Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast: EXCLUSIVE With 2000 National Champion Steve Cherry

Feb. 8, 2025 was a day that will go down in Michigan State men's basketball history as one of the more memorable.

Coach Tom Izzo's 2000 national title squad was in attendance for the current Spartans team's come-from-behind home victory over Oregon, a win which tied Izzo with legendary coach Bob Knight for most wins in conference history by a Big Ten head coach.

With his father, Jason Richardson, watching alongside his national championship teammates, freshman guard Jase Richardson led Michigan State with a career-high 29 points in what was the first start of his Spartan career.

On this episode of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast, Aidan Champion is joined by one of the members of that 2000 title team, former Spartan forward Steve Cherry, who was at the Breslin Center for Saturday's special win and the 2000 team's reunion.

You can watch below:

Cherry was a walk-on who played three seasons at Michigan State, seeing action in 40 games for the Spartans, including some of the most memorable wins from that 2000 season.

Cherry made the 3-pointer in the Spartans' 114-63 trouncing of Michigan on March 4, 2000 that would earn Spartan legend Mateen Cleaves the Big Ten record for most assists in a game (19). Cleaves would ultimately finish with 20 on the day.

Cherry was also on the floor for the final seconds of the national championship game against Florida.

Coach Izzo's Spartans will have the chance to earn him his 354th Big Ten win, which would, of course, pass Knight for the longstanding record, when they host Indiana on Tuesday.

Izzo discussed the record and more when he addressed the media on Monday:

Below is a transcript from Izzo's opening statement:

Izzo: "Well, I had said earlier that Saturday was a special day for a lot of us, and had that championship team over at my house late that night, and it was just fun to reminisce. It was fun to realize some guys that really appreciated a lot of things. So, I enjoyed that. The reunion went well and, of course, the fans were great. But now, it's getting ready for Indiana. And another concern, I mean, with Mike [Woodson] and all that's going on, it's obvious that there's a lot of news, but it doesn't change that this is -- and it was said to be the team with Oregon picked to win it -- they were a very talented team. The talent has not changed. They have struggled as of late, but every loss seems to be a close loss, especially Maryland, Purdue and Michigan lately. They're huge up front now, with [Oumar] Ballo, and one other thing that's different is [Malik] Reneau, who killed us last year, has been out with a knee injury, and he's played, I think, three, four games, but he's definitely played his last two, have been his best games. And both of them are scoring in double figures. [Mackenzie] Mgbako is still the guy. He's averaging 18 and six. So, as a big, big 6-8, 6-9 wing, that creates problems for us. And they do have experienced guards. [Trey] Galloway’s 6-5. He's big. [James] Goodis’ 6-7, and he's shooting the daylights out of it. And Myles Rice, who was really good early, has been a little more up and down, but that is a talented eight, nine guys right there that we're going to have to contend with. As far as our illnesses, we seem to be improved. Jaden [Akins], I'm hoping, can go today. Did not yesterday, but we did not do much yesterday, other than walk-throughs, film sessions and getting some shots up. So, quick turnaround, but ready to go.”

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