Spartan Backcourt Returns To The Battlefield

After advancing to their second consecutive Final Four, Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers will look for the trifecta as they return to Michigan State for their senior seasons next year. (Photo courtesy of MSUSpartans.com)

Every Michigan State player that has stayed all four years under head coach Tom Izzo has made at least one Final Four. This afternoon, two of Izzo's juniors announced they will stay in school in the hopes of making their third Final Four together.

After the Spartans' surprise run to the Final Four, guards Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers both decided to return to East Lansing for their senior seasons as they attempt to deliver Sparty its first national championship since 2000. Michigan State has already made two consecutive trips to the national semifinals, losing to Butler two weeks ago after falling to North Carolina in the title game the previous season. The two will join Chris Allen and Korie Lucious among the incumbents in the Spartan backcourt, which has become a more cohesive and improved unit since losing Drew Neitzel and Travis Walton to graduation in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

For Lucas, the move was expected after he ruptured his Achilles tendon in Michigan State's second-round NCAA Tournament win against Maryland. However, for Summers, who shares an apartment with Lucas, the move came as somewhat of a surprise given his dominant play in the "Big Dance," where he was named the Midwest Regional's most outstanding player. "Durrell could have left for sure," said Lucas of his backcourt partner's draft prospects. "But we both talked about coming back to win a national championship and to graduate."

Some die-hard Spartan fans may be sensing the possibility of history repeating itself, as Lucas and Summers made the same decision Mateen Cleaves and Morris Peterson made twelve years ago. After guiding Michigan State to Izzo's first Final Four in 1999, Cleaves and Peterson both came back for their senior seasons. The result is well-documented, as the two led Sparty to its second national title and first since 1979. Said Summers of this significance: "We want to follow the same path Mateen and Morris did."

Michigan State will return nine of its top ten players, the lone exception being Raymar Morgan, who graduates next month. "We can put our group down as one of the best in Michigan State history and make our own footprints in the sand," said Durrell Summers.

Deciding to stay in school is the first step on the beach of success for Lucas, Summers, and the Michigan State program going forward into the 2010-11 season.