The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the parents, fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The Sweet 16/Elite 8 are taking place in 4 cities around the country and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of access in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from Atlanta by chatting with Michigan State basketball father Hedlun Walton about his twin sons Brennan/Colin playing for Coach Tom Izzo and making the NCAA tourney.
You played college basketball: how good a player were you back in the day? My wife Stephanie and I both played at Alma College (D-3): she played for 1 year and I played for 3. I went to a small Catholic high school (about 100 students) but we had some pretty good teams. I was top-3 on the scoring list when I finished…but keep getting pushed down the list by these younger players! Alma College was just about 20 minutes from home for me. I played center in high school and was an undersized power forward at Alma, but was very aggressive and jumped well so that made up for a lot. I think playing college athletics was a good experience for both Stephanie and I…but nothing like what the boys are experiencing now being part of a Power-5 team under a Hall of Fame coach in Tom Izzo. We are thrilled for them to have this experience.
Your family is from Lansing: was it an easy decision for your twin sons Brennan/Colin to choose Michigan State? It is a long story how that came about: you may have already heard it. Just the fact that Coach Izzo reached out was a huge compliment to them. It was a long process, and we knew that it would involve some sacrifices, but yes: once the offer to be preferred walk-ons was made, it was a very easy decision.
Coach Izzo has made 27 consecutive NCAA tournaments, which is the most in men’s college basketball history: what makes him such a great coach? If you listen to how he talks about his program’s success, I think one of the themes that he comes back to is that he believes he has always had great people around him, from athletic directors to assistants coaches and program managers, players, this community, and Spartan fans across the country. He is the tip of the spear, but it takes everyone pulling in the same direction. When you can maintain that at the same place for your whole career, that is when you can achieve that consistent success. Since he has been so loyal to Michigan State, we have not had to experience a new coach coming in and having to rebuild, and he has not had to rebuild somewhere else. It seems to me that consistency in success/leadership go hand in hand.
Your sons are walk-on teammates: how have they enjoyed their experience so far? We think it has been great for them. To be a part of a big-time program like this, especially with the year they are having and the way the team is achieving their success, we really could not ask for much more. They have always played baseball/basketball so sports were a big part of their life. We wondered how they would handle not having all that structured time…but now their time is even more structured than before. It has been challenging both physically/mentally for them, but I think they would say it has been well worth it. The team and the entire program have been great to them. They were always among the best athletes on their teams growing up so it is a new and humbling role to be scout-team redshirt freshmen walk-ons. However, at the same time, they obviously benefit from the status that comes from being on the Michigan State basketball team.
Who is the best athlete in the family? Well, the boys seem to be good at every sport they try. They were good at tennis (just playing for fun), they were outstanding baseball players, and obviously know basketball well. They picked up golf very quickly in the past couple of years and are way better than me already. They are good at cards/board games: anything competitive. There are some things athletically that I could hold over them, but it is kind of apples to oranges. I was a big dunker in my career, but I was playing at 185-190 pounds. They started their senior season in high school at 240 pounds so they were not getting off the ground much, but they just completely bullied opponents so our games were very different. I think it was a real advantage for each of them to not only have a brother growing up, but someone about the same size/skill level so they could challenge each other.
Both of your sons’ bios on the school website list their father as “the person I most admire”: how close is your family? As a dad, that has to be the thing you most hope for: to be honest, it choked me up when I first saw that. You hope you set a good example and teach them right, but you do not always know if you are getting through. I coached or helped a lot of their teams growing up, and they were big on going to the field or the gym for extra work, so we spent a lot of time together. This is our first year as “empty nesters”: our daughter is a sophomore at Oklahoma, so it takes some effort to stay connected now. We try to let the kids have their own experiences and figure things out for themselves, but it is also nice to have some idea what is going on. We have told a lot of people that we find out about our kids’ lives via Instagram more than anything else. Our daughter is very good about doing a video call once a week, but mostly we see the boys at games and when they need to borrow the truck for something (since they do not have a car on campus). It is probably not uncommon for this stage of their development, and they have each other to lean on, so they do not seem to need us as much.
The Spartans won 8 straight games before a 3-PT loss to Wisconsin in the Big 10 tourney semifinals: how devastating was that loss, and how have they been able to turn things around since then? It was disappointing not to win the BIG10 Tournament, but being the regular season champion takes most of that sting away. Wisconsin had a very good team and played well that day. We know how tough those games can be, so you must pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and be thankful that you have the NCAA Tournament to get ready for.
The SEC set a record this month with 14 NCAA tourney bids, but several Big 10 schools are also still alive (including Maryland/Michigan/Purdue): where do you think the Big 10 ranks among the best conferences in the country? You must tip your cap to the SEC, as they have had an amazing year for sure, but I think we can make the case that the BIG10 is right up there on a yearly basis. In contrast, you saw both the ACC/Big East dip a bit this year.
You work as a high school counselor and is also an assistant coach for your school’s boys’ freshmen basketball team: how do you like being a counselor, and how do you like being a coach? I have really enjoyed being a high school counselor. Like anything, it has its challenges/rewards. During COVID I realized how much I missed seeing the students in person. For all the tough things they go through in the world today, I think working with young people shows you the potential for our world, and I have been fortunate to be able to guide them. I coached the boys on our community travel basketball team from grades 3-8 along with a good friend of mine, and helped out some with baseball too. I picked up the freshmen team at Okemos a few years ago when that opened up, and this past year I moved down to an assistant position so I would have some flexibility to work around the MSU games. We had an absolute legend and good friend of mine who was coaching our 8th grade team who unexpectedly passed away a couple weeks into the season, so I finished that season for him and then helped with the 9th grade the rest of the way when I could. Coaching at the 9th and now 8th grade levels, we still try to get everyone a chance to play in each game. For the 9th graders we get each guy at least a couple of minutes in the first half, and then in the second half we go with whoever is playing well, which can change from game to game. I do not look at it as a “participation-trophy” approach, but rather a way to keep everyone engaged. In each game they know they will get onto the court, so I think it makes them practice better. We can do more fun stuff at practice and put guys in different positions. They are all still developing/growing so you are not sure just what you have yet. Once they hit JV, that rotation is so much tighter and the opportunities fewer.
Any predictions for this weekend in Atlanta, and how big a deal would it have been if you had faced Michigan on Sunday for a spot in the Final 4? It is a moot question at this point, but it would have been nice for our conference/state to have an MSU-Michigan Elite 8 game. I guess that will have to wait for another day.
