Michigan State Basketball: Top 10 fan favorite players of Tom Izzo era

One of the earliest fan favorites of the Tom Izzo era and a rare redshirt-user, Morris Peterson won Spartan faithful over quickly, averaging 6.8 points and 3.3 rebounds as a redshirt freshman.

The main reason he was looked up to by Michigan State fans was the fact that he was one of the “Flintstones” which was a nickname given to Spartan players who grew up in Flint, Mich. Antonio Smith got the ball rolling for players from that city attending Michigan State and then “MoPete” followed. Charlie Bell was another major “Flintstone” and he, too, was a favorite.

Peterson had quite the career under Izzo, getting better each season. He followed up a strong redshirt freshman season with 8.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore. His junior year saw him average 13.6 points and 5.7 rebounds as Michigan State made its first Final Four under Izzo and then the magical 1999-2000 season happened.

As a senior in 1999-2000, Peterson averaged 16.8 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting a career-high 43 percent from 3-point range. He drew attention from NBA scouts and Spartan fans rooted hard for him, especially after he found out about the passing of his 72-year-old grandmother moments after beating Iowa State to advance to a second straight Final Four.

Most kids would have been negatively affected, but he used the news as motivation and brought home a national title to East Lansing.