The Behrend Beacon
Season of ups, downs leads Spartans to Sweet 16
by Joe Schad
The Orlando Sentinel
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo prefers not to
make excuses. So when his team began this season
14-11 and the criticism began to pour in, he asked
his players to remain calm and confident.
And why not?
Izzo has been to three Final Fours. Now, after a
weekend in Tampa that included routs of Colorado
and Florida, Izzo and Michigan State are in the Sweet
Basketball-playing twins face
challenges: war, NCAA tournament
by Sarah Hoye
Capital News Service
March Madness has taken on a whole new mean
ing for the Moore family twins.
Last week, while one was suiting up to play bas
ketball for Butler University in the NCAA tourna
ment, the other was donning a U.S. Naval Acad
emy uniform prepping for war.
As the United States launched its "shock and awe"
campaign against the Iraqis, and the tournament got
under way, the Moore family's emotions swung from
worry and concern for Mitch and his future deploy
ment, to heart-pounding excitement for Mike and
his team's surprising wins that brought the Bulldogs
to the Sweet 16, where they'll take on University of
Oklahoma tonight.
The 23-year-old identical twins from Fairborn,
Ohio, spent their first 18 years together, a lot of it
on the basketball court. But now, college seniors
far apart, they were never more in each other's
thoughts.
Mike was uneasy knowing that Mitch could soon
be off to war, and got in touch quickly when the
conflict began.
"I was worried and I questioned him about that
but he'll have at least six months of training in
Quantico," a Marine base in Virginia, he said.
"What concerns me is his interest in embassy duty.
That is scary. He could be easily overrun. And he
would be a prime target with no one watching his
back," he said.
The earliest Mitch could be deployed is January
004. He said he feels an "excited anxiousness."
11hirik gietzi!s apprehension because we know our
ita*Attivey,!' hliteksidd. "And we are
getting anxious to do our part." • • A ,
Mitch will graduate as a second lieutenant in the
Marine Corps in a class of about 1,000 on May 23.
"This is something that I knew could happen ...
and that's why I'm here," he said. "I'm actually look-
ing forward to it. We sat here, we've watched the
military for years, and now we want our turn."
Mitch has wanted to serve his country since sev
enth grade, when he asked a teacher what colleges
besides Harvard or Yale which he couldn't afford
were difficult to get into.
"She told me about the Naval Academy. I did some
research and just decided that I'd come here. And
then here I was," he said.
"This was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. It's
one of the top educations in the nation and is con
sistently ranked as the hardest to get into," he said,
laughing about how he sounded like a talking bro-
Chure.
"I've always been drawn to the military. I grew
tip with it. I realized that the military was some
thing I wanted to be a part of."
The Moores were raised near Wright Patterson
Air Force Base outside Dayton, Ohio. The boys'
grandfather was in the Korean War. They had great
itincles that flew planes for the Air Force.
Their father, Rick Moore, a civilian engineer at
?he base, is still a bit baffled at where his son's mill
:tary interest came from.
"Hopefully, Mitch wouldn't have to go over there.
I'm glad in a way that we are going there now, than
?a year from now," said their father. "But there are a
;lot of problems that will still need to be resolved, so
e could see some action."
Knowing that there's some lag time between his
;Moore,
and full-time active duty, his mother, Lisa
;Moore, was slightly more at ease.
"We weren't tremendously worried; we're really
oust proud of him, and he is in our prayers," she
)said. "But I know some of his shipmates will be in
charm's way," she said. "We don't ask questions."
Even Mike has been bitten by the military bug.
fHe is considering the Reserves or National Guard.
While Mitch's basketball career is over he was a
starting center for the Navy Midshipmen Mike's
is at its most exciting point.
Butler squeaked by Mississippi State 47-46 in the
•
`first round of the NCAA tournament in Birming
t ham, Ala.
Rick and Lisa Moore rushed home from the game
to get their daughter, Melissa "Missy", 20, to the
tairport so she could get back to Cottey College in
Nevada, Mo.
They made it just in time to catch the end of
.Butler's second-round upset over the University of
`Louisville, 79-71.
- Their mother nervously paced the house.
• "It was so exciting. And it seemed that whenever
'I was out of the room they played better," she said
in amusement.
t It was not just exciting, but historical the last
time Butler made it to the Sweet 16 was in 1962.
Because the game was not broadcast in Annapo
..Nis, Mitch received a personalized play-by-play.
- .
"I got a call every 10 minutes from my sister and
16 for the fifth time in six seasons. The seventh
seeded Spartans meet sixth-seeded Maryland tonight
in San Antonio in a South Regional semifinal.
"Part of me still can't believe what we just did,"
Izzo said.
Michigan State began the season ranked No. 9,
but finished 18-11 in the regular season and was
knocked out by Ohio State in the Big Ten Tourna
ment semifinals.
"People have asked or are wondering, 'What's so
different about our team now?" Izzo said. "Well,
grandmother," he said. "I was ecstatic. I can't
believe they've gotten this far."
Mike sat out his first season at Butler and
suffered an ankle injury at the start of his fi
nal season. He's played 64 games since be
coming a Bulldog.
"He doesn't see much time, and I'm sure
it's frustrating, but he has had some good times
with it," their father said. "We've had a lot of
excitement over the last couple of years."
Mitch and Mike always attended the same
schools. They played on the same sports
teams. They even got their driver's license on
the same day. But when it came time to enroll
in college, they chose to go their separate
ways.
"This is the first time we have been away
from each other and we handled it differently,"
Mitch said. "I saw it as a chance to grow on
my own."
But some things never change.
"I'm five minutes older and he's two inches
taller," Mitch said.
"No, no, he's five minutes older and I'm one
inch taller," Mike retorted. "And I'm the bet
ter looking one."
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I've been trying to tell people all year that our inju
ries have really hurt our chemistry and the develop
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"It sounds like an excuse, so people don't want to
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Still, the reality is Michigan State (21-12) will have
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deficiencies.
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through two tournament games, they're still not a
top-flight shooting team, instead relying on rebound
ing and defense. Although sophomore Alan Ander
son has been solid at point guard lately, it's not his
natural position. And, overall, the Spartans are an
inexperienced group because of the early departures
of former prep All-Americans Zach Randolph, Ja
son Richardson and Marcus Taylor.
"I'm trying to get this team its own identity," Izzo
said. "I've talked, and we've lived, so much in the
past. Sometimes that's good and sometimes it's not."
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