It's a bittersweet day here at TOC, as Tom Izzo state at a press conference that Delvon Roe would not return for the 2011-2012 season. As Dan Kilbridge from Spartan Tailgate tweeted:
Roe had another setback with his knee last week and injuries have piled up.
Tough, tough break for Roe, as he's battled surgeries ever since he had a microfracture of the knee his senior year of high school. Lisa Byington is reporting that he is staying on scholarship:
Adam Ruff from Spartan Radio has a few quotes from Roe:
Roe: "I started playing basketball because I loved the game, but the pain has taken that away..."
"...and forced me to always think about just getting through the next few minutes or the next game."
"I don’t want to just ‘get through’ anymore. I’ve played on a leg and a half for most of my career..."
"...and that’s not fair to my teammates as they go through the daily grind.
“I will always be a Spartan. The support of everyone in the University and the fan base has left an impression that will last a lifetime.
"...It remains my goal to walk across the court on senior night.”
More from Roe by way of Dan Kilbridge:
Roe: "It was worth every needle and every dose of medicine."
Roe will make it to the aircraft carrier game. From The State News Twitter feed:
Izzo said Roe has to come to the aircraft carrier game because players like him are the reason MSU gets to do things like that.
Also from The State News:
Roe said telling his teammates, who are in the room right now, was the hardest part.
Roe said specifically that telling Green, Thornton and Nix was the most difficult.
Let's have a quote from Izzo to close it out:
Izzo: "I hope you remember (Roe) by what he gave us, cause he probably gave more than 99 percent of the guys that came here in any sport."
The full press release is after the jump. We'll have more on what this means for the season later, but for now let's use the comments to reminisce on the toughness Roe brought to the team for years, and someone who, in every sense of the word, a Spartan true.
Sept. 29, 2011
EAST LANSING, Mich. - MSU senior forward Delvon Roe has decided to end his career as an active member of the Spartan basketball team due to degenerative knee pain. Roe will remain on scholarship and is on track to graduate in May 2012.
Quote from Delvon Roe:
"This is the hardest decision I've ever had to make. It feels that I've been playing through pain throughout my career at MSU, but the daily grind of basketball - the running, cutting, jumping - has finally taken its toll given the intensity required to play at our level. I started playing basketball because I loved the game, but the pain has taken that away and forced me to always think about just getting through the next few minutes or the next game. I don't want to just `get through' anymore. I've played on a leg and a half for most of my career, and that's not fair to my teammates as they go through the daily grind.
"I have no regrets about my time at Michigan State. I've been blessed to be a three-year starter and be a part of back-to-back Big Ten Championships and Final Fours. I'm lucky to have been surrounded by great teammates that have become my brothers, and coaches that have provided great guidance. The medical and training staff have been phenomenal just to give me the opportunities that I've had. But as one of our doctors told me, the wear on my knee is like tread on a tire, and that once it's gone, it doesn't come back. It became time to consider my health moving forward.
"I will always be a Spartan. The support of everyone in the University and the fan base has left an impression that will last a lifetime. It remains my goal to walk across the court on senior night."
Quote from Tom Izzo:
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"We've built our program at Michigan State on toughness, and I've never had a player who played through more pain than Delvon. I feel bad for Delvon, because I know how much basketball means to him. It's a shame that most Spartans never got to see the player I recruited. And yet he found a way to contribute and be a valuable part of two Final Fours and Big Ten Championships just by his will and desire. Last year, he unselfishly reinvented himself into a defensive stopper that the team needed. For him to call it a career at this time shows the severity of his pain. I look forward to having him remain around the program this year as he finishes his degree."