Michigan State students shoot for season tickets

Pretty cool video there. No trick shots or questionable edits or anything like that. Just a makeshift, green basketball court out in the grass on the campus of Michigan State. Man, I miss college.

And the reason all this was done was to build morale for campus life, students and the basketball team heading into the season. As the nationally-ranked Spartans prepared to play Notre Dame, MSU basketball set up an opportunity for students to win season tickets for the 2012-13 hoops campaign.

Diamond Leung at MLive.com was on hand to get the story, accompanied by the video above.

Michigan State students were each given one half-court shot attempt Wednesday for the chance to score season-long admissions into the Izzone, and 21 of them walked away with the 13-game ticket package worth $186 each.

The school set up regulation baskets on a field on campus, painted in lines in the grass along with the Spartans' logo at center court, and saw hundreds of students over seven hours take their shots at free tickets.

Plans were in place have the first 10 shot-makers win the tickets and enter participating students into a drawing had 10 season admissions not been awarded, but by midday, it was decided any student making the one-chance shot would win.

The right move, and a pretty cool memory for the 21 who found the bottom of the net. Also, just $186 dollars for 13 games (Sparty played 18 at the Breslin Center last season)? Pretty good deal. Some schools provide their students with free student-section seats all year, but other schools take advantage of how big and powerful they are. MSU could probably get away with charging much more than $15 per game, to be honest.

As usual, by the way, Tom Izzo gets it. He's just casually out there, signing a few things, posing for a few pictures and heaving air balls at the rim. The best. And this comes off a season where Izzo was disappointed by the lack of enthusiasm, attendance and passion at the Izzone.

Events like this motivate as much as anything this side of big-time winning does. Next up: Trying to figure out what on earth Izzo will do for Midnight Madness this year.