Former Spartans Tom Izzo Considers to be Underrated

Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo has had many players come through his program who have been overlooked.

The Michigan State men's basketball program has produced some great players over the years. Spartans coach Tom Izzo's program has not traditionally been a one-man show, however, which makes it easy for these players to be overlooked by those who are not avid followers of the team.

Izzo discussed who some of those alums have been when he recently joined the "Pardon My Take" podcast.

"[Mateen] Cleaves was the best I had," Izzo said, "I mean, because he -- Earvin Magic [Johnson] said this: 'Great players play great, but elite players make other players play great.' And that is the true mark of an elite player to me -- who can make other people around him better than they actually are.

"Cleaves was phenomenal at that, he was very good at that. I mean, Draymond, when he was here, did some of that. I had a kid named [Denzel] Valentine who was pretty good at that.

"Believe it or not, in a whole different way, a whole different guy -- Cassisus Winston. I mean, he wouldn't even take a shot for a half, he would just be making everybody else better. And then, I would say, 'All right, OK, can we win the game now? Can you make some shots?'

"He did that at a very high level and yet wasn't the gifted athlete, he wasn't 6-5. Maybe underappreciated.

"And then, even a guy like Jason Richardson, believe it or not, who had this gifted athleticism and that. He was a very humble and very caring guy that -- I mean, he didn't start his freshman year. And that's like un-American not to start a guy that was that good, but it was because of the team we had.

"And Zach Randolph went through the same thing. And everybody said this and that about Zach; I absolutely loved having Zach. I mean, he was really good and a really good teammate, and that's maybe, guys, what we don't judge people on enough -- how hard they play, what they do to make others better and what kind of teammate are they.

"I would promise you -- and I don't know, I'm not with the organization -- but I'm betting that Draymond's an incredible teammate.

"You know who's an incredible teammate that's making a name for himself? Jaren Jackson. Just an incredible teammate and a good guy and a very good player."

You can watch Izzo's full segment from the episode here.

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