If asked" Michigan State coach Tom Izzo might say the story of the Spartans' run to the Final Four would best be classified as a romance.
The protagonists? Spartans center Goran Suton and basketball.
""He really improved his shooting this summer" Izzo said. I think he fell in love with the game finally. It took a while" but he did. He worked so hard on it.""
Suton" in preparing for his senior season in Lansing made huge strides. He ascended from fourth in team scoring average last year to second in this campaign.
In two games in Indianapolis" Suton averaged 19.5 points and 9.5 rebounds as the Spartans upset Louisville to advance to the Final Four.
Suton represents the hardworking player — one underranked by scouting services — whom Izzo loves to recruit.
Izzo's preferences shine through when he talked about Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun.
""I love the way his teams play" and I love the way he's developed players Izzo said. I mean there are so many of those guys who you say ‘God where did he come from? Didn't seem like he was on everybody's All-American list"' and he wasn't. He was just a player.""
Izzo rarely ventures outside of Michigan" Minnesota and Ohio to recruit players. This year's roster sports only three players from outside that pipeline.
In the past five years there have been a total of nine five-star recruits from those three states according to Scout.com" and Michigan State has signed two of them.
""I think you get a tough kid out of this state" Izzo said. Detroit Flint Saginaw" you just get a tougher kid. So that's why I've embraced it.
""We could recruit more nationally. I mean" why if you don't have to? If you got good players that are tough guys. I mean who says somebody's 10th 20th 30th best player? If he's a good player" he's a good player.""
Suton? He was a three-star recruit unranked at his position.
Now he's the unexpected Most Outstanding Player in the Midwest Region and a member of Izzo's fifth Final Four team" this time in their backyard.
But perhaps not so unexpected — every player who has stayed four years under Izzo has gone to at least one Final Four.
This year Travis Walton felt a little pressure to live up to that" as a senior without a previous Final Four appearance.
""It was really important to him"" Izzo said. And I think that's what he's taken from (former players). That's why Travis has been the guy to kind of bridge the past and the present together.""
So while they might not be the best players" the Spartans have one definitive strength. They have proven incredibly tough to break down on defense.
They held a potent Louisville attack to just 52 points two days after the Cardinals dropped 103 on Arizona.
Their walk-it-up pace and stifling defense makes every game a battle of wills — with Michigan State's usually coming out on top.
Suton MSU defense leading the way
