EAST LANSING – Michigan State men’s basketball will be heading up to head coach Tom Izzo’s alma mater, Northern Michigan, on Oct. 13 for the first exhibition of the 2024-25 season to officially start Izzo’s 30th season.
The matchup between the Spartans and the Wildcats is more than just a basketball game. Izzo’s jersey will be retired and his former high school basketball coach, Greg LeDuc is an honorary coach for the exhibition. It was announced on Oct. 8 that LeDuc would be Izzo’s honorary coach.
“I’ve been fortunate in my life to have so many people who helped to guide me and shape me into the person and coach I became,” Izzo said on Oct. 8 in a statement. “Gordy LeDuc was one of the great basketball influences I’ve had and I still carry lessons he taught me many years ago.”
LeDuc coached Izzo at Iron Mountain High School in the Upper Peninsula. Under LeDuc, Izzo and the 1972 Mountaineers made the program’s first Upper Peninsula regional finals appearance since 1961. LeDuc’s coaching career lasted for 27 years at six different high schools, finishing with a career record of 379-208 with a winning record at each school.
“I could not think of a better way to honor Gordy and not only what he meant to me, but to my teammates at Iron Mountain and all of the other kids he coached in a Hall of Fame career, than to have him on the bench with me for a game at Northern Michigan,” Izzo said on Oct. 8 in a statement.
Izzo will have LeDuc by his side for the NMU exhibition as well as for when his jersey, #10, is retired. His jersey retirement was announced at MSU Madness on Oct. 4 in a surprise video from Izzo’s long-time friend, former football coach and NFL Network football commentator and analyst, Steve Mariucci.
Scouting Northern Michigan
The last time the Spartans and the Wildcats went head-to-head at NMU was in 1975 at Jenison Field House. Izzo was in the Wildcat’s starting lineup in this matchup where he played 26 minutes with a team-high of 6 assists and grabbed five boards. MSU topped NMU 91-59.
The Wildcats finished 22-11 for the 2023-24 season and locked back-to-back NCAA Division II Tournament appearances. Last season marked one of the two best seasons in program history for NMU and it went on to win the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) regular season title for the first time since 1993.
Redshirt junior forward Dylan Kuehl has been a key piece for the Wildcats. Last season, Kuehl averaged 15.8 points per game with a .497 shooting percentage, along with 5.9 rebounds per game and recorded 31 total blocks.
NMU’s backcourt will have a new look by adding four new guards from the transfer portal this off-season: graduate guard Julien Smith from Missouri S&T, senior guard Derek Merwick from Midland College, senior guard Biggie Luster from Clarke University and senior guard Gerald Gittens Jr. from the University of Mary. Merwick averaged 21 points per game at Midland, leading the transfer guard class coming into this season.
The Spartans and the Wildcats are set with a 1 p.m. tip-off at the Superior Dome on Oct. 13.
