For the first time since he left Michigan State basketball to be the head coach of Western Michigan, Dwayne Stephens will be back at the Breslin Center as the opposition.
Tom Izzo will do battle with his former assistant and good friend on Monday afternoon as Stephens and the Broncos come to East Lansing to close out non-conference play. This will be Stephens' opportunity to give the Spartans a heck of a fight much like Tum Tum Nairn and Bowling Green did earlier this season.
Stephens could use some good fortune after a tough start to his third season in Kalamazoo. His Broncos are just 3-8 on the year and are coming off a heartbreaking loss to Valparaiso on Dec. 20 when they hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to come back and beat Western Michigan.
It's safe to say a win here for Western Michigan could go a long way.
While I wouldn't count on that as Michigan State is the toughest team the Broncos will likely face all year and they haven't played a ranked team yet and are still just 3-8, I do think that this will be a fun storyline to follow for Izzo and his former assistant coach.
I'm not sure it's ever happened before (without fact-checking, I'll say it probably hasn't), but facing two former Izzo assistants in the same non-conference slate has been fun to watch.
Tum Tum's Falcons of Bowling Green nearly pulled off the upset back in November and Stephens is hoping for the same luck.
Hopefully the game isn't close on Monday, but it'll be nice to see Stephens back in East Lansing.