Former CBB Star Says Playing MSU Was 'Welcome to College Moment'

Michigan State has been the gold standard in the Big Ten for much of the century; there has rarely been a stretch where the Spartans weren't relevant in the conference or in the country as a whole.

Think of the best college basketball players from the last 25 years.

Most of them probably remember playing Michigan State at one point or another -- and they probably don't have fond memories.

That's the case for former Kentucky guard Aaron Harrison, one-half of the star tandem that was the "Harrison Twins," a pairing that took the nation by storm in their freshman season.

Aaron Harrison and Andrew Harrison were both five-star prospects and were each top 10 in the class of 2013.

Together, they helped lead the Wildcats to the national title game in 2014, where they fell to the 7-seeded UConn team that had taken out Michigan State in that same tournament.

They made it back to the Final Four the following year but lost to Wisconsin and Frank Kaminsky.

Michigan State was a title contender both of those seasons.

They went all the way to the Elite Eight in the 2013-14 season and were on the other side of that Final Four in 2015 when they lost to Duke as a 7-seed.

Aaron Harrison remembers that team well, as it was just the third team he faced.

It was a No.

1 vs.

No.

2 matchup in the 2013 Champions Classic when No.

2 Michigan State prevailed, 78-74, and held the freshman star to just 3 points.

He deemed that game his "welcome to college moment" when he recently joined the "Run Your Race" podcast.

"And I'm like, 'All right.

Come on.

Nobody can guard (me).

We're in college.

Come on,'" Aaron Harrisson said .

"Bro, they played so hard, bro.

And they were old, too.

Not old, but they were like juniors.

And they knew what they were doing; I'm like, 'Wait, bro.

I gotta do like two moves now.' "And I think they were up like 20 at one point.

We came back a little bit, but that was my like --'OK, I gotta -- come on now.' I think I had like 4 points or something.

I'm like, 'No way.

We're not doing that.'" That meeting might have been the humbling experience Aaron Harrison needed, as he would go on to average 13.7 points.

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