Ruckus Books in St. Catherines, Ontario, along with the Jenkins Group in Traverse City, have published a book, “Victory for MSU: A 120-year History of Spartan Men’s Basketball.” The hardcover, 340-page tome will be available in area bookstores and other retail outlets over the next two weeks.
The book, which features a 3-D basketball grain textured cover, along with silver gilded pages, was written by Bethany Bradsher. The photos came from the Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections.
“We are very excited about this project,” says Greg Sizelove, publishing director of Ruckus Books. “Michigan State is truly one of the storied programs in college basketball and we are proud to share that story with Spartan fans and fans of college basketball.”
The book includes a forward from former MSU basketball player Greg Kelser, and the introduction was written by Lou Anna K. Simon, president of the university. The book contains 17 chapters, beginning with the MSU basketball program in 1898. The university was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan.
“I’m sure it’s not difficult to guess my most triumphant moment as a Spartan — holding that trophy high with my team in 1979 as we celebrated Michigan State’s first national championship,” Kelser writes. “Nothing in sports equals that feeling, and I was blessed to be one of the players who made that title possible.”
The book, which retails for $60, will be available to alumni groups for promotional partnerships, along with MSU basketball tickets, Sizelove says. Ruckus Books designed the cover and will handle distribution, while the Jenkins Group designed the interior pages. The publishing group plans to print up to 10,000 copies.
“There are more than 550,000 MSU alumni, and there is a lot of interest in MSU’s basketball program,” says Jerry Jenkins, owner of the Jenkins Group. “There is rich content, archival photos, and it all came together nicely.”
The two companies also are looking at the potential of publishing a commemorative book for the hockey teams at the University of Michigan and Michigan Technological University, respectively.
For fans that order the MSU book online at MSUbasketballbook.com, there is a $5 discount. The promo code is MSUGBP.
