DotComp: Tears, guilt and brotherhood - inside Michigan State's last stand, and why it won't be Izzo's

ATLANTA - Tom Izzo didn’t shed any tears - none that we witnessed, anyway - following Michigan State’s 70-64 loss to Auburn in the South Regional Final, Sunday night. Before the pain set in, he caught himself being pleasantly surprised to see how hard his players took the loss. He’s been in some sad locker rooms before, but never one quite like this. And he saw some goodness in it, for now, and - he hopes - for the future.  Almost all of them were broken up: Jaden Akins, Tre Holloman, Carson Cooper, Szymon Zapala, Jaxon Kohler, Jase Richardson all shed tears. And that’s just listing the ones that we saw, openly failing to hold back their emotions in the locker room during post-game interviews. Nothing more can be done to build culture or togetherness for this year’s team. But this was one final demonstration that so much of what Izzo coordinated as  head coach in the past 12 months was superbly successful. And it took the most painful, debilitating loss of the season for those truths to come out. All of the players say the team’s togetherness, connectedness, camaraderie are what enabled the Spartans to achieve far more than anyone expected in November. Izzo has had teams with strong bonds in the past. But this might have been one of his closest, if not his closest.  It’s hard to compete with the 2000 team. Cleaves and Peterson knew each other from their old neighborhood in Flint. Cleaves created an atmosphere of togetherness and dedication that everyone had to follow along with, or they wouldn’t be allowed in the gym.  Their group was so close that Izzo once noticed that the last man on the bench, a little white walk-on, had the guts to play a prank on the gang leader, Cleaves. When Cleaves noticed that the little walk-on, Mat Ishbia, was the mischievous teammate who had hidden some of Cleaves’ belongings, Cleaves let out a gregarious roar of laughter. When Izzo witnessed this, that a walk-on could get away with clowning Cleaves, he knew that team had an extra layer of togetherness, from the top all the way to the bottom. Coaches couldn’t cultivate that. The chemistry of the players had to mix just right. Izzo had no delusions that this year’s team could become as tight as the 2000 squad. Izzo’s goal was to make sure the team didn’t become fragmented and soulless, like so many other aspects of today’s college sports landscape. Izzo made off-season and pre-season activities and communication more of an area of emphasis than ever before. He felt these modern college kids with their phone addictions and social blind spots needed a reset. Izzo doesn’t know anything about social media, other than he hates it. But he had a sense that these young athletes would react well to some simple team-building opportunities, and some open-forum fun. (MORE INSIDE)