Senior forward Malik Hall and teammates bust some moves at MSU Madness, held at the Breslin Center on October 8, 2022.
Fans packed the Breslin Center Friday night to get a preview of the women’s and men’s basketball teams during the first Michigan State University Madness since 2019.
The event started out with performances from the MSU Marching Band and Spirit Squad and then shifted to a concert by Starfarm, a local 80’s pop band.
After the performance, players and coaches were introduced. During her speech, women’s basketball Head Coach Suzy Merchant lost her voice. She mentioned how the squad is bringing back key players from injury last year as well as adding some quality transfers and returning key sophomores.
“We’re gonna go win a title for y’all,” Merchant said.
Men’s basketball Head Coach Tom Izzo, on the other hand, did not come out in costume like Merchant did and like he has in years past, but he did mention titles in his speech.
“Why not us?” Izzo said in reference to national championship aspirations.
The scrimmages commenced shortly after the introductions.
Scrimmage Analysis
In the women’s scrimmage, a couple of players stood out.
After missing all of last season with a left-foot injury, redshirt junior guard Julia Ayrault lit up the scoreboard.
She started the scrimmage with a tough layup and a couple of possessions later she started an eight straight point run, with two of her three makes in that span coming from beyond the three-point line.
Sophomore guard DeeDee Hagemann also stood out with some smart reads that turned into assists and a three pointer to beat the buzzer.
In the men’s scrimmage, sophomore guard/forward Pierre Brooks seemingly could not miss. He let it go from all around the three-point arc and did not lack confidence on any shot. He also had a smooth driving layup early in the scrimmage, showing off his improved frame as he lost about 20 pounds this past summer.
Another player who stood out was junior Mady Sissoko. The 6-foot-9 center had a couple of nice post moves as well as a thunderous dunk off a pretty assist from fellow junior A.J. Hoggard. The Spartans will need him to step up this year as the frontcourt depth is relatively thin.
For the Fans
While the event was centered around MSU basketball, the fans played a large part in the experience.
Computer science freshman DeMarrion Porter mentioned that he enjoyed the basketball aspect, but he liked the social part of the event as well.
“There's just a lot of people like, I don't really know that many people here as I've been here, so we were talking to people around us and it's just fun to know other people,” Porter said. “Not even like other freshmen, other seniors and juniors, people who have been here. So, it's just fun to see people.”
Senior forward Malik Hall noted that his favorite part of MSU Madness is connecting with the fans.
“I had a little girl that drove up three hours today and she was like, ‘oh my gosh, like I’m your biggest fan. How am I not supposed to be excited?” Hall, who was named Thursday to the Preseason All-Big Ten Team, said. “I got some like some girl I've never even met before out there supporting me. I think it makes it so easy just for me to do my job a lot better.”
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The men’s team will start their season in a couple of weeks with a home exhibition game against Grand Valley State University while the women’s team will host Saginaw Valley State in a home exhibition in about three weeks as well.
