'GameDay' staff praises fans

EAST LANSING - Saturday's game at the Breslin Center between Michigan State and Indiana didn't start until 9 p.m., but fans filled the arena much earlier than that.

Between 3,500 and 4,000 fans were at Breslin as early as 9:45 a.m. for filming of the basketball version of ESPN's College GameDay.

"It's tough to judge a crowd and say one crowd's the best or whatever, but I think this was our biggest crowd and equaled the enthusiasm at Kentucky or Kansas - if not surpassed it," said Rece Davis, the show's host. "Those two places are off the chart and this was probably our best all-around venue because of the emotion and energy in the crowd and the sheer turnout."

"I'd love to come here every year."

Members of the women's basketball team, athletic director Ron Mason and the men's basketball coaching staff were at the event throughout the morning.

"You fans were a real class act and this is the reason we wanted to come here," Digger Phelps, one of the analysts, said to the crowd after filming concluded.

The praise didn't just come from members of the broadcast team. MSU coach Tom Izzo thanked Davis, Phelps and fellow analysts Hubert Davis and Jay Bilas, for coming to East Lansing.

"They've been great for college basketball," Izzo said. "Give them a lot of credit for what they've done."

HOMECOMING: Davis, who worked at Ch. 12 in Flint from October of 1993 until March 1995, said Saturday's game was the first opportunity he's had to return to the area since he took a job at ESPN.

"I was there during one of the many glory eras of Flint basketball," said Davis, who covered high-schoolers Mateen Cleaves, Charlie Bell, and Morris Peterson, among others during his time in Flint. "We weren't here long in mid-Michigan but the people treated us so well, I've got a real soft spot for Flint and the entire area because my wife and I were just greeted with open arms the whole time I was here."

Davis, who took a job at ESPN directly after his time in Flint, said it was the best decision of his career to work at Ch. 12.

"I got the job at ESPN just as Flint Northern was making a run for the state championships," Davis said. "On one of my last assignments there, I went down to the locker room afterwards. I told Mateen 'Look, I'm leaving. But they're sending me the tapes so I expect you guys to win the state championship.' And he laughed but they did win the state championship and guys from the station sent me tapes of the state championship game."

BUNNY HOPPED: Eric Greenwald missed a half-court shot worth $8,000 during the GameDay festivities ... while wearing a bunny suit.

"I tried on a bunch of different suits, a Santa suit, a Tigger suit," said Greenwald, a 26-year old from Petoskey. "But this is the only one that fit me because I'm so tall."

A member of the broadcast saw Greenwald on his way to the bathroom and asked him if he would like to shoot for the money.

"I'm getting married this fall so I would have been smart with the money, I guess," Greenwald said.