Michigan head coach Brady Hoke and defensive coordinator Greg Mattison and former Wolverines football coach Lloyd Carr attended a basketball game Tuesday night. Ordinarily this would not be much of a story. Often times during the football season football coaches will attend basketball games as they chum up recruits and their families in setting that shows off the school's environment away from the football field. Hey, these recruits have to know what they'll be doing when not practicing, studying (playbooks) and grinding in preparation for Saturday, right?
But did we mention that the Michigan football coaches were attending a basketball game… in East Lansing?
Michigan's basketball team visited their in-state and Big Ten rivals Tuesday night and it just so happened the Spartans were hosting some significant recruits for the game. Coincidence? Of course not, right?
NCAA rules prevented Hoke and Mattison from being able to have contact with the football recruits at Michigan State, but their presence alone speaks for itself. And the visiting coaches did not get any special treatment either. They sat right behind the Michigan bench, in the middle of Michigan State's student section, The Izzone.
Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio was naturally on hand for the game, and he did not ignore Hoke. According to Coaching Search, Dantonio walked through the student section down to Hoke, receiving a loud ovation as he worked his way down through the stands, and shook Hoke's hand. Apparently a few words were exchanged. We would love to know what was said, but we would love to know even more what Dantonio was thinking. It sure wasn't "It's nice to see Hoke support the basketball program this way."
Michigan State travels to Ann Arbor on March 2. It would only be fitting to see Dantonio make a return trip. We hope he does.
Rivalry!
Helmet sticker to CoachingSearch.com. Photo via @HondoCarpenter.
Kevin McGuire is the national college football writer for Examiner.com and host of the No 2-Minute Warning podcast.
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