EAST LANSING — If you think that Michigan State’s Oct. 2 exhibition against Incarnate Word is a little bit early for college basketball, Tom Izzo is with you. But as the NCAA allowed a third exhibition game, he and his staff had to get a little bit creative with the scheduling.
Friday’s exhibition ties into the annual Izzone Campout, where students pitch tents on Munn Field across from Breslin Center. Those attendees will get tickets to the exhibition, alongside season-ticket holders. There will be no general admission.
“It’s a little strange what we’re doing because we’re so early, but we kind of had to be just because of the way everything went,” Izzo said Sept. 30. “We have different obligations here now with volleyball being in here, so getting three exhibition games was hard.”
As far as basketball goes, expect this game to be as exhibition-like as can be given that it will be played a whole month before the games that count. Cam Ward (ankle) will not play as a precaution, though Izzo says he could if this were the real deal. A mix of returners and freshmen will play, the latter being analyzed in their first minutes of college ball. It will be set up like a traditional game, though coaches reserve the right to change things up if they need to.
Incarnate Word, located in San Antonio, got on the schedule because of availability and familiarity, and partly because Izzo — who got his start at Northern Michigan — still likes to get Division II guys on the schedule when he can. Incarnate Word coach Shane Heirman was the coach of former MSU star Jaren Jackson Jr. at La Lumiere in Indiana, and assistant coach Dave Wojcik is the brother of MSU associate head coach Doug Wojcik.
“We don’t know too much about them,” admitted forward Jesse McCulloch, whose strong summer workouts earned him a starting job Friday. “We’re learning more about them each and every day. … It’s hard when there’s no film. Out of 14 guys, they got 13 new ones, so we don’t really know the personnel too much.”
Michigan State is also swapping its annual Midnight Madness for an autograph session, a change to what is usually a memorable night. Last fall, Izzo burst out of a giant drum to meet the crowd and also brought Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell onto the hardwood (his daughter is an MSU student). Other entrance antics over the years include dressing up like the band KISS, wearing super hero costumes as Iron Man and the Hulk, as well as driving a race car out onto the court.
The autograph session will take place Saturday, Oct. 10, at Munn Field where men’s and women’s players will meet with fans ahead of football’s homecoming game against Illinois.
“One of the things I miss most, and we still might have a green-and-white game or something, because I want the community to be involved with our players,” Izzo said. “I want the little kids to get a chance to spend time with our guys, and we’re getting everything so corporate now that we’re missing the boat on the people that really matter and will be the future.”
Izzo remembers when the Harlem Globetrotters played at the Armory in Iron Mountain when he was about 5 years old.
“That was a big deal back then,” he smiled. “The real ones, you know. And I remember going to that with my dad.”
Part of Izzo’s ethos is to give the fans something entertaining — memory-making moments is his usual refrain. This team is built like one that could do that on the court deep into March and April. But it still bugs him a bit that October looks a little different this year.
“I’d like everybody to just get in, in a perfect world,” Izzo said. “And maybe that part will change, because again I just think it’s so important to keep our community. You know, there’s so many things that happen right now. And we’ve got to do stuff for the true fans — the yous of the world, the mes of the world.”
@ConnorEaregood
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: MSU exhibition against Incarnate Word throws wrench in usual schedule