Izzone Campout a reminder of what's great about college sports; it's just what MSU needed

EAST LANSING — Lights swirled. A fountain of sparks shot in the air like a miniature fireworks display. And Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo walked across a massive stage.

“Hey!” he screamed. “This is like a countdown!”

In front of him, about 1,400 rain-soaked tents were set up on a field next to Munn Ice Arena on Friday night, and 5,000 soggy students rushed to the stage.

“All you guys in those tents sleeping, get your butts up here!” Izzo screamed. “This thing’s starting. The music is gonna keep playing, so you better get yourself rockin’ and rollin’.”

A massive video board at the back of the stage read: “IZZONE CAMPOUT.”

“It quit raining — it ain’t gonna rain,” Izzo said — or maybe, he ordered Mother Nature.

The students went crazy.

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“As I said earlier, and I’m gonna continue to say: meet somebody new," Izzo said. "I want this to be the most together student body in the history of student bodies. So, meet somebody.”

Izzo looked out at the crowd, at all those students spilling out of their tents and rushing to the stage. “It looks like cattle there are so many people,” Izzo said. “This is awesome man. This. Is. Awesome!”

And that was the pre-show. Before it actually started.

Then, well, what happened was simply wild.

What began as a rain-soaked camping outing — complete with a little pong and spikeball mixed in — turned into a late-night pep rally, which turned into a heavily caffeinated dance party, which turned into rock-n-roll concert with fog machines and spark funnels, which turned into a meet-and-greet with the MSU basketball team, which turned into a cool drone show during a rainstorm, which turned into countless selfies and autographs.

But if you dismiss this as just some silly, annual campout for Breslin Center tickets, you’d be mistaken.

This was an entire student body coming together. This was players hanging out with regular students. This was Izzo at his best.

Getting comfortable out front

Much has been made of the Spartans' loaded roster — the Spartans have two guards, A.J. Hoggard and Tyson Walker, who were named to the preseason All-Big Ten Team by the media, four returning starters and, yes, a wonderfully talented top-five freshman class.

But every basketball team has an evolution. Every player goes through a growing process. And this is how that happens.

As the players were introduced, some of the freshmen looked timid.

Xavier Booker, a 6-foot-11 center from Indianapolis, was introduced first, simply because it went by alphabetical order according to class. Even though Booker was a McDonald’s All-American, a five-star prospect, and the No. 2 center in his class — someone who could play one year and bolt to the NBA — he’s still a freshman. Just a kid. And he looked timid, as his teammates kind of pushed him toward the front of the stage. He raised his arms awkwardly, not quite sure what to do or how to act, as a fountain of sparks shot into the air.

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This is all part of the learning process. Getting comfortable in this kind of crazy, insane moment. Learning from the older players.

But, eventually, these young players will grow up. They will learn to handle this.

By the time the final player was introduced, Walker, a fifth-year senior guard, soaked up every second of it, wearing a hat and dark sunglasses, dancing his way to the front of the stage — his arms raising above his head, grooving to the beat with the slickest of moves — his teammates dancing with him, circling around him. Walker had the entire crowd in the palm of his hand.

When Izzo says, “I love my team, I really do,” this has to be one of the reasons: here was an entire team up on stage, dancing together, laughing and acting silly and genuinely enjoying being together.

When Izzo says, "We're going to stay a blue-collar place," this is what he means. Doesn’t matter if it rains. Doesn’t matter if it’s cold. Doesn’t matter what — you deal with it.

When Izzo says, “Relationships matter to me,” this is what he means. He ordered his players to interact with the students. “Players, get out in the crowd,” Izzo demanded. “You guys take care of yourselves. Spend a little time with them.”

And when Izzo acknowledges why his team is so important to bring this MSU community together, just to give it some good news for a change, it was obvious.

By the end of the night, the four freshmen jumped into the crowd and went crowd surfing, carried away from the stage toward the tent city.

Seriously. Just wild.

“There ain't nobody on any campus in America that has this setting,” Izzo said. “From 11:30 ‘til 4 in the morning, we're gonna take pictures. We're gonna sign stuff. We aren't going to sleep. We don't need any sleep. Don't go to sleep! If it rains, or if it snows, or if it's nice, we don't care because we are Spartan Strong.”

One amazing night

There were so many unbelievably cool moments I lost track.

Like the moment Kevin Irwin II, the master of ceremonies, tried to teach Izzo how to do the "Soulja Boy" dance on stage, and Izzo tried for a few steps and then walked away grinning.

Or the moment Izzo brought his daughter, Raquel Izzo-McDonald, and his infant granddaughter, onto the stage.

“In the year 2041, I'm gonna have an automatic scholarship going to my first granddaughter,” Izzo beamed.

Izzo held little Isabelle in his arms.

“She's not even crying,” Izzo marveled. “Everybody say hello to Isabelle!”

“Hi, Isabelle!” the Izzone replied sweetly.

Or how the students lined up for autographs and selfies, telling the players: “Hey, good luck!”

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Or how Izzo involved other MSU teams, sharing this excitement, bringing MSU women’s basketball coach Robyn Fralick onto the stage: “I’m gonna give a shoutout to Coach Izzo,” she said. “Not only is he a Hall of Fame coach, but he’s the best teammate in the world.” Izzo was standing in the back, with his hands in his pockets, looking embarrassed. “And you guys are the best teammates,” she told the crowd. “We need you at Breslin all year long!”

Or how after the speeches were done, Izzo stayed on the stage, taking selfies with the students in the front row.

Or the moment 200 drones hovered in the night sky, during a rainstorm, making the Final Four logo, and “One Shining Moment” played over the sound system.

“This year, we got one of the best schedules in the country,” Izzo said, although the next cool moment will happen Friday when Michigan State Madness is held at the Breslin Center (doors open at 8 p.m. and admission is free). “I think we got one of the better teams in the country. And we better have the best student body in the country.”

But my favorite moment happened while they were playing Phil Collins’ ‘In the Air Tonight.’ Gehrig Normand, one of those fantastic freshmen who reminds Izzo of Matt McQuaid, walked to the front of the stage. He didn't look the slightest bit intimidated. Didn't act afraid. Didn't look like a freshman. And he performed a drum solo, right along with Collins, with air drums.

Clearly, Normand was feeling comfortable in front of the Izzone, which might just offer a clue on why Izzo likes him so much. Normand walked back to his teammates, grinning widely. They pushed him, bumping into him, like brothers do.

What a wild late night — and early morning — in East Lansing. What a cool event that seemed to bring together everybody.

After all the bad things that have happened at MSU in recent history — from the tragic shooting in February to the embarrassing Mel Tucker situation — this is exactly what this campus needed.

Basketball season can’t come soon enough.

Contact Jeff Seidel at jseidel@freepress.com or follow him @seideljeff.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Izzone Campout was cold, soggy and important for Michigan State