How MSU Beat Michigan For the Biggest Hoops Prize, Magic Johnson

In the mid-1970s, Earvin "Magic" Johnson was one of the nation's highest touted recruits and a hometown hero in Lansing, starring at Everett High School (where this reporter's father attended and witnessed the future NBA Hall of Famer awe fans at just 17 years old).

The story is known; Johnson is arguably still the greatest point guard to ever play the game, his combination of IQ, size and savvy playmaking ability unmatched in the annals of the hardwood.

A true winner that elevated everyone around him, Johnson would lead his hometown Spartans to a national championship. He was the pinnacle of Jud Heathcote's career. At the pro level, he and the Los Angeles Lakers would win five NBA titles.

Johnson is simply the greatest Spartan to not only play basketball, but compete in any sport wearing the green and white. No one has had a bigger impact on the university and the city of East Lansing.

As No. 14 Michigan State prepares to battle arch-nemesis Michigan, ranked No. 12, it might be time to look back on what might be the Spartans' biggest victory over the Maize and Blue -- winning the Magic Johnson Sweepstakes.

It was late in the game of Johnson's recruitment and Michigan was pressing hard. Helped their case that they just made a national championship game (they were thrashed by Bobby Knight's legendary undefeated 1976 squad).

Heathcote assistant Vernon Payne was the one to make the move, per The Detroit News' Lynn Henning.

"Payne bore into a final sales pitch," Henning wrote. "Johnson always had been part of an underdog that triumphed, Payne said, cranking up his 11th-hour campaign. He had done it at Dwight Rich, and then at Everett, which a few weeks earlier had won the state Class A championship. Now it was his turn to be an icon at Michigan State. To honor his Lansing roots. To allow this community, which had helped forge him, a few more years to celebrate an athlete and his skills as he evolved from boy to man. He needn’t worry about Ganakas being gone. Heathcote could coach, Payne assured him. Earvin had seen as much during Heathcote’s first season in East Lansing.

"He needn’t worry about Ganakas being gone. Heathcote could coach, Payne assured him. Earvin had seen as much during Heathcote’s first season in East Lansing. He would be no stranger to MSU’s players. He knew Gregory Kelser and Bob Chapman. He saw what Jud had done with a freshman guard, Terry Donnelly. Don’t go for the glitter, Payne told him. Go for the bedrock your hometown and Michigan State can promise."

The pitch worked. Johnson stayed in East Lansing with Michigan State, and the rest is history.

The Spartans are, objectively, the superior basketball program in the state, just as the Wolverines are on top in football.

Forget the Fab Five -- the Spartans can claim Magic and their own catchy group of hoopers in the "Flintstones" (who actually won a national championship, unlike their much more media-saturated Michigan counterpart), a large host of NBA alumni found success as pros and Tom Izzo, who is the all-time Big Ten wins leader and won't be caught by anyone soon, let alone Maize and Blue.

It all started with Magic.

Michael France is Sports Illustrated's Michigan State recruiting beat writer, covering all things Big Ten recruiting for Spartan Nation. Be sure to follow him on Twitter/X@michaelfrancesi for exclusive Spartans recruiting coverage.

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