Mateen Cleaves, Flintstones played major role in Michigan State-Michigan rivalry

It’s impossible to talk about the recent history of Michigan State hoops without talking about Flint, so the fact that FanHouse recently put together a Flint-heavy list of Michigan State greats in a look at the Michigan-Michigan State rivalry is no surprise. Here was their take on the contributions of Flint’s greats

Mateen Cleaves: “The Michigan State icon cemented his legacy with a gutty performance in his swan song: the 2000 national championship. He won MOP on a bum ankle. Cleaves is MSU’s only three-time All-American and he also took him Big Ten Player of the Year twice. He’s the Spartans all-time leader in steals and the Big Ten career leader in assists.”

Antonio Smith: “Not a scorer, but he’s here for the awesome rebounding presence he was (9.1 per game over the course of his career).”

Morris Peterson: “The All-American was also the Big Ten Player of the Year in 2000, averaging 16.8 points and six rebounds a game.”

Charlie Bell: “One of our two defensive stoppers, oh and he can score, too.”

I might nitpick and say that I may have went with Kelvin Torbert as my defensive stopper over Travis Walton (Torbert was tougher and a better offensive player to boot), but overall, not a bad list.

— Patrick Hayes