SPARTANS

Izzo: No hard feelings for one-time commit Swanigan

Matt Charboneau
The Detroit News
Caleb Swanigan

East Lansing – Michigan State gets its first look at Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan on Tuesday night, and coach Tom Izzo insists there are no hard feelings between him and the Boilermakers freshman.

Swanigan originally committed to play at Michigan State last summer before backing out and eventually signing with Purdue.

“I look at it like it worked out great for him,” Izzo said. “He’s doing well. But it worked out great for us, too. Who knows who would have played together and who wouldn’t have played together, but (Deyonta Davis has) been phenomenal here, and he’s been good down there. A good deal is when it’s a good deal for both parties. And if it’s been a good deal for him and he’s happy, I know it’s been a good deal for us and we’re happy.

“There will be no, ‘Let’s go beat Purdue because of Biggie.’ We want to beat Purdue because we want to beat Purdue.”

The Spartans (20-4, 7-4 Big Ten) travel to take on the Boilermakers at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the only meeting of the regular season.

Swanigan is averaging 9.8 points and 9.0 rebounds for the Boilermakers (19-5, 7-4) and will likely be spending plenty of time going up against former AAU teammate Davis, a player he likely would have played side-by-side with at Michigan State.

“Everything is cool and everything is good. I pull for him, I really do,” Izzo said. “It doesn’t bother me one bit. So I don’t know how it would have ended up if they would have both been here. But I definitely like where I see our guy going and that’s the one I coach every day.”

mcharboneau@detroitnews.com

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