Miles Bridges' sacrifice goes unrewarded
Against the advice of his coach, Miles Bridges returned to Michigan State for his sophomore season, determined to fulfill the unrealized promise from the previous year.
The Spartans were coming off a disappointing season that was marred by injuries, particularly in the frontcourt, often forcing the 6-foot-8 Bridges to play out of position. A No. 9 seed in the NCAA tournament, Bridges and Michigan State were eliminated in a second-round blowout versus Kansas.
"I got some unfinished business here," Bridges told a crowd of Spartans chanting his name on the Michigan State campus last April. "I'm gonna say, I want to stay. I've talked it over with my mom and my dad, they support me, my sister. I just want to thank y'all again. I can't wait for next year. I have personal goals here. I want to win a national championship."
With a cast of veterans and incoming five-star prospect Jaren Jackson set to surround him, the Spartans seemed destined to make good on Bridges' wishes.
"We talked about, yeah, he wants to get to a Final Four, every kid does," coach Tom Izzo said of Bridges after his commitment to a second year in the program.
For the most part, Michigan State's 2017-18 season went according to plan. Bridges led the Spartans in scoring and rebounding (17.3 points and seven boards per outing), and helped the team win its first regular season Big Ten title in six years.
The Spartans received a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, giving them a more favorable draw than the one they faced a year ago, and they were a popular pick to come out of the Midwest Region.
And somehow, Bridges found himself standing in the exact same spot Sunday that he was last year.
"This is probably the saddest I've ever been in my life," Bridges said following a 55-53 loss to 11th-seeded Syracuse, according to Brad Galli of WXYZ-TV in Detroit.
Bridges, who postponed lucrative NBA paychecks a year ago, struggled mightily against the Orange. He went 4-for-18 from the field, including 3-of-12 from downtown. He missed both of his free-throw attempts, and finished the contest with just 11 points.
"We didn't win the big one," he conceded.
That'll likely do it for the Bridges era at Michigan State and the business he came back to finish will remain unfinished forever.