Hoops HD

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 mother Crystal Flint about her son Tre Holloman playing for Coach Tom Izzo and making the NCAA tourney.

In high school your son Tre played football/basketball: which sport was he best at, and which sport did he enjoy the most? It depends on the season: he loved them both equally. He was in basketball mode when it was basketball season, and he spent the most time playing basketball because you can just go shoot baskets by yourself. Even when football was going on he would still work on basketball. He was the #1 player in both sports as a senior until he got injured during his 3rd/4th week of football practice, so we shut him down because he was already signed to play basketball at Michigan State. He had offers for both sports from several Big 10 schools, including the safeties coach with Michigan State football. Coach Tom Izzo was willing to let him play both sports.

Your family is from Minneapolis, MN: what made him choose Michigan State? The family atmosphere: he really loves the fan base and the “Izzone” and the culture. All the guys who went here before have really embraced him.

Coach Tom Izzo has made 27 consecutive NCAA tournaments, which is the most in men’s college basketball history: what makes him such a great coach? He has created/maintained a great culture for so many years. To be coached by a Hall of Famer who is able to relate to his players is huge. As a coach myself, I know it is more than just X’s and Os’: you have to build that relationship off the court so that thing are okay when it is time for tough love: he cares about you as a person.

He is a junior: does he have a post-graduation plan yet? Not yet. He is taking it game by game/year by year. His goal is to continue to hone his skills and stay on track for graduation. I am proud of him for finding that balance: as a former student-athlete, I know how hard that can be. He tries to keep it all in perspective with NIL/social media: it was not a thing for everyone back in the day!

Last month he scored 9 PTS including a half-court buzzer-beat in a 3-PT win at Maryland (www.youtube.com/watch?v=M45d0CCT3NE): where does that rank among your family’s athletic highlights? No doubt it is #1. I have had some game-winning shots in my life but never a buzzer-beater. In the section finals as a junior he made a buzzer-beater to go to the state tournament. He also made 1 during his COVID year, so he has had some big moments before. My mother and I were at the game: our seats were not great so it was hard to see. Some people have called it then “Holloman Heave”, but if you watch it he was shooting it and even followed through on his shot.

The Spartans won 8 straight games before a 3-PT loss to Wisconsin in the Big 10 tourney semifinals (Tre scored 10 PTS): how devastating was that loss, and how have they been able to turn things around since then? I would not call it “devastating”: it just made them refocus. If they had won that game and cut down the Big 10 tourney nets, I do not know if they would have made it this far. After they lost to Memphis last November they refocused and beat UNC in OT. It was a wake-up call to show them that they were not invincible and needed to bring their A game and make the right decisions.

The team has won at least 1 NCAA tourney game during each of his 3 years in East Lansing: do you keep your March schedule clear because you expect to be traveling with the team every single spring? I am running out of PTO right now…but am glad to work for an organization that understands the importance of a parent being there for your child. I work for a non-profit and they tell me to go be with him. When I was coaching I knew that he had some more games left, so I guess it is kind of an expectation. He has been blessed to have been on teams that excelled in the postseason.

The SEC set a record this month with 14 NCAA tourney bids, but several Big 10 schools made the Sweet 16 (including Maryland/Michigan/Michigan State/Purdue): where do you think the Big 10 ranks among the best conferences in the country? Every conference has its own style of play and has good teams from top to bottom, but in the Elite 8 anyone can beat anyone. It is about matchups and focus and playing together and weathering the storm because basketball is a game of runs: the team that makes the last run wins. The SEC is great…but the Big 10 is up there with anyone in the country.

You played basketball at Minnesota and your son Marquis played college basketball: who is the best athlete in the family? There are different things that each of us do very well, but I “think” the game better than them. Tre has that flash to him and Marquis has a lot of finesse. I shot exactly one 3 in college: I was an undersized guard, but was the top rebounder on my team in the Big 10. We all played to our strengths and I used to beat Tre, but I let the 2 brothers play 1-on-1 now.

Any predictions for tonight’s game vs. Auburn in Atlanta? I am going with Michigan State: I truly believe that when they play together and know their roles and do not deviate from the plan that they can beat anybody in the country. This is the best time for it: they have not had a full game from beginning to end but I think they will make that happen.