Tom Izzo, Miles Bridges highlight annual Michigan State Madness

EAST LANSING — Last fall, Tom Izzo told the capacity crowd inside Breslin Center that he plans to hoist another Final Four banner into the rafters.

He echoed those sentiments Friday night at Michigan State’s annual MSU Madness. And this might be his best chance in years.

“This year, we are going to try our hardest to live up to the expectations that everyone has had and that is to put another banner in the sky,” Izzo said to cheers from more than 15,000 in attendance.

Expectations are always the theme of this event.

Not when it comes to the team, but what Izzo’s costume will be.

In the past, MSU's men's basketball coach has dressed as Gene Simmons from the rock band Kiss, a hippie, a pilot, a race car driver and a superhero, among other things.

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Friday, alongside his wife Lupe, daughter Raquel and son Steven, Izzo walked on a smoky stage behind a man in a black suit, green tie and extra-large head on his shoulders. He said the “fat head” was supposed to resemble him.

It didn’t.

He said he has toned down his antics, joking that the school won’t let him go crazy for “insurance purposes.” Last year, Izzo donned his new orange Basketball Hall of Fame jacket.

Izzo typically gets the loudest applause during MSU Madness, but there was a close second during player introductions. Sophomore Miles Bridges, who shocked the basketball world in April when he decided to stay at MSU and forgo entering the NBA Draft, came out to an extended roar from the home fans.

One player after another danced through white smoke as their names were introduced. Izzo quipped that he has a good feeling about this team.

And not for the reason you might think.

“The reason I feel really good, other than Nick (Ward) and Cassius (Winston), I have a bunch of guys who can’t dance, so they must be working on their game every day,” he said with his trademark raspy voice and Yooper accent.

The Spartans will enter the 2017-18 campaign ranked No. 2 in the nation behind only Duke, who they will play in Chicago in their second game of the season Nov. 14 at the Champions Classic.

Fans were in a festive mood before the doors even opened Friday night, lining up hours before show time. Chants of “Go Green, Go White” echoed throughout the concourse as the smell of new construction still very much hung in the air. The band blared the school’s fight song, and DJ Quick Silva kept fans out of their seats.

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Emcee Al Martin started the show with a 15-second moment of silence for former MSU basketball coach Jud Heathcote, who died 53 days ago at his home in Washington state.

Martin revved up the crowd, running down the list of successful sports programs on campus, including the football and volleyball teams, who both beat rival Michigan recently. Izzo even took time to take a dig at the team in Ann Arbor.

“We are coming off that win over that school down the road in football,” he said to raucous applause.

The MSU women hit the stage first Friday, wearing all black with green glow sticks around their wrists and necks. Purple smoke filled the stage as their names were announced. They danced, they waved. Coach Suzy Merchant was the closing act, dancing with a glow-in-the-dark basketball in her hands, flanked by her young sons, Tyler and Brady.

She thanked the band, Sparty and her players. She even thanked a super fan who hasn’t missed a home game in 17 years. She called Stephanie Russell from the crowd and urged her kiss the Spartan logo at mid-court. She gladly obliged.

With recruits in the crowd, Merchant boasted about having the top attendance in the Big Ten. They are also in the top 10 in the country.

“Personally, I want to thank the best fans in the world,” she said to loud cheers. “… You guys care about women’s basketball here.”

The MSU women open the season Nov. 11 when Robert Morris visits East Lansing.

Friday was a big day for MSU athletics, starting with the unveiling of the $20 million Tom Izzo Hall of History. Donors, fans and board members joined fans in touring the newest addition to Breslin Center.

Izzo called the ceremony “one of the neater things I have ever been a part of.”

Both the men’s and women’s team scrimmaged after the opening ceremonies. Most fans stuck around to watch Bridges and Co., who will open the season Nov. 10 against North Florida.

Izzo left the stage with one final statement. It’s a phrase that had been turned into a rallying cry by his senior point guard Tum Tum Nairn.

“It’s not because you have to, it’s because you get to,” Izzo said of the team’s attitude this season. “You get to be a part of this special, special team.”

Contact Cody Tucker at (517) 377-1070 or cjtucker@lsj.com and follow him on Twitter @CodyTucker_LSJ.