Buffalo, N.Y. — The son called it surreal. The father called it a fairy tale.
And for their critics out there, the head coach thought of another word that came to mind.
“People are so … dumb,” Michigan State’s Tom Izzo said Friday, clapping back at the “haters” who don’t see the same things he sees in his backup point guard, Denham Wojcik, a graduate transfer from Harvard who also happens to be the son of Izzo’s longtime assistant coach, Doug Wojcik.
Izzo admitted that might be a poor choice of words, but it pales in comparison to some of the social-media vitriol that Wojcik has been subjected to this winter, as his supporting role off the Spartans’ bench grew following an injury to Divine Ugochukwu in early February.
And while that sort of thing is really nothing new for Wojcik, whose brother, Paxson, wrapped up his Division I hoops career at North Carolina a couple years ago — “Being a coach’s kid, you’re gonna get crap no matter how good you are,” Denham says — Thursday night’s moment truly was for the entire family.
Wojcik checked into the Spartans’ NCAA Tournament opener against North Dakota State midway through the first half, and immediately made his presence felt over a three-minute stint. He grabbed a rebound before a media timeout. Then he attacked the basket and finished with a left-handed claw layup on the next possession. Later, the 6-foot-1 Wojcik, who’d scored a total of 15 points all season, added a running floater in the lane that rattled home, bringing the Michigan State bench to its feet.
Not that you’d know it by watching his father’s reaction.
“Obviously, I don’t ever really want to show it,” the elder Wojcik said, smiling, “but, yeah, I’m really happy for him.”
Proud, too, of course. And if you rewind the tape, he says you’ll probably see Izzo grabbing his leg on the sideline when Denham scored that first bucket Thursday to fulfill a childhood dream.
“I’d say it was a surreal moment for myself and my family,” Denham said Friday, shortly before he and his teammates hit the court to prepare for their second-round matchup with Louisville. “For a lot of guys on our team, it was their first time in the NCAA Tournament. So that was just really critical for us to get off to the start we did and then continue to play well and play with confidence.
“But for me, personally, hitting those two baskets was huge. It was pretty special, and to have that moment and play well in my first tournament appearance is something I’ll always remember.”
And here’s the other thing Izzo would like others to remember about Wojcik, who is no stranger to high-level competition going to back to his AAU days with the Illinois Wolves or the three seasons he spent as a rotational player for Tommy Amaker at Harvard. You can try measuring a player’s value with basic stats or advanced metrics or any number of other ways, but Izzo often uses a different rule of thumb. Because what you see isn’t always what he gets.
“The kid has got great heart,” he said. “He’s as good a defender as we’ve got on our team. He’s not everybody’s All-American in a lot of ways, but for me, I’m yelling at Doug a couple times to put him in. …
“I got a lot of that during the year about, ‘Who’s your backup?’ But Denham has done exactly what I asked him to do.”
That he’s able to do it at all is part of what Izzo’s referencing there, too. Wojcik has endured five different surgeries in his career — right elbow, left knee, twice for his hip and a double hernia. And yet he still has managed to play nearly 100 Division I games, including 29 this season for the Spartans.
And if that’s not enough for some fans, so be it.
“It can be tough to play with full confidence knowing you’re coming out here for a minute or two, or whatever it may be,” said Wojcik, who is pursuing his master’s degree in finance at Michigan State. “Obviously, you see some stuff (online), but I just pay attention to what Coach Izzo is saying, primarily. Like, it’s that simple. My role is pretty simple, and I know how and when I can be effective.”
Every high-major team needs a third point guard, and the rosters of most of the top teams in this tournament have someone with a similar profile. UConn, the Spartans’ potential Sweet 16 opponent, has one in Alec Millinder, who plays a minute or two — or maybe three — every game. A year ago, he was the starting point guard for IU-Indy in the Horizon League. But Danny Hurley added him to his roster as an insurance policy of sorts.
It was the same idea for Wojcik at Michigan State, right up until injuries to others elevated his profile. And though he was well aware what that would mean, given his name and his game — “My effectiveness may not be the most exciting thing you see for the average viewer,” he shrugs — he also knows what it means when he takes a charge in the lane or fills a gap defensively or makes a hockey assist that won’t show up on the stat sheet.
And there’s another hidden value he brings that has nothing to do with compensation, though as his father jokes, “My guy, he’s the right price,” in this NIL era.
“He knows what his job is,” Doug Wojcik said. “He’s not unhappy and disgruntled in our locker room. So what is that worth? It’s actually worth a lot.”
Even more at a program like Michigan State, where Izzo has built a culture around everything the younger Wojcik brings to the table, from the mental toughness — “You can get on him, and he doesn’t shrivel up and die,” Izzo says — to the reliable work ethic. As he put it Friday, “the Denham Wojciks of the world maybe don’t win you every game, but they help you win a lot more than people know.”
“I’ve been really pleased, proud, and happy for him, because he never said a word, never complained about anything,” Izzo said. “(Critics) think they see and know everything and they’re never at a practice. They’re never in a locker room. They’re never in a hotel. This kid brings it in every way, and then he’s a 3.9 student besides. So I’d take another Denham Wojcik anytime I could get one.”
john.niyo@detroitnews.com
@JohnNiyo
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Niyo: Spartans have a favored son, but not for why you might think
Reporting by John Niyo, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
