EAST LANSING — Tom Izzo and his fellow coaches got their wish a few years ago, to work with their teams in the summer months.
Michigan State basketball and every other Division I college program began practicing Sept. 25, a progressively earlier start to workouts.
A long road already finally ends as the Spartans’ season begins.
Sort of.
No. 4 MSU plays Hillsdale on Wednesday in its first of two exhibition games. Tipoff is 7 p.m. at Breslin Center, and the game will be available to stream on BTN+.
“We’re just sick of playing each other. And I’m sick of playing each other,” Izzo said Monday. “So yeah, we’re kind of getting ready for a game. But it’s part of the process.”
Izzo revived a long-vanished tradition Saturday by holding a public Green and White intrasquad scrimmage. The Spartans attacked it and split the squads, moved players around between the two teams. Izzo let his assistants and former NBA All-Star Steve Smith run the teams, while program legends Mateen Cleaves and Zach Randolph took in the game from the sideline. So did new Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti.
What they and the fans who attended saw was a lot of what opponents saw last season as MSU went 21-13 and reaching the Sweet 16: A.J. Hoggard attacking the lane, Tyson Walker draining outside shots, Jaden Akins throwing down a highlight dunk, Mady Sissoko pounding in the paint.
What they also saw were the newcomers flashing their skills: Jeremy Fears Jr. throwing well-timed lobs and aggressively driving into traffic, Gehrig Normand splashing 3-pointers, Coen Carr upping Akins’ ante with flashy dunks, Xavier Booker swatting shots and showing some range.
“I liked the scrimmage. I thought it was great. I think the people that were there liked it,” Izzo said. “I thought we moved the ball extremely well. We shot the ball pretty well. Do you ever guard as good as you can in those situations? They’re probably not. But I was pleased with our conditioning. A lot of things pleased me about that thing.
“But it’ll get different. Now, you start a substitution pattern. Now you start playing against other people, and let’s see if we get complacent. We know we’re not playing Duke.”
The Chargers opened last season on a 12-game win streak and finished 23-7, eventually losing to Izzo’s alma mater Northern Michigan in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional quarterfinals.
“This team in the past has been very competitive, and it’s very well coached,” Izzo said.
The competition escalates quickly after that for the Spartans’ final scrimmage, when they host No. 10 Tennessee in an exhibition to benefit Maui relief efforts. That game tips off at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Breslin, leading into MSU’s regular-season opener Nov. 6 against James Madison.
But first is Hillsdale.
“We’ll get something out of it, because it’s the first time playing in front of people where it really matters. And I think that’s important,” Izzo said. Sure, that builds up to Tennessee. And it’s gonna be big and important. But that’s an exhibition game, too. …
“I don’t want a lot of slippage. Because I think anytime we take the court, if you can really be focused in on the task at hand and play your best, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing.”
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For (exhibition) openers: Chargers
Matchup: No. 4 Michigan State (21-13 in 2022-23) vs. Division II Hillsdale (23-7), exhibition.
Tipoff: 7 p.m. Wednesday; Spartan Stadium, East Lansing.
TV/radio : BTN-plus (online-only); no radio.
Regular-season opener: James Madison; 8:30 p.m. Nov. 6; BTN.