Ideal Michigan State basketball starting 5 in the Tom Izzo era

Point guard: Mateen Cleaves

Is there really any other player you could select as the starting point guard? Sure Cassius Winston probably comes to mind here, and he would be a great option, but you have to give the nod to one of the two greatest Spartans of all time.

Mateen Cleaves is Michigan State basketball royalty, right up there with Magic Johnson. Cleaves helped lead Michigan State to the program's second national championship and only title under Tom Izzo. He is a proven winner and leader, and I just couldn't keep him off this list.

The three-time All American and two-time Big Ten player of the year is arguably the best passer in the Izzo era. He ended his career as the Big Ten's leader in career assists, a record that is now held by Cassius Winston, and still holds the single-game assists record at 20. He also finished his career averaging 12.5 points per game, and never had a season averaging less than 10 points a contest.

So even though you could argue Cassius is the better scorer between the two, I still think Mateen is the all-around better player. He can score when needed, but what makes Mateen the best is that he makes every other player on the team better than they really are. So even though you can't go wrong picking Winston (or maybe even Kalin Lucas), in my opinion there is truly no other choice as he is the greatest player of all time in the Izzo era.