One Shining Moment

CBS just showed a "historical" One Shining Moment video on their pregame coverage of the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. It featured moments from past tournaments, as opposed to the annual montage shown every year after the National Championship game featuring highlights of that year's event. MSU highlights in the "historical" video included:

A young girl at beginning of the video in a Michigan State Cheerleader outfit
Mateen laughing in joy
Mateen diving for a ball going out of bounds
Charlie Bell hugging Morris Peterson
Izzo with a crying Mateen during the 2000 National Championship celebration

After the video, Greg Gumbel asked for the "biggest upset predictions of the 2nd round." Greg Anthony chose USC over MSU.

#1 In The Rafters?

The recent selection of Kalin Lucas as Big Ten Player of the Year elevates him into a select group of former Spartans who's careers have all culminated with their numbers hanging high above the Breslin Center court. MSU has won the Big Ten POY award six times with five players:

Jay Vincent, 1981
Scott Skiles, 1986
Shawn Respert, 1995
Mateen Cleaves, 1998
Mateen Cleaves, 1999 (Coaches)
Morris Peterson, 2000 (Coaches)

So can Lucas rest easy now, knowing he is destined for Breslin immortality? Not quite...

All of the players who won POY were also national All-Americans, as was every other player who MSU has recognized.

Will MSU's Big Ten Championship help Lucas's case? Perhaps!

Of the ten players MSU has honored in the rafters, only two never won a Big Ten Championship at some point in their career. Those two were Scott Skiles and Shawn Respert.

Skiles made his case by leaving MSU as career leader in total points (since passed by Respert and Steve Smith), career field goals (passed by Respert), career assists (passed by Cleaves), career steals (passed by Cleaves), and career games started (now tied for 7th). Respert made an equally strong individual argument, and still leads MSU in career points, career field goals, and career 3 point field goals.

It's too early to tell if Lucas will be able to put up the career statistics to rival these other Spartan greats, but his POY award and Big Ten Championship have gone a long way to getting his number up high. If he can finish this season strong and earn recognition as a national All-American, it could be all but guaranteed.

Frances Cleaves Family Center

The Freep today had an interesting article about Idong Ibok and his relationship with the Izzo family. The article went on to discuss the general sense of family in the MSU program, and specifically how that sense of family directly contributed to the creation of the Frances Cleaves Family Center, dedicated last week.

And then afterward, the Izzos unveiled a mural honoring the late Frances Cleaves, the mother of Michigan State star Mateen Cleaves, on a wall outside of the Spartans' locker room. They officially renamed the players' lounge next to the locker room the Frances Cleaves Family Center.

The Izzos paid for the mural themselves. Frances Cleaves died in 2007 following a swimming pool accident. She was the glue of the "Flintstones" road show during those early championship seasons, organizing the bus rides to Madison, Wis., and Bloomington, Ind., for the players' families.

When the Spartans retired Mateen's No. 12 jersey two years ago, the "Izzone" student section at the Breslin Center gave Frances Cleaves a standing ovation.

This sense of family, and the tangible benefits it creates, can only help the program. Part of the recruiting process is selling the program to a prospect's family, and this shows MSU's commitment to family in a specific, brick and mortar way.

Other original Flintstones moms prominently featured are Dabora Smith (mother of Antonio Smith), Valerie Peterson (Morris Peterson) and Belle Bell (Charlie Bell). Current Flintstone Marquise Gray, a senior from Beecher, helped with the actual unveiling, pulling down the brown-paper covering.

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Photo from mlive.com.