Tom Izzo recalls Tyson Walker's journey to the Sweet 16

When college basketball hits the Sweet 16 stage it becomes all about the lights and the show. Fancy regional site matchups and the allure of a spot in the Final Four not far off in the distance.

It can be distracting for some. Don’t count on it being distracting for Michigan State star Tyson Walker. He’s too wired into the right things for that.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo saw that very early on in the recruiting process.

“He played for a very good coach, and that was one of the things,” Izzo said. “Then when we got to know him and his family, he’s a hell of a kid, he’s a good student, he does things the right way. He hangs his hat on his defense. It’s almost un-American and illegal now, but he does it and he’s proud of it. You’ve just got to love a kid like that.”

On top of his defense, Walker is a pretty good scorer, too. He leads Michigan State in scoring at 14.8 points per game and he’s coming off a 23-point showing in the win over Marquette in the Round of 32.

Layer in the extra motivation Walker should get from where the Sweet 16 is being played and Kansas State better watch out.

Tyson Walker hails from Westbury in New York, so he grew up dreaming about playing in Madison Square Garden, hoping to one day get his opportunity. It’s exactly what he’s been waiting for.

“He works. I think he’s hungry, too,” Izzo said. “I think some guys that are at this level all the time are transferring from this level, there’s too much entitlement. He’s not entitled. I absolutely love that about him. He wasn’t entitled at all, and if you could have heard his speech after the Duke game, it was kind of about that.”

What Tyson Walker preached after the Duke game was the opportunity in front of the Spartans.

Sure there’s the dream of surviving and advancing, playing one more game in the NCAA Tournament with the ultimate goal being a national championship.

But the more you win, too, the bigger the stage get. And Walker is ready for the big stage, as he told his teammates.

“It was, I dreamed of playing in places like this, in games like this against the competition,” Izzo said. “So he wasn’t going to miss out on that opportunity.”

Kansas State and Michigan State are set to square off on Thursday in a game that tips off at 6:30 p.m. ET on TBS.