Senior forward Draymond Green remembers the game. But he doesn’t remember it for the win or for his eight points and six rebounds.

When Wood announced he was transferring from Valpo last spring and MSU was a possible destination, Green didn’t have to do any research to know he would be a good fit for the Spartans.

“I knew he dropped (24 points) on us,” Green said. “And if you can drop (24) on Michigan State, you got to be a pretty good player.”

MSU lost guards Kalin Lucas, Durrell Summers and Korie Lucious after last season. Lucious, who was dismissed from the team midway through the year, was an unexpected departure, and Green knew head coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans could use a replacement.

Thanks to a rule allowing players who graduate with eligibility left to transfer without sitting out a season — provided they enroll in a graduate program not offered at their former school — Green also knew Wood could contribute immediately.

So, along with Izzo, Green hopped on the Wood-to-MSU bandwagon.

Their recruiting efforts worked, and Wood announced he was joining the Spartans on May 6, 2010. About eight months later, he has started every game since he stepped on campus and is halfway to earning a master’s degree in advertising.

“This is the best place you can really be,” Wood said Friday, two days after playing a major role in MSU’s first victory at Wisconsin since 2001. “A program like this, at this high level; I feel blessed to be here.”

Long road to E.L.
Blessed is a word Wood uses often to describe his current situation.

In five years of college, Wood has played basketball at four different schools. He wasn’t recruited by any major programs and eventually settled on Southern Illinois, where he played in six games as a freshman before his season was ended by a stress fracture in his leg.

Wood’s dad, Anthony Wood, said it was obvious Southern Illinois wasn’t the right fit early in that first season, and Brandon said he wasn’t enjoying basketball at the time.

“It was very disheartening and saddening to me to see his desire and love for the game taken away from him,” Anthony Wood said.

However, Brandon, who received a medical redshirt from the NCAA, quickly made the decision to transfer to Highland Community College so he didn’t have to sit out his redshirt freshman season. Anthony Wood said along with having a good staff and program, Highland offered classes with transferable credits, making it easy to switch schools again.

After averaging 16.1 points for the Cougars in one season, Wood left for Valpo and led the
Crusaders in scoring for two years, earning First-Team All-Horizon League honors last season.

Anthony Wood, who said he’s been “very, very involved” in his son’s basketball career as a father and a coach, introduced the idea of Brandon transferring again to a bigger school where he could gain more exposure. He said the Crusader coaches were caught off guard initially, but all parties decided it was best for Brandon — who also explored his NBA options — to move on.

“They kind of saw my situation and knew it wouldn’t hurt me to transfer and go to a bigger school,” said Brandon, who remains friends with Valpo coaches and players. “That helped a lot. Just their support and them being behind me and them telling me no matter what it’s deeper than basketball.”

Fitting in
In his two years with the Crusaders, Brandon proved he could score on anyone in the country. Including his 24-point effort against MSU, he scored 30 against North Carolina last season and 20-plus against Purdue twice.

However, many wondered if he could deliver similar results against major opponents on a consistent basis.

In 16 games, Brandon has proven to be scorer and then some, averaging 10 points, almost three rebounds and more than two assists per contest. And, much to the delight of Izzo, Brandon is a better defender than he expected.

“I think he’s starting to enjoy that,” Izzo said. “He’s starting to enjoy guarding somebody, and I think when those things happen and you have success doing them, you become more of a complete player.”

Brandon said he’s always been a multidimensional player, but people always focused on his scoring.

Regardless, perhaps the most valuable asset Brandon brought with him is his leadership, Izzo said. As a fifth-year senior, he is a rare veteran in a group of guards that features four freshman and sophomore Keith Appling. Brandon said he had to figure out his own role before he could mentor others but now that he feels comfortable, he’s embraced being a leader.

“That’s big for us,” Green said. “One thing you can’t take away from him, regardless of what level it was, he has college experience. He’s played in big games and had big games against big teams.”

‘Blessed’
For the first time in his career, Brandon Wood is playing on a national contender. With No. 6 MSU sitting at 14-2 (3-0 Big Ten), the Spartans virtually are a lock for the NCAA Tournament as they compete for a conference title.

After everything his son has gone through to reach this point, Anthony Wood said the entire family is proud of what Brandon has done on the floor and in the classroom.

“Regarding basketball and what’s going on in his life right now, he’s the most happy I’ve seen him in a long time,” he said. “And if he were not able to play basketball again, the experiences he’s had so far this year have been memorable, exciting and once in a lifetime opportunities.”

As Brandon continues to work toward his NBA goal, he said it’s “crazy” to think about how far he’s come. After bouncing from school to school before finally landing in East Lansing, he went back to that word he uses so often to sum up how he feels to be at MSU.

“I’ve said it a thousand times,” Brandon said. “I’m blessed to be a part of this here, to make it to this point, because there was a point where I didn’t even want to play basketball anymore. To now be at the highest level playing at one of the best programs in the country, it’s surreal.”