Michigan State University Athletics
'Flintstones' Next Gig is the NCAA Tournament
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 12, 1999
By NANCY ARMOUR AP Sports Writer
MILWAUKEE (AP) - From the time they were small, Michigan State's Mateen Cleaves, Antonio Smith, Charlie Bell and Morris Peterson were either playing on the same team or against each other.
Somewhere on those basketball courts of Flint, Mich., the four developed a strong bond that, one by one, drew them to Michigan State. And it's that bond, in part, that's taken the Spartans to back-to-back Big Ten titles, their highest ranking - No. 2 - since Magic Johnson, and the Midwest Regional's No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Michigan State played No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary's in first-round action today at the Bradley Center. No. 8 seed Villanova plays ninth-seeded Mississippi tonight. In earlier games, fifth-seeded University of North Carolina-Charlotte played Rhode Island, the 12th seed, and No. 4 seed Arizona took on 13th-seeded Oklahoma.
"The Flint connection, it's something kind of special," Cleaves said. "Four guys who grew up playing together, playing against each other, being on the same team college team. We've got a nice, close-knit bond.
"But here, it's the whole team," he added.
But it begins with "The Flintstones." Cleaves, Bell and Smith are all starters, and Peterson leads the Spartans in scoring despite playing off the bench. Cleaves is the heart and soul of the team, an All-American and two-time Big Ten MVP who runs the offense like a drill sergeant.
Peterson would be a starter anywhere else, but coach Tom Izzo told him the Spartans needed him in reserve. He's averaging 13.7 points per game, and his 5.2 rebounds are second best on the team. Bell is the do-everything guy. He's averaging 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds a game, and was Michigan State's leading rebounder in five games.
And Smith is the guy who started it all. A year ahead of Cleaves at Northern High School in Flint, Smith was the first to become a Spartan. Then came Peterson, Cleaves and, finally, Bell.
"Antonio was the main reason I think all the Flint guys came here," Cleaves said. "Antonio made the first step. I had a good relationship with him, we played with each other, grew up in the same neighborhood, so Antonio took that first step and I think he's the main reason the other guys came."
It was Cleaves and Smith who started the tattoos, too. The two went out one day and had "Flint" tattooed on their right shoulders to show their pride for their hometown. It wasn't long before they were badgering Peterson and Bell to get inked, too.
"We kind of made them go get them," Cleaves admitted. "People across the country think Flint is just violence and plants closing. It's a lot of down-to-earth, hard-working people.
"We're proud of Flint," he added. "That's why we want to let everyone know we're from Flint, because we're proud of it."
While "The Flintstones" have become a cute, catchy trademark for the Spartans - the band plays the theme song at games, and two fans dressed up as Fred and Barney at last weekend's Big Ten tournament - the team doesn't have cliques, Jason Klein said.
"When we're sitting in a group, it's not the group and the Flint group," said Klein, another starter. "The media makes more out of that than our whole team does, to be honest with you. Like Mateen said, four individuals that came from Flint, it's great, it's unbelievable that that's happened, but within the team group, it's meshed."
Flintstones or no Flintstones, the Spartans do have unique chemistry. Izzo said he's never been around a team that gets along as well as his does. The coaches like spending time with each other. The players hang out together. The coaches and players even enjoy doing things together.
It's a rare thing, and Izzo knows he's lucky.
"I've been in it long enough to know it's not the norm," he said. "Yeah, the kids from Flint help. We also have a lot of kids from the state of Michigan. But they're still all from different families, they all come from different cultures in their own way. The melting pot is because we like one another."
