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Mens basketball: Freshmen get ready for Magic

October 31, 2001

When MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo recruits players he promises them the chance to win championships and to play against great players.

Izzo’s three newcomers, freshmen guards Chris Hill and Kelvin Torbert and guard-forward Alan Anderson, will take advantage of that final promise when they play an exhibition game against the Magic Johnson All-Stars with the legend himself on the floor.

The game is at 9 p.m. Friday at the Breslin Center.

“Michigan State has a great tradition of keeping their players coming back,” Hill said. “In the summer we got to play against (San Antonio Spur) Steve Smith and Shawn Respert and all the great players from Michigan State. And to be able to meet Magic Johnson and play against him is an unbelievable, unbelievable thing.”

Torbert said playing against one of the best players ever will be a dream come true for him.

“It will be just something you dreamed about since you were little,” Torbert said. “Just watching him on TV as a young man thinking, ‘Man, I want to go out there and play with those guys, just match up with them.’ It will be like a dream come true.”

Anderson wore No. 32 in high school after the MSU and L.A. Laker legend and said he spent his childhood watching the Lakers with his family.

But he said if given the chance to guard Magic - who is listed at guard, forward and center - he will not back down.

“It’s going to be tough for him and me because I’m going to come hard at him,” Anderson said. “You can’t ever let your opponent know you’re scared of him.”

But the three freshmen said they understand how important it is to play against the All-Stars and their roster full of ex-MSU stars such as Respert, John Garvalia, Pig Miller and Carlton Valentine.

“Just coming out the first game playing against a lot of pro-caliber athletes, that’s going to help us out a lot,” Torbert said. “Because you don’t see that type of competition in the college game, so I think that’s going to get us ready for the preseason and the regular season.”

Hill agreed with Torbert and said it’s good to finally play someone other than his teammates.

“We’ve been going all preseason hard these two or three weeks banging up against one another,” Hill said. “I think it’s definitely time - I think we’re all ready to go up against somebody else.”

And at this point, no one seems too starstruck over Johnson. Sophomore guard Marcus Taylor, who has known Magic since he was 10, said the team won’t hold anything back on the legend.

“I doubt (the team will be starstruck),” Taylor said. “All of our lives we’ve played against great players, so we’re going to come in there with a lot of confidence and I think we’ll be ready for Friday.”

But Hill doesn’t take Taylor’s approach. He said he’s not sure how he’ll react if he finds himself face-to-face with Magic, but plans to play hard and learn.

“I don’t know how I’ll react (if I guard Magic),” Hill said. “Right now I’m just incredibly excited to have that opportunity, and it’s just an honor to play against him. And I’m hoping to try and learn as many things as I can. But still I’ll go at him with everything I have.”

And by having Magic at the Breslin Center, Torbert said it will become an extra reminder to what being a part of the MSU program really means.

“(The game) is going to be something sweet,” Torbert said. “It’s something nice because every time you walk in that locker room you see all of those guys’ jerseys hanging up so that’s just a little reminder of where you want to be, what you want to do. You want to do all of the things that they did.”

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