The 1965–66 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1965–66 NCAA Division I men's basketball season as members of the Big Ten Conference. They played their home games at Jenison Fieldhouse in East Lansing, Michigan and were coached by John E. Benington in his first year as head coach of the Spartans. They finished the season 15–7, 10–4 in Big Ten play to finish in second place.
Previous season The Spartans finished the 1964–65 season 5–18, 1–13 in Big Ten play to finish in last place.
Following the season, head coach Forrest "Forddy" Anderson was fired after 11 years as the Spartans' head coach. Shortly thereafter, the school hired John E. Benington, head coach at Saint Louis, as head coach.
Roster and statistics 1965–66 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball teamNoNamePosYearHeightPtsReb11John GormanGSR5–112.20.212John BaileyGSO6–08.13.213Edward "Ted" CraryFJR6–50.8–14Gary SpadeGSO5–11––15Steven RymalGSO5–118.32.821James O'BrienGSO6–30.7–22Shannon ReadingGJR6–16.01.823James KupperGSR6–01.30.524Stan Washington links to wrong Stan WashingtonGSR6–318.010.625William CurtisFSR6–816.49.332Jack WynnCSO6–101.0–33Heywood EdwardsFSO6–51.7–35Robert MillerFSR6–51.31.141Arthur BaylorFSO6–64.53.642Gerald GeistlerCSO6–80.8–43Richard HolmesFSR6–41.4–44David KeelerFJR6–81.0–45Matthew AitchCJR6–713.88.8 Source
Schedule and results The Spartans participated in the second annual Rainbow Classic at the Honolulu International Center from December 27–30, 1966. There they played against a Marine and Army team in the tournament. These games do not count on the official record. |- !colspan=9 style=| Non-conference regular season
!colspan=9 style=|Big Ten regular season
Source
References