The Spartan Brass has gotten used to seeing MSU athletes perform in prime time over the last few years.
With both the football and men’s basketball programs finishing in the top 10 the last two years, MSU athletics has seen its stature grow tenfold. With success comes better recruits, with better recruits comes better players and with better players comes more representation in professional sports.
This season, the Spartans had six former players in the NBA, 23 players in the NFL and 15 in the NHL. That is a well-rounded representation across professional sports. All the more, MSU currently has three players battling in the NBA playoffs and eight in the NHL playoffs.
When it comes down to a win-or-go-home scenario, former Spartans have the mentality and experience to thrive.
In the NBA playoffs, Zach Randolph of the Memphis Grizzlies and Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors have been making headlines. Alan Anderson has also performed nicely in his role with the Brooklyn Nets. Randolph and Green share a similar approach to the game, in that opposing teams leave the arena cursing under their breath about them. Green, whose NBA stardom has skyrocketed this season, is averaging 14 points, twelve rebounds, six assists, three steals and more than one block a game so far in these NBA playoffs.
There’s not many players in the NBA who can make that broad of an impact on any given game, especially in the playoffs. From the hardwood to the ice, former Spartans also made a big impact on the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Of the eight Spartans currently competing for the Stanley Cup, the Chicago Blackhawk’s Duncan Keith and the Detroit Red Wing’s Justin Abdelkader are producing memorable plays.
Keith, who spent just the 2001-2002 season with MSU, scored the overtime game-winning goal for the Blackhawks in their first playoff game. Abdelkader, on the other (injured) hand, sat out the Red Wings’ first two games after blocking a shot off his glove late in the season.
In his first game back on Tuesday, Abdelkader was a force not to be reckoned with. With an assist, six hits and a takedown, Abdelkader earned himself Second Star of the game.
People who have followed MSU over the years won’t be surprised by any of these playoff accomplishments.
Green is one of just three players in NCAA Tournament history to post multiple triple-doubles. The other two were Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Oscar Robertson.
Abdelkader was a member of MSU’s 2007 national championship team, and he placed himself firmly in Spartan lore by scoring the game-winning goal with 18.9 seconds left in the game.
Seeing former players thrive at the highest level at the most important time can only help the future of MSU athletics.
