Miles Bridges’ return has MSU teammates fired up
East Lansing — As Miles Bridges sat in front of the Sparty statue on Thursday night and told a crowd of Michigan State fans he was returning for his sophomore season, there were plenty of cheers and smiles to go around.
But while the fans were ecstatic, those standing behind Bridges might have been the happiest. Those folks included Bridges’ teammates, from classmates Cassius Winston, Nick Ward and Joshua Langford to senior-to-be Tum Tum Nairn and even Eron Harris, who has played his last college game.
They understood, better than anyone, what Bridges’ decision meant for them.
Ward put it simply when asked what the rest of teams in the Big Ten and around the country were thinking.
“Damn,” he said, shaking his head then laughing.
In one moment, Michigan State went from a solid team to one that will likely be picked by many to not only win the Big Ten but to deliver Michigan State coach Tom Izzo his second national championship.
It’s easy to see why when looking at Michigan State’s roster for next season. Bridges was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and averaged 16.9 points and 8.3 rebounds a game playing out of position. He’ll now be able to move back to the wing as a team that was small in 2016-17 will be anything but moving forward.
The 6-foot-8 Ward established himself as a budding star in the post, but he’ll have help next season. Gavin Schilling will be back after missing all of last season with a knee injury while Michigan State’s top recruits are 6-10 Jaren Jackson Jr. and 6-8 Xavier Tillman.
“It’s gonna be scary,” Ward said. “We’ll be a big team. We were undersized this year due to injuries, but I feel like we will be a big team next year and we’re gonna hurt some teams.”
While the optimism was high on Thursday surrounding what’s to come, there’s also the reality that expectations will be much higher this time around.
It’s something Izzo is aware of but not running from.
“Let’s face it, now there will be a ton of expectations, and in a way deservedly so,” Izzo said. “But I can think of teams this year that were ranked No. 1 in the country that didn’t get out of the first weekend (of the NCAA Tournament). … The best and most talented teams don’t always win.
“It’s gonna be interesting to see with how hard our guys have worked in the last couple of weeks. We’ll see if that continues now because this is a special group of kids.”
How special has been clear all season, from how they rallied around Bridges when he missed seven games with a foot injury early in the season to how shaken they were at the loss of Harris to a knee injury late in the year.
It was on display again Thursday as the entire team was on hand. All of them credited Bridges as a friend and teammate before talking about what his return will mean on the court.
“Man, Miles is a special kid,” said Nairn, who will be a senior next season. “He never really talked about it during the year. He wanted to focus on winning. It’s a tough decision knowing where he could have ended up, but he’s a special kid and like coach said, he’s a blue-collar superstar. I’m just so proud of him.”
Added Langford, “I think this just speaks volumes about this program.”
It’s one Bridges wasn’t ready to leave, and it was because of the bond with his teammates — the ones who stood with him on Thursday — that he’ll be back to take another run at a championship with them.
“They are one of the main reasons, because I know we’re gonna have a great team,” Bridges said. “I know they want to win, too, so we all have got the same goals.”
mcharboneau@detroitnews.com
Twitter.com: @mattcharboneau.