Michigan State Basketball: 5 takeaways from first exhibition win

Feb 26, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; Michigan State Spartans guard Denzel Valentine (45) brings the ball up court against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during the 2nd half of a game at Jack Breslin Student Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

1. Denzel Valentine is Draymond Green

This is probably the most obvious of the statements on this list. We learned that Denzel Valentine is the second coming of Draymond Green. As we all know, Green was an in-state three-star prospect who happened to out-play his star-rating and become the Spartans’ star player and leader by his senior season, then playing himself into a draft pick.

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Valentine is on the same type of path as he was underrated as a recruit and has seen his production, and leadership, rise gradually over his first three years and now that this is his team, he’s ready to really take the next step and become a superstar.

Green was also the king of the triple-doubles at Michigan State as he could do it all from score to pass to rebound — and Valentine is the same way.

During just a regular exhibition game, Valentine didn’t do anything special and still put up a triple-double on the way to a blowout victory over Northern Michigan. He scored 14 points, dished 10 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds on his way to another Valentine-like night.

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It’s scary how parallel Valentine’s and Green’s careers are up to this point. Let’s see if Denzel can do what Draymond has done and make an impact on the NBA and earn a monster contract after helping his team to a title.

For now, Valentine will have to settle for an NCAA title until he’s drafted.