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More from the Flintstones

Here are some extras from men’s basketball reporter Joey Nowak’s interviews for his story about the Flintstones that didn’t make the final cut:

Mateen Cleaves on winning the 2000 National Championship

“The feeling was orgasmic. All the weight in the world was lifted off. It was like I was floating. Tears were coming out of my face, and it just felt so good.

Everything from when I was 18 years old, and coach Izzo was coming to my house until that moment — the good and the bad — was going through my mind. And that’s when the tears started flowing. The best feeling about that was being able to accomplish something like that with the group of guys I was around. We went through so much.

We always overcame everything. The weight of the world was off my shoulders. It felt so good to go through that and share the moment with the team, coaches, managers, Michigan State, Flint; it was the best feeling in the world.

Me and my dad and brothers would always watch all the tournament games, every Final Four, all the National Championship games. And I remember, one day, him asking me, ‘Are you going to be there?’ And I was a kid, but I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to be on there.’ That was my motivation to be the guy representing the last team. I wanted to be the last face on One Shining Moment. That was my dream. I could have died after that game.”

Tom Izzo on canceling practice the day before the 2000 National Championship game

“It’s the day before the Wisconsin game. We always played war drill, and, for some ungodly reason, something went wrong in Indy, and Andre Hutson hurt his knee. I said to myself, ‘God, what an idiot I am.’ And they all said, ‘Nah, it’s what we do.’

So the day after that game, we were going to have two practices, and Mateen knocked on my hotel door and said, ‘Coach, I think we should only have one practice.’ He had never questioned two practices or three practices in his whole life.

I said, ‘Really?’ He said, ‘Guys are a little tired. We got back late last night; trust me. We’ll be ready to play Monday.’ I felt like saying, ‘Want to skip practice completely?’

There wasn’t a thought he was doing it to get out of it. There wasn’t a thought he didn’t have a pulse on the whole team. It wasn’t about him. When it was game time; there’d be agents, girlfriends, parents, buddies in the stands. It had no bearing on what went on the court. That’s hard this day and age to do that.”

Charlie Bell on his reaction meeting Izzo for the first time

“Honest guy. You could really tell the intensity he had, and he wanted to win. At the time, MSU wasn’t really known for basketball. Everything was kind of Michigan and the Fab Five. They had a hold on the whole state, but you could tell coach Izzo wanted to change that. He didn’t sugarcoat anything coming in. If you work hard, you’re going to play. If you’re not, you’re not going to play. You want to play for a program like that.”

Cleaves on his relationship with former point guard and current graduate assistant Travis Walton

“We’ve got a great relationship. We have a big brother-little brother relationship, and, not only that, we talk all the time. Even when he was at State. His passion for the game: I love to see him on that bench because I think he’ll do a really good job. Not a knock on this team, but Travis was really important to that team last year with the defense he played and his leadership. If they’re missing any guy from that team, it’s Travis. They really miss that.”

Cleaves on Izzo’s recruiting

“I think a lot of coaches would just wait for the Friday night game, but coach Izzo wouldn’t wait. He’ll go to the street ball tournament, go to the urban areas and not be scared to sit in the gym. And he looks comfortable. Some of the coaches who do it look so uncomfortable. Coach Izzo looks like a true Flintstone. He just fits in with everybody else. I think that’s what separates him from everybody else.”

Cleaves on the Frances Cleaves Family Center being named for his mother

“It meant the world to me, and I think she really deserved that. We prided ourselves, as a team, on being a family. She prided herself on making the families feel like a family. There were no handshakes; it was always hugs. They really cared about each other. Our parents talked on the phone all the time to each other. It was one of the best feelings I ever had because I just could see her smiling from Heaven and telling everybody else, ‘Look and see my Spartans.’

Even when mom passed, I was so thankful for all the times I had with her because all the stuff I wanted to ask her. I just knew by then what she’d want me to do.”

Izzo on Mrs. Cleaves

“I came out of our first loss with Mateen, and he didn’t play very good because he was hurt. I walked right by (Mrs. Cleaves), and I wasn’t real happy, and she grabbed me and said, ‘Where you goin’?’ I said, ‘Up to my office.’ And she said, ‘You aren’t going anywhere without giving me a hug.’ She stood there for every player and did it — game in, game out.”

Cleaves on naming his son, now 7 months old, Mateen Izzy Cleaves

“A lot of people think I did it just because (Izzo named his son Steven Mateen Izzo). He meant so much to me. I couldn’t name him Frances. It’s just what he did to me in my life. If there’s anybody I would want my son to mold his life after, it’s coach Izzo, and that’s the pressure he has to deal with in his life.

He meant so much to me in my life and the progression from me growing from a boy to a man and everything in between.

It wasn’t even up for question. I can’t name him Tom. That ain’t gonna be cool in the Flint neighborhood. That wouldn’t fly good with his friends.”

Cleaves on his relationship with Alabama running back and Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram

“Our families are real close. Not blood, but really close. I grew up watching his dad and just admiring him. I was an uncle to (Mark) when he was coming up, just like his dad was a big brother to me. Now, with little Mateen — that’s just how we do it around here. He’s going to be a big brother to my son.

I was sitting right there in the second row (at the BCS National Championship game in Pasadena.) It was the best feeling. It was great. I had never been to a national championship game as a spectator. I missed the opportunity to see (former MSU receiver Plaxico Burress) in the Super Bowl. I was supposed to go, but I watched it at home with my family, and here he is catching the game winning catch, and I said, ‘I will not miss another opportunity like this.’

So Mark called me and said, ‘Unk, I got two tickets.’ So me and my wife jumped on a plane and flew right out. It was great. I really enjoyed that.

I always teased him. Even when he won the Heisman, I was like, ‘Congratulations, I’m so proud of you, but when we’re eating dinner, you’re still at the kids’ table until you win that national championship. Now, when you win it, you come sit with Unk and eat steaks and eat the good stuff. You’re eating Happy Meals now.’ He would get a kick out of that, but I could tell it was driving him.

And the first thing he said after he won the national championship was, ‘Unk, can I sit at the table now?’ I said, ‘You can sit at the head of the table now.’”

Cleaves on a possible team reunion

“We’ve got to. That’s a must. All it is is finding a time. I’m sure everybody will find a time. It might be in the fall, but we’ve got to come back and tell the stories. So that would mean a lot, and I hope we can pull that together. Now, you’ve got kids, and guys went on to have careers. So you’ll be saying to your kids, ‘This is A.J. Granger. Remember I was telling you that story? That’s who I was talking about.’”

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