Fresh faces, less pressure an ideal mix for the Spartans

Sporting News, The, May 15, 2000 by Mike DeCourcy

As it turned out, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo had the perfect team for the pursuit of an NCAA championship. Now he has the ideal team to defend the title. There can't be many people expecting the Spartans to return to the Final Four and become the first team since Duke in 1992 to win a second consecutive title, and that is precisely the point. As Arkansas showed in 1995 and Arizona reaffirmed in 1998, mounting a true defense of an NCAA Tournament championship--with the majority of the players who earned the title taking a second shot--can be terribly demanding and not particularly rewarding. The pressure increases, and margin for error disappears.

Guards Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson and power forward A.J. Granger finished their careers in the title-game victory over Florida, and their departure alters the personality of the team so dramatically the Spartans will be defending only in the most technical sense.

As the Spartans start over, though, they start far from the bottom. Guard Charlie Bell and center Andre Hutson were the most consistent players during the tournament run and showed an impressive knack for making clutch plays. Big man Al Anagonye and guards Jason Richardson and Mike Chappell flashed their potential at the Final Four. The roster should feature three McDonald's All-Americans, one more than the championship team.

Two of the McDonald's treats are scheduled to arrive in the fall: 6-3 point guard Marcus Taylor and 6-9 post force Zach Randolph. Izzo and his staff will be permitted to reinvent the Spartans rather than try to recapture the magic of 1999-2000.

Randolph dominated the last month of his season even more thoroughly than the Spartans did theirs. In late March, he led Marion High to the Indiana state championship with 28 points. The next week, he was named MVP at the McDonald's game and the Nike Hoop Summit. Two weeks ago, he played his final prep all-star game at the Nike Derby Festival Classic and claimed his third MVP award after scoring 39 points and grabbing 24 rebounds.

No player with Randolph's feel for inside scoring has entered the college game in the past five years. His strength allows him to establish position wherever he wishes, and he understands his game well enough to know what spots put his opponents at the greatest disadvantage.

"The last month has been great," Randolph says. "Playing good ball is all you can ask for. I love hoop, and I just play no matter what."

Randolph became interested in Michigan State largely because of his friendship with Taylor, who grew up near the campus. If that is the only contribution Taylor makes to the Spartans, it will be plenty, but he'll do more.

Taylor is the perimeter shooter Cleaves' critics always wanted him to be, and he gained an extensive education in the game's fundamentals from personal workouts with his father and pickup games with the Spartans. He'll immediately join Bell in the starting backcourt.

Michigan State will not have to make major adjustments to its style. The jump shots will come from different places--Taylor will fire more from the point than Cleaves, Richardson less from the wing than Peterson--but the varied offensive sets and emphasis on rebounding and halfcourt defense can work as well for this group.

The one factor still in question is Randolph's eligibility. He still must post a qualifying entrance test score to play next season. He took an entrance exam last weekend and expects to attend Michigan State regardless.

"I just want to go in, help the team out, be a factor and do whatever the coaches want me to do," Randolph says. "It's a great, great feeling knowing you're going to a team like that. There's no feeling more fulfilling than that."

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