In the waning moments of Michigan State men’s basketball’s 79-62 victory over Michigan on Sunday, things got a little chippy when two Wolverines guards stood on the Spartans logo at midcourt while MSU prepared to shoot free throws. That caused Tre Holloman to approach them, setting off a minor fracas that marred the game’s ending.
It’s a tradition at Michigan State for seniors to kiss the Spartan helmet logo, and Holloman wanted the Michigan players to move so that senior Szymon Zapala had a chance to do so. Presumably, he felt that L.J. Cason and Phat Phat Brooks were purposefully standing on the logo to prevent this.
After the game, MSU head coach Tom Izzo invited football coach Jonathan Smith and former football coach Mark Dantonio onto the floor and told the crowd that despite Michigan’s best efforts, the school would carry on its traditions.
“I give Michigan a lot of credit. (Coach Dusty May) has done a hell of a job,” Izzo said. “But we have a freaking tradition here. Nobody — NOBODY — is changing our tradition.”
To be fair, Izzo then immediately changed the tradition, inviting Holloman to center court to kiss the logo, likely making him the first underclassman to participate since Shawn Respert started the kiss in 1995. It’s said that he did so in response to Michigan’s Fab Five wiping their butts on MSU’s midcourt Block S during their time there.
After the game, Michigan coach Dusty May, who is in his first season with the school, told reporters his team did not know about the logo-kissing tradition, but he felt like Michigan State had the right to “rub our noses in it.”
“I didn’t know there was a tradition where they’re shooting a free throw and we have guys stand at half-court. There’s not a tradition that we can’t stand in a half court as the game’s going on. So I’m not familiar with that one. Is that a tradition?” asked May, “No problem with that. Obviously, it took longer than any 10 F2 timeout monitor, whatever the case. It took a while, but we’re fine with that. They’ve earned the right for that. The seniors have poured their hearts out.
“As far as whatever happened, are we not allowed to stand at half-court while they’re shooting a free throw? Is that what- No, you are? Okay. So they walked up and did… Look, they earned the right to rub our noses in it. It is what it is. We have to play better. We have to get tougher. And so we move on, and we got to compete for another championship this week.”
Izzo also spoke about the situation with reporters about the tradition and how important it is to him and the school.
“It was unfortunate that it ended in a little bit of a negative, a stained way. But we all know that rivalries are rivalries, all the way back to the things that happened on our court. Things happened both ways, and both are guilty. But there’s a tradition here that is so very important,” said Izzo. “The tradition of the kissing of the Spartan head, Shawn Respert started it, and then Mateen [Cleaves] took it over. When you see a tradition that now our hockey team does and our women’s team and our softball team and our soccer team and our baseball team, and that’s who we are. I’m damn proud of that.”
Izzo added that he wasn’t sure exactly what happened and how purposeful it was, but there’s something to be said for a heated rivalry where things like this matter, so long as they don’t spill over too much.
“It wasn’t the end of the world,” he said. “Maybe they did what they wanted to do if it was right, and we did what we needed to do. And that’s what rivalries are all about. If everybody’s out there, hugging and kissing, it’s probably not a rivalry.”