It was a family reunion for the MSU men's basketball team at Wednesday's Media Day, as the team gathered together to start another season.
Like a reflective father, MSU head coach Tom Izzo looked back on last season's mistakes and what he can say he is proud of now, looking forward to the upcoming season.
"I'm expecting big things out of this class," Izzo said. "They have paid their dues. I would like to send them off the right way."
With last year's Final Four run fresh in the mind of many, the expectations are once again high for the team. The Sporting News has the Spartans ranked No. 1 in the nation in its preseason poll.
Junior guard Shannon Brown said he is looking forward to the preseason excitement, adding that he knows what it will take to repeat last season's success.
"When it comes to basketball, it's not that hard," Brown said. "You gotta go out and play like you gotta play and listen to the coaching staff. You just have to go out and play hard, and we call that Spartan basketball."
For this year's team, there are the big brothers who know the game and the new faces that still need maturing, Izzo said.
"When you look at this team, we have incredible experience at the top and incredible inexperience at the bottom — and not a lot in between," he said.
Izzo said he will rely on the juniors and seniors of the team to step up and lead, something senior center Paul Davis is excited about.
"We had Alan, KT, Chris and Tim — they were the guys we looked up to," Davis said referring to last year's seniors, Alan Anderson, Kelvin Torbert, Chris Hill and Tim Bograkos. "We respected them for all the stuff they've gone through, and we tried to stick behind them.
"I welcome the role with open arms. I have looked forward to this since I got here."
From Davis' roommate, sophomore guard Drew Neitzel, to Izzo, everyone has seen a difference in Davis this year.
"He's changed," Izzo said. "He is very much a vocal guy, very much the leader. You can look him in the eye. Growing as a player and a student is one thing — growing as a man is another."
Davis, Brown and senior guard Maurice Ager will be the team's "go-to guys" this year, Izzo said. He affectionately refers to the trio as "The Three Stooges."
"They all get along so well together," Izzo said. "They are different guys from different areas, different colors — there is a bond there.
"We bring people from different areas, and they melt into one."
The comfort level between Davis, Brown and Ager will help the team move forward through a tough schedule this year, in which they will potentially face four or five top-15 teams by Dec. 6.
"When we play on the court, we don't have to run set plays or do set things — we just play basketball," Davis said. "We just have a feel for each other, which only comes from spending time and playing together."
Even those new to the team have noticed the close-knit community.
"The family atmosphere is unbelievable," freshman guard Maurice Joseph said. "Everybody — the secretaries, the managers, the players, the coaching staff — is close."
Izzo said he wants every player he works with to be developed on and off the court, taking home a memory that "can't be removed, can't be taken down.
"What I think a successful program is, is not the one who wins it every year, but the one that is truly knocking at the door and everyone knows every year," Izzo said. "They are a threat to do something."
