Chicago — MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo and Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson deflected the preseason hype toward each other, but when the votes were in, the Spartans were the media’s preseason pick to win the Big Ten.
Indiana was picked to finish second, while defending league champion Ohio State rounded out the top three selected by a 22-member panel at Big Ten media day.
“The difference between Michigan State and Indiana right now is that they have five starters back, whereas a lot of our impact guys are first-year freshmen or first-year junior college kids,” Sampson said. “I think Michigan State’s going to be really good from day one, whereas for us it will be a gradual progression but right now I don’t know how you can compare us to Michigan State. They’re the clear number one.”
The Indiana duo of senior forward D.J. White and freshman guard Eric Gordon is the key reason Izzo points to Indiana as the team worthy of preseason No. 1 status.
“One advantage I think they have over us is an inside-outside presence,” Izzo said.
“We have an outside threat for sure, but our inside threat is more by committee. They have D.J. White, who is a guy they know they are going to get so much out of.”
White and Neitzel were named to the Big Ten preseason all-conference team, along with Illinois senior center Shaun Pruitt, Ohio State senior guard Jamar Butler and Penn State senior guard/forward Geary Claxton. Neitzel was tabbed as the Preseason Player of the Year.
The Spartans haven’t won a Big Ten Championship since 2001, something Neitzel said the team is aware of.
“Oh, we’re hungry — that’s all we talk about,” he said. “Not only is it a team goal, it’s an individual goal to win a Big Ten Championship.”
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