Pursued by U-M, Valentine & Costello now MSU's nucleus
EAST LANSING – DeShawn Sims averaged 16.8 points and 7.6 rebounds as a Michigan senior big man the previous season, and that’s the player John Beilein and his staff used as an example in their recruitment of Matt Costello in the summer of 2010.
“I wouldn’t have minded that at all,” Costello said, nearly six years later, of a decision that came down to MSU and U-M.
Denzel Valentine had such a positive visit to Ann Arbor that summer, father Carlton Valentine – a former MSU player – gave him the green light to go with the rival if that’s what his heart told him. An offer from Tom Izzo came shortly after that visit.
Valentine committed to Izzo’s MSU program on Aug. 9, 2010, and Costello followed two days later. They might have been surprised at the time if they were told they’d be a pedestrian 4-3 against the rival Wolverines – a record both can cite on demand – entering what may be their last meeting.
And they might have been surprised to find out they’d grow this close, and this close to the nerve center of Izzo’s program. This is their team, they are his confidants, and they share with him a desperation to win today when No. 10 MSU (19-4, 6-4 Big Ten) visits U-M (17-6, 7-3).
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“It’s unreal, to be honest,” Valentine said of his intensity for a rivalry he grew up watching in Lansing.
“I’m really excited to be playing them again,” said Costello, of Linwood and Bay City Western. “It’s always something you talk about, your Michigan record, with all your other Spartan family who have come through before. So we’ve got to get this win.”
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These are MSU’s tri-captains, along with sophomore point guard Tum Tum Nairn – who is likely to miss his sixth straight game today with a foot injury – and they are having their best seasons.
Valentine (18.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 6.6 assists) was listed in Las Vegas this week as having the second-best odds to win national player of the year, and Costello (9.7 points, 8.3 rebounds) has six of his nine career double-doubles this season. That has helped him find his voice in the locker room.
“He’s becoming a leader,” Izzo said, and Costello does a lot of bringing information up the ladder, while Valentine often brings it down from Izzo’s office.
“He has to deal with coach Iz a lot more than me, so he’s got a lot more stresses going on,” Costello said of Valentine. “I have the opportunity to come alongside people and talk to them and make sure they’re doing OK. (Valentine) does that too, but I don’t think as much of a role, that’s not necessarily his role. His role is to be more the head horse, directing people where to go, and then having to deal with the train master. … I yell at them sometimes, too, especially DD when he’s being a punk. But for the most part, that’s Zel’s job and Tum’s job. I just try to support the guys however I can.”
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“DD” is MSU freshman big man Deyonta Davis, who has been one of Costello’s primary projects since the summer. Izzo credits Costello, Michigan’s Mr. Basketball in 2012, for helping Davis, Michigan’s reigning Mr. Basketball out of Muskegon, progress on and off the court.
“He and Colby,” Izzo said of Costello and senior big man Colby Wollenman. “Deyonta owes them a lot.”
Valentine feels indebted to Costello at times as well. They grew close during the recruiting process, and Izzo said early in the 2012-13 season that the freshman class of Valentine, Costello, Gary Harris and Kenny Kaminski may have been the closest-knit group he had seen at MSU.
Those four lived together off campus as sophomores. Valentine and Costello remain tight with Harris, now in his second year with the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, and they stay in touch with Kaminski, who got in trouble multiple times at MSU and transferred in 2014 to Ohio University.
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Since the other two departed, Costello and Valentine have helped lead MSU to a surprise Final Four as juniors, and have gone through the rigors since of trying to turn their last MSU team into a national title contender.
“It’s great to have a lifelong friend like that,” Costello said of Valentine. “We may not always agree on the same things, but it’s just cool to have someone like that who has gone through all the battles with you.”
Valentine leads the way. But sometimes he needs guidance from within the locker room as well. Costello “kind of keeps me level-headed,” Valentine said.
“He’s goofy,” Valentine said of Costello. “He’s a little corny. Can’t help it, though, he’s a farm boy. Probably didn’t have cable growing up. So he’s a little corny, but at the end of the day he has a big heart, man, and I love him to death. He cares about you. If you’re having a bad day, he’ll text you late night.”
Valentine sent the group text to the rest of the team on Tuesday, a few hours before MSU had its first practice in preparation for U-M. To paraphrase, it was a demand for energy and focus this week as the Spartans prepare for their only game against the Wolverines – barring a postseason meeting.
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This game is “more feisty, more smack talk, more physical, more adrenaline, everything is picked up a notch,” Valentine said.
“Is it important to a senior? If it’s not, their seniors and our seniors are in trouble, or any other seniors at Duke or Carolina or Indiana and Purdue and everywhere else where there’s rivalry games,” Izzo said. “That’s part of it. It doesn’t matter if you leave the state, the state will always talk about it. I hear guys come back and say things like, ‘I left here beating Michigan.’ Or ‘I left here doing this or doing that.’ Those are the legacy things that you want.”
And these seniors were two of the few prospects over the years pursued by both Izzo and Beilein, and both of them seriously thought of making home the arena they’ll try to quiet today.
“Strongly considered them, but couldn’t go there at the end of the day,” said Valentine, who grew up around the MSU program and won two state titles playing for his father at Lansing Sexton High.
“They did a great job of recruiting me,” Costello said of the Wolverines. “Loved the staff. Just, Michigan State had the bigger pull as far as family atmosphere. That’s how my family was. Not that Michigan does a bad job or anything like that. It’s just what this program is built on, a family atmosphere. And I love that. And that’s the thing that drew me here and kept me here.”