Cleaves told MSU after loss: 'We're so proud of y'all'

The pregame meeting with several MSU basketball greats and the postgame speech from Mateen Cleaves were mentioned after the Spartans' season ended with a Final Four loss to Duke.

They came to life Saturday with "Final Four Confidential" on CBS, a retrospective on the weekend in Indianapolis with behind-the-scenes footage from all four teams. The night before the game at the team hotel, Magic Johnson talked as other former players — including Cleaves, Morris Peterson, Steve Smith, Eric Snow, Chris Hill, Tim Bograkos, Matt Steigenga and Daimon Bethea — stood with him.

"Everybody up here wrote their own history," Johnson said. "It's your turn tomorrow. I kicked it off, but then they carried it on, and they wrote their own history within this university. We're all here to see you. We're all here to support you."

Coach Tom Izzo then took the floor, the former players behind him and his current team in front of him.

"I don't have a job if it's not for the guys behind me," Izzo said. "But you keep the job because of the guys in front of you. This is a corny night before the game for some people. But for me, the appreciation that I have for the people in this room is why I stayed, is why I'm here. And every one of you that pisses me off every day, I jump down your throat … when you leave here you will not be forgotten until the day I'm dead. That's what a family does. This is your opportunity, this is your footprint. It's called living your dream."

The cameras also caught MSU's locker room right after the 81-61 loss to Duke, with Cleaves saying a few words.

"Wipe them tears away," he said. "This was a hell of a year. Tough game. Lost to a good team. Sometimes you tip your hat. But trust me, we're so proud of y'all." And I'm speaking for Magic, I'm speaking for Steve, I'm speaking for all the Spartans that came before you."

Cleaves reminded the seniors of how few people can say they played in a Final Four.

"And young bucks, learn from this," he said. "You should be back next year. But I don't want nobody walking out of here holding their head down. Because the people that really care, that it means something to, we're proud of y'all."

Contact Joe Rexrode: jrexrode@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @joerexrode. Check out his MSU blog at freep.com/heyjoe.