on the team on his day off.

He has been a Spartan fan for more than 20 years.

“Of course, I would have preferred that they didn’t lose to Penn (State) - but that was the time to do it,” he said, referring to the Spartans’ Friday loss in their first game of the Big Ten tourney.

Horny went to Indiana last year, where the Spartans won the national championship, and said he hopes “to be in Minneapolis this year.”

That’s the site of this year’s final games.

Sophomore forward Al Anagonye undoubtedly would like to make a trip to Minnesota. And he said the fans can help the team accomplish the feat.

“The fans are great,” he said. “They give us the energy we need and inspire us to play.”