Michigan State Spartans men's basketball

Michigan State Spartans
2015–16 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
Head coach	Tom Izzo (21st season)
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Arena	Breslin Center (capacity: 14,797)
Nickname	Spartans
Student section	Izzone
Colors	Green and White
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament champions
1979, 2000
NCAA tournament runner-up
2009
NCAA tournament Final Four
1957, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2015
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
1957, 1959, 1978, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1957, 1959, 1978, 1979, 1986, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
NCAA tournament round of 32
1978, 1979, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
NCAA tournament appearances
1957, 1959, 1978, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Conference tournament champions
1999, 2000, 2012, 2014
Conference regular season champions
1957, 1959, 1967, 1978, 1979, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2009, 2010, 2012

The Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represents Michigan State University (MSU) and competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I College basketball. Their home games are hosted at the Breslin Student Events Center. Tom Izzo has been the head coach since 1995.

The Spartans have won two NCAA championships and 13 Big Ten Conference Championships. Their two National Championships came in the 1979 NCAA Tournament and the 2000 NCAA Tournament. The 1979 National Championship Game is the most watched college basketball game in history, with 35.11 million television viewers. The 1979 team was coached by Jud Heathcote and included tournament MVP Magic Johnson, Greg Kelser and Jay Vincent. The Spartans defeated the previously unbeaten Indiana State Sycamores, led by future NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird. The 2000 National Championship team defeated the Florida Gators in the final. The team was coached by Tom Izzo and led by players Morris Peterson, A.J. Granger, Charlie Bell, Jason Richardson and tournament MVP Mateen Cleaves.

The Spartans have participated in 18 consecutive NCAA tournaments (1998–2015), which is the third longest active streak in college basketball, behind Kansas (26) and Duke (20). It is tied for fourth longest streak of all-time (Indiana). Michigan State is 8th all-time in Final Four appearances with 9 (1957, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2015) and have made 29 NCAA Tournament appearances. The program is also 9th all-time in NCAA tournament winning percentage.

On December 13, 2003, at Detroit's Ford Field, Michigan State and the Kentucky Wildcats set the record for the highest ever attendance for a college basketball game when they played in front of 78,129 spectators. Kentucky won by a score of 79–74.

Coaches

Two Michigan State coaches have been inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame They are Pete Newell (class of 2006) and Jud Heathcote (class of 2009). On November 28, 2009, Tom Izzo passed Jud Heathcote's mark of 340 career wins by beating U Mass 106-68. Tom Izzo now leads all MSU basketball coaches in wins.

Of all MSU coaches who have headed the Spartans basketball squad in at least a dozen games, Izzo is second in winning percentage and no MSU coach tops him since 1910. Former coach George E. Denman won all 11 games he coached between 1901–03 and Chester L. Brewer won 70 of 95 games from 1903 to 1910.

		Overall		Conference
Name	Years	Record	Pct.	Record	Pct.	Note
None established	1898-99	0-2	.000
Charles O. Bemies	1899–1901	5-2	.714			Michigan State's first basketball coach.
George E. Denman	1901-03	11-0	1.000			Michigan State's only undefeated basketball coach.
Chester L. Brewer	1903-10	70-25	.737
John F. Macklin	1910-16	48-38	.558
George E. Gauthier	1916-20	47-39	.547
Lyman L. Frimodig	1920-22	24-21	.533
Fred H. Walker	1922-24	20-19	.513
John H. Kobs	1924-26	11-26	.297
Benjamin F. VanAlstyne	1926-49	231-163	.586			Avg. final score increased from 28 to 46 during his tenure
Alton S. Kircher	1949-50	4-18	.182
Peter F. Newell	1950-54	45-42	.517	26-34	.433	Went on to win the 1959 NCAA tournament as head coach at Cal; coached the U.S. to the gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics
Forrest A. Anderson	1954-65	125-124	.502	69-85	.448	Guided Michigan State to its first Final Four and NCAA appearance in 1957; 2 NCAA Appearances; 2 Conference Championships
John E. Benington	1965-69	54-38	.587	32-24	.571	Conference Championship in 1967
Gus G. Ganakas	1969-76	89-84	.514	49-57	.462
Jud Heathcote	1976-95	340-220	.607	181-161	.529	1979 NCAA Champs; 9 NCAA Appearances; 3 Conference Championships
Tom Izzo	1995–Present	494-199	.713	221-101	.686	2000 NCAA Champs; 2009 National Runner up, Final Four appearances in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2010, and 2015; 18 straight NCAA Tourney Appearances; 7 Conference Championships; 4 Conference Tournament Championships
Total		1606-1059	.603	578-462	.556

Jud Heathcote era (1976–1995)

Jud Heathcote led the Spartans to the 1979 national championship and coached one of the game's all-time greats, Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Heathcote succeeded Gus Ganakas, who is currently an MSU basketball radio announcer, as coach in 1976. Heathcote stepped down in 1995 with nine NCAA appearances, three Big Ten championships and three NIT appearances.

Results by season under Heathcote:

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Michigan State (Big Ten Conference) (1976–1995)
1976–1977	Michigan St.	12–15	9–9	6th
1977–1978	Michigan St.	25–5	15–3	1st	NCAA Elite Eight
1978–1979	Michigan St.	26–6	13–5	1st	NCAA Champions
1979–1980	Michigan St.	12–15	6–12	9th
1980–1981	Michigan St.	13–14	7–11	8th
1981–1982	Michigan St.	11–17	6–12	T-7th
1982–1983	Michigan St.	17–13	9–9	T-6th	NIT Second Round
1983–1984	Michigan St.	16–12	9–9	5th
1984–1985	Michigan St.	19–10	10–8	T-5th	NCAA First Round
1985–1986	Michigan St.	23–8	12–6	3rd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1986–1987	Michigan St.	11–17	6–12	7th
1987-1988	Michigan St.	10–18	5–13	8th
1988-1989	Michigan St.	18–15	6–12	T-8th	NIT Final Four
1989-1990	Michigan St.	28–6	15–3	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1990-1991	Michigan St.	19–11	11–7	T-3rd	NCAA Second Round
1991-1992	Michigan St.	22–8	11–7	T-3rd	NCAA Second Round
1992-1993	Michigan St.	15–13	7–11	T-8th	NIT First Round
1993-1994	Michigan St.	20–12	10–8	T-4th	NCAA Second Round
1994-1995	Michigan St.	22–6	14–4	2nd	NCAA First Round
Michigan St.:		340–220 (.607)	181–161 (.529)
Total:		340–220 (.607)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Tom Izzo era (1995–present)

Since 1995, the team has been coached by Tom Izzo, who has an overall record of 466–184 as head coach at Michigan State. Izzo coached the Spartans to their second national championship in 2000 with an 89–76 victory over Florida. Izzo has guided the Spartans to seven of 13 NCAA Final Fours from 1999 to 2015, an accomplishment unmatched by any other college basketball program during that span. The coach has also appeared in a postseason tournament every year he has headed the MSU basketball program.

Izzo has received numerous awards including the 1998 Associated Press National Coach of the Year, the 1998 Basketball News National Coach of the Year, the 1998 United States Basketball Writers Association Henry Iba Coach of the Year Award, the 1998 Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year, the 1998 Basketball Times Mideast Coach of the Year, the 1999 Basketball News Coach of the Year Award, the 2001 National Association of Basketball Coaches Coach of the Year Award, the 2005 Clair Bee Award, the 2009 Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year and the 2012 Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year.

Izzo also helped his assistants secure head coaching jobs across the basketball world. Five current Division I head coaches served as assistants under Izzo: Brian Gregory at Georgia Tech, Tom Crean at Indiana, Stan Heath at South Florida, Mark Montgomery at Northern Illinois, and Doug Wojcik at Tulsa. Current assistant coach Mike Garland spent three seasons as head coach at Cleveland State following an initial seven-year stint at MSU. Former MSU assistant Stan Joplin had previously coached at Toledo until he was let go following the 2007–08 season.

Results by season under Izzo:

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Michigan State (Big Ten Conference) (1995–Current)
1995–1996	Michigan State	16–16	9–9	7th	NIT 2nd Round
1996–1997	Michigan State	17–12	9–9	T–6th	NIT 2nd Round
1997–1998	Michigan State	22–8	13–3	T–1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1998–1999	Michigan State	33–5	15–1	1st	NCAA Final Four
1999–2000	Michigan State	32–7	13–3	T–1st	NCAA Champions
2000–2001	Michigan State	28–5	13–3	T–1st	NCAA Final Four
2001–2002	Michigan State	19–12	10–6	5th	NCAA 1st Round
2002–2003	Michigan State	22–13	10–6	T–3rd	NCAA Elite Eight
2003–2004	Michigan State	18–12	12–4	T–2nd	NCAA 1st Round
2004–2005	Michigan State	26–7	13–3	2nd	NCAA Final Four
2005–2006	Michigan State	22–12	8–8	T–6th	NCAA 1st Round
2006–2007	Michigan State	23–12	8–8	T–7th	NCAA 2nd Round
2007–2008	Michigan State	27–9	12–6	4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2008–2009	Michigan State	31–7	15–3	1st	NCAA Runner-Up
2009–2010	Michigan State	28–9	14–4	T–1st	NCAA Final Four
2010–2011	Michigan State	19–15	9–9	T–4th	NCAA 1st Round
2011–2012	Michigan State	29–8	13–5	T-1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2012–2013	Michigan State	27–9	13–5	T–2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen
2013–2014	Michigan State	29–9	12–6	T–2nd	NCAA Elite Eight
2014–2015	Michigan State	27–12	12–6	T–3rd	NCAA Final Four
Michigan State:		494–199	221–101
Total:		494–199
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

Players

Retired numbers

Michigan State Spartans retired numbers
No.	Player	Position	Tenure
4	Scott Skiles	PG	1982–86
12	Mateen Cleaves	G	1996–2000
21	Steve Smith	SG	1987–91
24	Johnny Green	SF	1955–58
	Shawn Respert	PG	1991–95
31	Jay Vincent	SF	1978–81
32	Greg Kelser	SF	1976–79
33	Magic Johnson	PG	1977–79
42	Morris Peterson	SG, SF	1995–2000
-	Jud Heathcote	Head Coach	1976–95

Spartans formerly or currently in the NBA include Maurice Ager, Alan Anderson, Charlie Bell, Shannon Brown, Mateen Cleaves, Erazem Lorbek, Paul Davis, Terry Furlow, Jamie Feick, Johnny Green, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Greg Kelser, Mike Peplowski, Morris Peterson, Zach Randolph, Shawn Respert, Jason Richardson, Scott Skiles, Steve Smith, Eric Snow, Sam Vincent, Jay Vincent, Kevin Willis, and Draymond Green. Former Spartan Robin Roberts played Major League Baseball and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame while another former Spartan, Brad Van Pelt, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Johnny Green, Greg Kelser, Magic Johnson, Jay Vincent, Scott Skiles, Steve Smith, Shawn Respert, Morris Peterson, and Mateen Cleaves are all former student athletes who have had their jersey number retired by Michigan State. The school also has raised a banner to the rafters honoring former coach Jud Heathcote.

Postseason history

NCAA Tournament

The Spartans have appeared in 29 NCAA basketball tournaments with two NCAA basketball national championships. They also count nine Final Fours and sport a 63–28 all-time NCAA tournament record following their most recent performance in the 2015 NCAA tournament Final Four.

National championships

1979 NCAA Tournament Results

Round	Opponent	Score
Round #1	Bye
Round #2	#10 Lamar	95–64
Sweet 16	#3 LSU	87–71
Elite 8	#1 Notre Dame	80–68
Final 4	#9 Penn	101–67
Championship	#1 Indiana State	75–64

2000 NCAA Tournament Results

Round	Opponent	Score
Round #1	#16 Valparaiso	65–38
Round #2	#8 Utah	73–61
Sweet 16	#4 Syracuse	75–58
Elite 8	#2 Iowa State	75–64
Final 4	#8 Wisconsin	53–41
Championship	#5 Florida	89–76

Complete NCAA tournament results

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Results
1957		Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National 3rd Place Game	Notre Dame Kentucky North Carolina San Francisco	W 85–83 W 80–68 L 70–74 3OT L 60–67
1959		Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	Marquette Louisville	W 74–69 L 81–88
1978		First Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	Providence WKU Kentucky	W 77–63 W 90–69 L 49–52
1979	#2	Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game	#10 Lamar #3 LSU #1 Notre Dame #9 Penn #1 Indiana State	W 95–64 W 87–71 W 80–68 W 101–67 W 75–64
1985	#10	First Round	#7 UAB	L 68–70
1986	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#12 Washington #4 Georgetown #1 Kansas	W 72–70 W 80–68 L 86–96 OT
1990	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#16 Murray State #9 UC Santa Barbara #4 Georgia Tech	W 75–71 OT W 62–58 L 80–81 OT
1991	#5	First Round Second Round	#12 Green Bay #4 Utah	W 60–58 L 84–85 2OT
1992	#5	First Round Second Round	#12 SW Missouri State #4 Cincinnati	W 61–54 L 65–77
1994	#7	First Round Second Round	#10 Seton Hall #2 Duke	W 84–73 L 74–85
1995	#3	First Round	#14 Weber State	L 72–79
1998	#4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#13 Eastern Michigan #5 Princeton #1 North Carolina	W 83–71 W 63–56 L 58–73
1999	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#16 Mount St. Mary's #9 Ole Miss #13 Oklahoma #3 Kentucky #1 Duke	W 76–53 W 74–66 W 54–46 W 73–66 L 62–68
2000	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game	#16 Valparaiso #8 Utah #4 Syracuse #2 Iowa State #8 Wisconsin #5 Florida	W 65–38 W 73–61 W 75–58 W 75–64 W 53–41 W 89–76
2001	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#16 Alabama State #9 Fresno State #12 Gonzaga #11 Temple #2 Arizona	W 69–35 W 81–65 W 77–62 W 69–62 L 61–80
2002	#10	First Round	#7 NC State	L 58–69
2003	#7	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#10 Colorado #2 Florida #6 Maryland #1 Texas	W 79–64 W 68–46 W 60–58 L 76–85
2004	#7	First Round	#10 Nevada	L 66–72
2005	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#12 Old Dominion #13 Vermont #1 Duke #2 Kentucky #1 North Carolina	W 89–81 W 72–61 W 78–68 W 94–88 OT L 71–87
2006	#6	First Round	#11 George Mason	L 65–75
2007	#9	First Round Second Round	#8 Marquette #1 North Carolina	W 61–49 L 67–81
2008	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#12 Temple #4 Pittsburgh #1 Memphis	W 72–61 W 65–54 L 74–92
2009	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game	#15 Robert Morris #10 USC #3 Kansas #1 Louisville #1 Connecticut #1 North Carolina	W 77–62 W 74–69 W 67–62 W 64–52 W 82–73 L 72–89
2010	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#12 New Mexico State #4 Maryland #9 Northern Iowa #6 Tennessee #5 Butler	W 70–67 W 85–83 W 59–52 W 70–69 L 50–52
2011	#10	Second Round	#7 UCLA	L 65–73
2012	#1	Second Round Third Round Sweet Sixteen	#16 Long Island #9 Saint Louis #4 Louisville	W 89–67 W 65–61 L 44–57
2013	#3	Second Round Third Round Sweet Sixteen	#14 Valparaiso #6 Memphis #2 Duke	W 65–54 W 70–48 L 61–71
2014	#4	Second Round Third Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#13 Delaware #12 Harvard #1 Virginia #7 Connecticut	W 93–78 W 80–73 W 61–59 L 54–60
2015	#7	Second Round Third Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#10 Georgia #2 Virginia #3 Oklahoma #4 Louisville #1 Duke	W 70–63 W 60–54 W 62–58 W 76–70 OT L 61–81

NCAA Tournament history & seeds

The NCAA began seeding the tournament with the 1979 edition.

Years	'79	'85	'86	'90	'91	'92	'94	'95	'98	'99	'00	'01	'02	'03	'04	'05	'06	'07	'08	'09	'10	'11	'12	'13	'14	'15
Seeds	2	10	5	1	5	5	7	3	4	1	1	1	10	7	7	5	6	9	5	2	5	10	1	3	4	7

Prior to seeding MSU appeared in the 1957, 1959, and 1978 NCAA Tournaments.

NIT results

The Spartans have appeared in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) five times. Their combined record is 6–6.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1983	First Round Second Round	Bowling Green Fresno State	W 72–71 L 58–72
1989	First Round Second Round Quarterfinals Semifinals 3rd Place Game	Kent State Wichita State Villanova Saint Louis UAB	W 83–69 W 79–67 W 70–63 L 64–74 L 76–78
1993	First Round	Oklahoma	L 86–88
1996	First Round Second Round	Washington Fresno State	W 64–50 L 70–80
1997	First Round Second Round	George Washington Florida State	W 65–50 L 63–68

Uniforms

Tom Izzo's teams have worn many different styles of uniforms during his eighteen years at Michigan State.

The current home jersey, introduced as part of a rebranding effort by the athletic department in April 2010, is white with green uniform numbers and a green custom font "SPARTANS" across the chest. The road jersey is green with white uniform numbers and a white custom font "SPARTANS" across the chest. The Spartans do not currently wear an official alternate uniform but the team has worn a silver alternate, a 1979 throwback, and a MAC (Michigan Agricultural College) uniform in the past. The team also wore specially-made camouflage jerseys for the 2011 Carrier Classic, played on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier against North Carolina. In the 2014-2015 season, the Spartans frequently wore their 1979 throwback jerseys as their home uniform.

Nike, Inc. started making jerseys for the team at the start of the 2000-01 season.

Home court

The Spartans play home games at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center on campus in East Lansing, Michigan. The arena is commonly referred to as "Breslin" and "the Bres", and was opened in 1989. It is named for Jacweir "Jack" Breslin, an MSU alumnus, former athlete and administrator, who first began pushing for the arena in 1969. Its capacity is 14,797 seats, and the stadium superseded Jenison Fieldhouse.

The arena's current basketball court is the same floor where the Spartans won the 2000 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, which was at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. The school purchased the floor from the NCAA and Final Four floor installer Horner Flooring after the title game. A plaque was installed on the baseline near the Michigan State tunnel to commemorate the floor's role in the school's history.

The Breslin Center is home to the Izzone, a large student section named after Coach Izzo, the basketball team's head coach since 1995. The student section had been named Spartan Spirits and Jud's Jungle prior to Izzo's prominence at the school. The Izzone routinely gets mentioned in discussions of the nation's top student fan sections, and in 2006 was ranked as the 4th best in the country. The section helped cheer the Spartans to a 53-game home win streak between 1998 and 2002 and also a 28 game winning streak from 2007 and 2009.

External links

• Official website
• Visual history of MSU Basketball by MSUAA
• http://www.finalfouru.com/