WATCH: Michigan State's Szymon Zapala Speaks After Loss to Auburn
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ATLANTA, Ga. -- Michigan State senior center Szymon Zapala's brief time in East Lansing has ended, but fortunately for him, he was able to see the floor for his final game after sitting out in the Spartans' Sweet 16 win over Ole Miss on Friday.
Zapala started 36 of the Spartans' 37 games this season and proved to be the piece the team needed at the center position when Tom Izzo acquired him in the portal.
After five seasons, Zapala's collegiate career comes to an end, but he will be forever grateful for the memories he made in his lone season as a Spartan.
He addressed the media after his team's loss to Auburn on Sunday. You can watch below:
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo spoke to reporters from the podium. Below is a transcript of his opening statement:
Izzo: “For the 30th year, I'm not sure I've ever been prouder of a team. There's so much coach-speak and things that go on in programs all over, but these guys gave me everything they had. I drained them of everything.
“They should take a week off. There's nothing left in them. That's kind of the way it was in the locker room. It was a tear-jerking locker room because they knew they spilled it all, and yet we thought we started out poorly, which we've had that little bit of a problem lately.
"We just couldn't recover from that 17-0 run. It wasn't through lack of effort. It wasn't through lack of anything except we played a good team.
“[Johni] Broome hurt us early. We made some adjustments, did a little better job on him after he hit those first, I think, 6 or 8 points. I thought we missed some good shots in there, but maybe some of it was their defense too.
“All in all, you don't get defined -- unfortunately, your last game wears with you. I'm asking these guys that, if it does, make sure that you do something about it in your life. For Jaden [Akins], he's not done playing basketball either.
“All in all, the most unbelievable year I've had, the most connected year I've had. I just appreciate what these guys did for myself, our program, our university, and our community.”
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