Role players raise games for Spartans
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Kenny Goins walked on at Michigan State, turning down scholarship offers from Mid-american Conference schools.
Matt Mcquaid signed with the Spartans, changing his mind after committing to play for Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown at SMU. For both players, and coach Tom Izzo, it worked out well.
The Big Ten champions are seeded second in the NCAA Tournament in part because both have gone from being role players to standouts.
“I don’t think a lot of people believed in me, even in my personal life, but that’s the reason I came here,” Goins said Monday. “I was pretty much betting on myself. I made it big, I guess. Hit the jackpot you could say.”
Goins and Mcquaid may have to do a little more than usual Thursday against 15th-seeded Bradley and possibly beyond because junior forward Kyle Ahrens is not expected to play again this postseason. Goins, who primarily plays power forward, could potentially be used at small forward to make up for the absence. Ahrens injured his left ankle during the Big Ten tournament final against Michigan.
The Spartans closed the season with 10 wins in 11 games, leaning on Big Ten Player of the Year Cassius Winston along with their two seniors that earned honorable-mention recognition in the conference.
Mcquaid scored a careerhigh 27 points and made a personal-best seven 3-pointers in a 65-60 win against the rival Wolverines on Sunday, just over a week after Goins had nine points and 16 rebounds in a victory against them to earn a share of the regular-season title.
The 6-foot-5 Mcquaid is averaging nearly 10 points a game, shooting 43.3 percent on 3s and is on the all-big Ten defensive team.
“Matt Mcquaid has been a great guy, a great teammate and a guy who has changed and became a defensive player,” Izzo said. “And his offense has gotten stronger each and every year. He’s finally healthy for the last year-and-a-half, and because of that he’s improving as a shooter.”
The 6-foot-7 Goins is averaging a team-high 8.9 rebounds a game and 8.3 points, trailing just Winston and Mcquaid in 3s made, and scored a career-high 24 points late in the regular season against Nebraska. In his second season with the Spartans, Izzo gave the unsung player from Troy, Michigan, a scholarship.
Mcquaid rebounded from a disappointment when he wasn’t initially invited to Lebron James’ camp for prospects entering his senior season at Duncanville High School in Texas.
Mcquaid responded by spending countless hours working on his game.
The shooting guard was ready to go when he got a call a few days before the camp, giving him a chance to play with future Villanova star and NBA player Jalen Brunson.
“Matt had the best three days of his life with Brunson feeding him passes,” his father, Rob Mcquaid, recalled. “Izzo was watching because he was recruiting Brunson and he told Larry Brown, ‘You got a good one.’”
After the camp, Matt Mcquaid decided to open up his recruitment again.
“The first call I got was from Izzo,” Rob Mcquaid said. “When Izzo found out I was from Midland, Michigan, he said, ‘I knew it was meant to be.’”