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Players wait their turn as Maurice Joseph gets photographed for the Breslin Center scoreboard.Spotlight suits MSU and Davis
Spartans senior center hails high expectations as The Sporting News picks team to win NCAA title.
Paul Davis is the cover boy for the Sporting News basketball preview, which chose MSU No. 1.
High expectations
Where will the MSU men's basketball team finish in the Big Ten?
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EAST LANSING -- Paul Davis' face is all over the covers of preseason magazines. One of those, The Sporting News, is even picking Michigan State to win the national championship.
Finally, in his senior year, Davis seems ready to handle that spotlight, partly because he's actually starting to embrace the high expectations, not only for himself but also for this team.
"You can't hide from that," Davis, a 6-foot-11, 270-pound center from Rochester, said Wednesday during MSU's media day at the Breslin Center.
"I'm not trying to hide from it anymore. I realize what it means to play at a top program and to be in the spotlight."
In the past, Davis was noticeably uncomfortable being the big man on campus. To many observers, he looked as if he wasn't having much fun on the court, that the pressure to excel was consuming him.
Now, with his final season of college basketball approaching, that burden doesn't appear to be so overwhelming. The change began part way through last season. It started to show publicly when Davis became more at ease and confident during the NCAA Tournament, including during news conferences.
How this all translates on the floor for the long term remains to be seen, but it's clear that Davis has matured considerably over the last few years.
His only regret is that he didn't figure it all out a little sooner.
"Honestly, I don't know if a day goes by where I don't think about it sometime," Davis said. "I've seen what happens when I do enjoy myself. It took three years to realize it."
The Spartans, who will be aiming for their fifth Final Four appearance in eight seasons, play their first exhibition game on Nov. 7 against Lake Superior State. The regular-season opener is Nov. 19 at Hawaii. Practice begins Friday night.
Davis joins three other starters -- guards Maurice Ager, Shannon Brown and Drew Neitzel -- from the lineup that made last season's NCAA Tournament run to the Final Four. The fifth starter, at least early in the season, is likely to be junior Delco Rowley, junior Drew Naymick or redshirt freshman Marquise Gray.
In eight of the Spartans' final 15 games, including four during the tournament, Davis had a double-double -- double figures in points and rebounds.
"That's the way I need to play all the time," he said. "I've bottled up that feeling from the tournament and, hopefully, will spread that out for this whole year."
Michigan State doesn't have the same type of backcourt depth it had last season, but the core group is so talented that the Spartans are consensus favorites to win the Big Ten championship. MSU hasn't won a conference title the last four seasons after winning four straight.
Davis sounds ready to take on those expectations.
"We welcome the target on our back," he said. "Every team wants a season like Illinois had last year (the Illini were 37-1 before losing in the NCAA championship game to North Carolina). We believe we have the team to do that. There's pressure there, but if there wasn't, we wouldn't be where we're at."
Davis also likes the idea of being picked to win the national title by The Sporting News. MSU won the championship in 2000. The Spartans made the Final Four last season and lost to North Carolina in a national semifinal.
"Someone who gets the magazine, gets the rankings, they don't look at No. 10, they look who's No. 1," he said. "It's just cool to think that's where people think we are, especially with the way things have gone the last four years. We've kind of built the program back up to that status."
As for being the cover boy this year, Davis said: "My grandma and mom, they collect all that stuff. My girlfriend's got a hold of that. I let them look at that. I just enjoy that the Spartans are being talked about in that regard."
Differing view
CBS SportsLine.com's preseason magazine ranks MSU No. 25, significantly lower than most top-10 projections.
"After losing so much talent, the Spartans are bound to take a step back," the magazine wrote, referring to the loss of Alan Anderson, Chris Hill and Kelvin Torbert. "... Davis will be a big key. He has the kind of skills to become one of the best players in college basketball when it comes to big men, but he needs to play aggressive and with a purpose every time."
The MSU players are aware of that prediction.
"Everybody uses that as motivation," Neitzel said. "Some people have us number one, which is great for the program. Some people have us 25th, which helps us stay motivated and wanting to prove people wrong."
New number
Neitzel has changed from jersey No. 12 to No. 11, partly because in the near future the Spartans plan to retire No. 12 for Mateen Cleaves.
Friday night lights
ESPNU will televise Friday's opening practice from 11 p.m.-midnight. The doors at the Breslin Center will open at 9:30 p.m. Admission is free.
You can reach Dave Dye at dave.dye@detnews.com.
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