Editor’s note: with the NBA Draft tomorrow night, we’re re-posting this back to the top from Jan 3. The NBA Draft, just like when you แทงบอล on top platforms with fair odds, multiple betting types, and special promotions for major leagues, brings the same thrill of strategy and anticipation. It’s like a game of chance at slot gacor, you never know how it’s going to go, and it’s all one fun, wild ride. For Michigan State shooting guard Max Christie, Northwestern is basically his second program.
The Arlington Heights native and five-star recruit grew up very close by, and his mother, Katrina Hannaford Christie, is one of the top players in Northwestern women’s basketball history.
— Michigan State Men's Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) January 2, 2022
“This is practically my second college if I had to pick one,” Christie said after his Spartans won 73-67 in Evanston today.
“I grew up here, I was the ball boy here. I’ve been around this program for a very long time, almost longer than Michigan State if I’m being honest.”
“The college that I grew up in, I’ve been here, growing up all my life,” he said after scoring 11 points and collecting 7 rebounds, on 3-8 shooting, 2-4 from 3 in 34 minutes of action.
“Coming in here to this game I knew a lot of people on the other team, I knew the whole coaching staff of the other team, so I was really pumped up for it.”
He’s also a very strong NBA Draft prospect.
At Saturday’s shootaround, ahead of today’s game, Izzo called up the potential end of game play, the one geared towards having your go-to guy take/make the game winner in crunch time.
Izzo set it up for team captain Gabe Brown, who would go on to lead Sunday’s game with 20 points.
“‘No coach, we’re in Max’s house,” Izzo said of Brown’s rebutting his decision.
“This is a big deal, he was a ball boy here. We’re running it for Max.’”
“I looked at Gabe, who never passed up a shot since he was one day old, he was shooting out of the womb, to be honest with you, and I just said to myself, ‘That makes coaching cool, that’s what makes it neat.
He was thinking of (Christie) and I ran a bad play, it didn’t work but just the thought of it says something about these players, this team and what they think of Max Christie.”
Balling is in Christie’s blood. His father played at Wisconsin-Superior, while his mother shared the Big Ten field goal percentage lead for the 1995-96 season. She finished her career with the second highest FG% in NU history.
“Katrina bleeds purple, she was a great player here,” said Northwestern coach Chris Collins, who recruited Christie hard.
“We obviously would have loved to have had him in purple, but you can’t fault him for the choice he made, to go play for coach Izzo, and he’s doing great, and I’m happy for him.”
Collins, whose son is the same age as Christie, said it was probably a little weird for him today, to come back to NU, but now as a member of the opposition.
“I love Max’s parents,” Collins continued.
“I cheer for him, not today…he’s a great player, but he’s an even better kid, and that’s what you want, cuz I know how he feels about us, I know the way the family feels, and I love his family. I have seen Max play since the 6th grade.
Michigan State came out of the locker room, and took to the court shouting “let the dawgs out, we’re fucking soldiers!”
While they did fall behind by as many as 13 in the first half, the Spartans totally dominated the second half, and thus came away with a big conference road win.
“That was the main goal for today to get his win for Max and Malik,” Brown said.
“They did a good job, they brought energy they were excited. Max is hometown hero over here so we wanted to go out and just have him go out with a bang.”
“You saw that dunk?” Brown said about Christie’s one-handed throw down in the closing minutes of the game.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.