A few years ago, MSU men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo was sitting in his office at the Alfred Berkowitz Basketball Complex.
Across from Izzo was Kalin Lucas, an ultra-fast high school guard, and Lucas’ parents, Kenneth and Tina.
Izzo's promise stands
Sophomore guard Kalin Lucas drives around Louisville guard Preston Knowles during the second half of the 64-52 Spartan victory March 29 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Izzo knew two things.
The first was that in 2009, when Lucas would be a sophomore in college, the Final Four would be in Detroit. The second was that Lucas lived in Sterling Heights, which is a little more than 20 minutes outside of Detroit.
So, he made a promise to get Lucas to the 2009 Final Four.
“He’d tell Kalin, ‘Hey if you come in here, just imagine: The Final Four in 2009 will be in Detroit and you will be there,’” Kenneth Lucas said.
In Izzo’s 14 years, every player who has stayed four years went to a Final Four. But still, a lot has to go right in order to get to a Final Four.
Still, he also brought up the Final Four in Detroit to Durrell Summers, Lucas’ AAU teammate and a native Detroiter.
“That was big about the recruitment, when you throw that in front of a guy from Detroit and you tell him you can get there,” said Summers, now a sophomore guard. “From day one, once I stepped on campus, I believed and we did as much work as possible to get there and he got us there.”
This season there was pressure to keep the streak going. Fifth-year seniors Marquise Gray, Idong Ibok and Goran Suton had been to the Final Four in 2005 as redshirts, even though they didn’t play. But for senior guard Travis Walton, it was his last chance.
Walton’s longing to head to college basketball’s biggest stage was his personal battle cry all season.
When it finally happened after Sunday’s win over Louisville in the Elite Eight, Walton broke down. And it was because the streak went.
“Coach can go on the road, anywhere he goes, and recruit the No. 1 player in the nation, to the player that’s unknown and say, ‘You know what, I know you watched the Final Four on TV, I know you dream about going there, I know you do,’” Walton said. “‘If you come to Michigan State University, we gonna get you into a great academic arena, and the last thing, we gonna get you to a Final Four.’”
Izzo did just that to Lucas and Summers three years ago and it worked out.
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He made sure to remind them after the Spartans beat Louisville.
“Yeah, during the little ceremony and everything he said, ‘I told you I would get you there if you just trust me,’” Summers said.
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