1974–75 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team

1974–75 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
1974–75 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	17–9 (10–8 Big Ten)
Head coach	Gus Ganakas (6th season);
Assistant coaches	Dick Versace; Pat Miller; Vernon Payne;
Captain	Lindsay Hairston
Home arena	Jenison Fieldhouse
	Seasons ← 1973–74 1975–76 →

1974–75 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Indiana	18	–	0	1.000	31	–	1	.969
No. 19 Michigan	12	–	6	.667	19	–	8	.704
Minnesota	11	–	7	.611	18	–	8	.692
Purdue	11	–	7	.611	17	–	11	.607
Michigan State	10	–	8	.556	17	–	9	.654
Ohio State	8	–	10	.444	14	–	14	.500
Iowa	7	–	11	.389	10	–	16	.385
Wisconsin	5	–	13	.278	8	–	18	.308
Illinois	4	–	14	.222	8	–	18	.308
Northwestern	4	–	14	.222	6	–	20	.231

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1974–75 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1974–75 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as members of the Big Ten Conference. They played their home games at Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, Michigan and were coached by Gus Ganakas in his sixth year as head coach of the Spartans. MSU finished the season 17–9, 10–8 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place.

Previous season

The Spartans finished the 1973–74 season 13–11, 8–6 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fourth place.

Player walk-out

The season stands as one of the ugliest moments in MSU athletics history as 10 players, led by captain Lindsay Hairston, followed by Bob Chapman, Pete Davis, Terry Furlow, Bill Glover, Thomas McGill, Cedric Milton, Lovelle Rivers, Benny White and Edgar Wilson, walked out of a team meeting before their game against Indiana on January 4, 1975.^[1] At the time, it was assumed that the players were objecting to the fact that freshman Jeff Tropf, who was white, was starting over more experienced black players.^[2] Later, more complaints came to light including the arena being too cold during practice due to construction and the school's lack of emphasis on basketball.^[1] When the players returned an hour before game time, head coach Gus Ganakas suspended the players.^[2]

As a result, the team fielded junior varsity players and Tropf for the game against Indiana and were blown out 107–55.^[3] The next day, the suspended players aired their grievances with Ganakas, apologized, and were reinstated to the team. Tropf left the school after the season.^[1]

Roster and statistics

1974–75 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team
No	Name	Pos	Year	Height	Pts	Reb
12	William Glover	G	SR	6–2	12.0	1.4
22	Lovelle Rivers	F	SR	6–5	0.8
23	Benny White	G	JR	5–9	6.8	1.7
24	Cedric Milton	C	JR	6–9	2.3	2.6
25	Terry Furlow	F	JR	6–5	20.4	6.8
32	Peter Davis	G	SR	6–1	9.0	0.8
33	Edgar Wilson	F	SO	6–5	3.4	2.6
41	Thomas McGill	F	SR	6–4	1.4	1.2
42	James Dudley	F	FR	6–5	0.9	0.8
44	Robert Chapman	G	SO	6–2	4.4	1.3
45	Lindsay Hairston	C	SR	6–7	19.3	11.5
52	Jeffrey Tropf	C	FR	6–7	5.1	5.4
	Dave Jackson
	Mark Talaga

Source^[4]^[5]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 2, 1974*	Central Michigan	W 82–78	1–0	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Dec 7, 1974*	Eastern Michigan	W 92–60	2–0	Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Dec 14, 1974*	Western Michigan	W 62–59	3–0	Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Dec 20, 1974*	at San Francisco Cable Car Classic semifinals	W 86–78	4–0	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, CA
Dec 21, 1974*	vs. Long Beach State Cable Car Classic final	L 62–74	4–1	War Memorial Gymnasium San Francisco, CA
Dec 23, 1974*	at Detroit Mercy	W 72–69	5–1	Calihan Hall Detroit, MI
Jan 2, 1975	at No. 18 Purdue	L 86–93	5–2 (0–1)	Mackey Arena West Lafayette, IN
Jan 4, 1975	No. 2 Indiana	L 55–107	5–3 (0–2)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Jan 6, 1975	Ohio State	W 88–84	6–3 (1–2)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Jan 11, 1975	No. 11 Michigan Rivalry	W 86–78	7–3 (2–2)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Jan 18, 1975	at No. 16 Minnesota	L 71–82	7–4 (2–3)	Williams Arena Minneapolis, MN
Jan 20, 1975	at Iowa	L 79–83	7–5 (2–4)	Iowa Field House Iowa City, IA
Jan 25, 1975	Wisconsin	W 105–87	8–5 (3–4)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Jan 27, 1975	Northwestern	W 54–50	9–5 (4–4)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Feb 1, 1975	at Illinois	W 75–60	10–5 (5–4)	Assembly Hall Champaign, IL
Feb 3, 1975	at Ohio State	W 101–83	11–5 (6–4)	St. John Arena Columbus, OH
Feb 5, 1975*	at No. 14 Notre Dame	W 76–73	12–5	Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center South Bend, IN
Feb 8, 1975	at Michigan Rivalry	L 84–96	12–6 (6–5)	Crisler Arena Ann Arbor, MI
Feb 15, 1975	Minnesota	W 86–81	13–6 (7–5)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Feb 17, 1975	Iowa	W 90–78	14–6 (8–5)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Feb 22, 1975	at Wisconsin	L 96–103	14–7 (8–6)	Wisconsin Field House Madison, WI
Feb 24, 1975	at Northwestern	L 66–67	14–8 (8–7)	Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, IL
Mar 1, 1975	Illinois	W 96–82	15–8 (9–7)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Mar 3, 1975	Purdue	W 84–82	16–8 (10–7)	Jenison Fieldhouse East Lansing, MI
Mar 8, 1975	at No. 1 Indiana	L 79–94	16–9 (10–8)	Assembly Hall Bloomington, IN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. Source^[6]^[5]

Awards and honors

Terry Furlow – All-Big Ten First Team
Terry Furlow – Big Ten Scoring Champion (20.2 ppg in-conference)
Lindsay Hairston – All-Big Ten First Team

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Tropf returns to MSU 40 years after player walkout". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Michigan State civil rights pioneer reminds us — just as he reminded the Big Ten — that silence isn't always the best option". Land of 10. July 31, 2016. Archived from the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
^ Weiskopf, Herman. "THE WEEK". SI.com. Retrieved August 29, 2017.
^ "1975–76 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
^ ^a ^b "16-17 Michigan State Spartans" (PDF). Michigan State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
^ "1974-75 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results".

[:0-1] "Tropf returns to MSU 40 years after player walkout". Lansing State Journal. Retrieved August 29, 2017.

[:1-2] "Michigan State civil rights pioneer reminds us — just as he reminded the Big Ten — that silence isn't always the best option". Land of 10. July 31, 2016. Archived from the original on August 30, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2017.

[3] Weiskopf, Herman. "THE WEEK". SI.com. Retrieved August 29, 2017.

[4] "1975–76 Michigan State Spartans Roster and Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 21, 2017.

[MSU_Media_Guide-5] "16-17 Michigan State Spartans" (PDF). Michigan State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 15, 2019. Retrieved April 16, 2022.

[6] "1974-75 Michigan State Spartans Schedule and Results".

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v t e Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
Venues	Armory (1899–1918) IM Circle (1918–1930) Demonstration Hall (1930–1940) Jenison Fieldhouse (1940–1989) Breslin Student Events Center (1989–present)
Rivalries	Michigan
Culture & lore	Basketbowl Champions Classic "The Flintstones" Izzone Michigan State University student riots
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NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics