Michigan State University Athletics
Trip To Navy Is About More Than Just Basketball
11/12/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Editor's Note: The Spartans toured the United States Naval Academy on Thursday morning. The day began with the team captains observing morning colors, followed by breakfast with the Commandant of the USNA, Capt. Bill Byrne. The captains were then joined by their teammates, and after hearing from some key personnel, and watching an informational video about life at the academy, the Spartans had the opportunity to explore a yard patrol craft, a humvee, and a KnightHawk helicopter. The student-athletes even had a chance to practice steering a ship, on the bridge simulator. The tour concluded with a stop in Memorial Hall, an amazing and solemn experience in a room that pays tribute to every academy graduate killed in the line of duty. It was then time for all four teams to eat with the Brigade of Midshipmen, but not before observing noon meal formation.
Photo Gallery: Spartans At The US Naval Academy
Capital Gazette: Veterans Classic visiting teams get taste of Naval Academy life
USA Today: In Navy visit, Michigan State sees students, athletes and more
Video: Spartans Tour US Naval Academy
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Discipline in a military environment can mean the difference between living and dying.
Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo will be grateful if a scintilla of that mentality rubs off on his players, with regard to winning and losing, when they open the season at the Naval Academy in the Veterans Classic in Alumni Hall on Friday night.
Beginning with "Operation Hardwood - Hoops with the Troops," in which Izzo and other collegiate colleagues coached military personnel on bases in Kuwait in 2005 and '06, the Spartans have been at the forefront of honoring veterans through athletics.
In 2011, MSU played North Carolina in the Carrier Classic on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in San Diego Harbor and in '12 they faced Connecticut in the Armed Forces Classic at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The Spartans also visited The Military College of South Carolina, better known as The Citadel, in 2009.
This trip will be a success if Michigan State performs well with three new starters and a revamped supporting cast against an experienced team of Midshipmen.
But, Izzo is looking for an added benefit the Spartans don't get from most road trips.
"I think the opportunity to go to the Naval Academy is one that I've looked forward to for many years and finally that will happen," he said. "We are going out a day early because they are setting this up in a way where we can ... get in a lot of tours and a lot of things that we can do on Thursday.
"I think the biggest thing for us is to see if we can handle now the distractions of that, and still at the same time play an important game."
That's something the Mids, who are coached by Izzo's long-time friend and former Penn State coach Ed DeChellis, do all the time, so the Spartans may be encouraged to take notes.
"Anywhere you're around people that are so structured and disciplined, and then you go to a couple of the events that they're going to have us going to, you maybe have a better appreciation that college life is a little different there than it is at your own institution. I think it's a positive.
"I've always thought (exposure to the military has) been great. We've actually lost more than we've won, but it's for different reasons -- honoring them. I think in all honesty we've done a good job as a sports nation of finding a way where we can give back something to the people that do 10 times more for us than we do for them. Maybe all we're giving back is awareness, and trying to let people know what these people are doing.
"But it's kind of caught fire where everybody's getting involved now, and I'm thankful that we were part of some of the first things that happened in this. It's been great. I'm looking forward to that experience, and I think my players are too."
Senior guard Travis Trice already has an appreciation for what he will see in Annapolis because the first game of his career took place on that aircraft carrier. Plus, his grandfather, Robert Pritchett, and uncle Matt Pritchett, served in the Navy. His uncle, a two-year starting left tackle for the Navy football team (2005 and 2006), will be in attendance Friday night.
"It's kind of sweet because you get to see every aspect," Trice said of the MSU's latest interaction with military life. "My first year, being on an actual ship, you get to see guys that were on duty. Then the second year, being in Germany, and seeing some of the bad end of it, where if you get wounded what will happen.
"And now, getting to see the people about to go into it, kids our age, kids that are still in college. It's going to be a fun experience."
Junior power forward Matt Costello didn't play as a true freshman in Germany due to an injury, but the trip to Ramstein still impacts him today and he expects watching the Mids in action on and off the court will also leave a lasting impression.
"I've got some family members in the military, and when we went over to Germany, just to see the ages of those guys, and they're coming off the front line and they lost an arm or a leg and we're playing video games with them," Costello said. "They grew up in the same era as us. It's not like, `Oh, it's an Army dude.' No, I remember this guy's name, I see his face, I see how he reacts, how his smile is.
"It hits you so deep. Your respect for him and what they do is so much higher when you actually see it and that's why I love playing in these games. It makes me realize what I'm doing is nothing. I'm getting my college paid for because I'm in the entertainment business; they're putting their life on the line. It's not just words, it's real."
The Spartans will see a different side of military life and leadership on Thursday.
"This one's going to be different," Costello said. "We're going to see the daily routine, so it probably won't be as real (for the younger) guys as going over to Germany. But these guys are regimented in every single thing they do every single day and about to (go on active duty). It's still going to have a big impact on the freshmen and sophomores who haven't done the military stuff yet."
