INDIANAPOLIS — The Final Four is loaded with one-and-done talents, potentially six freshmen who will have a cup of coffee in college before making the jump to the NBA.

But college basketball isn’t merely about its phenoms. Just look at Duke and Michigan State, who wouldn’t have reached Indianapolis if not for their respective senior lead guards Travis Trice and Quinn Cook, each team’s coach said.

Yes, Duke is loaded with three mega-talented freshman — Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow and Tyus Jones — but on several occasions, particularly recently, Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski has made the case Cook is his team’s most valuable player — valuable because of his leadership, his experience, and his toughness.

“It helps [freshmen] tremendously to have at least one upperclassman who is a key player, not just upperclassmen who are on the team,” Krzyzewski said. “In this case, Quinn has helped these guys.”

He made sure his young teammates didn’t overlook anyone this tournament, because he knows from experience how quickly a season can end. The 6-foot-2 Cook, a deadly 40 percent 3-point shooter, has known March heartbreak better than most, losing twice in the Round of 64 as a 2-seed to Lehigh in 2012 and as a 3-seed to Mercer last year, coming close to the Final Four in 2013, but shooting a dreadful 3-of-11 in a blowout Elite Eight loss to Louisville in Indianapolis. Now he’s back in the same town, at the sport’s biggest stage.

“I’m like a kid in a candy store here,” Cook said. “Obviously it being my first time. I’ve had two early exits in the first rounds, losing to Louisville in the Elite Eight, seeing those guys cut the nets down, celebrate, remembering that. It’s a blessing to be here.

“It’s the Final Four. Everybody doesn’t get here.”

Cook entered Duke a highly rated four-star recruit out of national powerhouse Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. After an underwhelming freshman year, he has improved each season, his numbers steadily rising. His defense has been the biggest surprise — Cook could always score — a key to Duke holdings its four NCAA Tournament foes to 53.5 points per game.

“He’s been an outstanding leader — he’s been our rock,” junior forward Amile Jefferson said last weekend in Houston, after Duke reached the Final Four.

Unlike Cook, the 6-foot Trice was a relative unknown entering this season, a backup who averaged just 7.3 points and 22.3 minutes last year after several setbacks during his career because of injury and illness. With the Spartans’ starting backcourt gone, his role needed to expand significantly if the Spartans wanted to have any kind of a season.

He followed up a solid regular season with a mammoth postseason, performing so well through four games — he’s averaging 19.7 points and four assists per game — Krzyzewski called him “the best player in the tournament, of any team.”

“That’s the ultimate compliment, especially from a coach like Coach K, one of the greatest coaches to ever coach the game,” said Trice, the Most Outstanding Player of the East Regional. “But I just try and focus and do what my teammates need, what our team needs to win. That’s all that’s going through my mind when I’m out there playing, what do I need to do to help us win.”

Krzyzewski said Trice reminds him of former Duke point guard Chris Collins, who keyed a late run to the NCAA Tournament in 1996, after Duke has missed the tournament the year before. Trice made sure the Spartans didn’t miss the tournament after being on the bubble in February, and took his play to another level in March.

“Trice is just out of sight right now,” Krzyzewski said. “The cockiness, the confidence, he’s a difficult guy to defend.”

Dawson must be dynamic

Michigan State doesn’t have enough scoring options to prevail unless senior forward Branden Dawson produces offensively. He scored just a combined 15 points in the East Regional semifinals and final, though he did average 11 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. The versatile upperclassman will need to score like he did in the first two rounds, when he averaged 14.5 points, for the Spartans to pull the upset.

Duke’s secret weapon

Everyone knows about the Blue Devils firepower, the explosive foursome of Quinn Cook, Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow, but Duke’s defense is vastly underrated, particularly how it has performed in this tournament. It has yet to allow an opponent to score more than 57 points — the ACC powerhouse’s foes are averaging 53.5 a game — and has limited the opposition’s star, shutting down Gonzaga’s Kevin Pangos and Utah’s Delon Wright in the previous two rounds, limiting the talented duo to a mere 14 points.

Winslow the X-Factor

Justise Winslow, Duke’s other heralded freshman and almost certain lottery pick, has been arguably its best player in the tournament, averaging 14 points per game, 9.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.75 blocks, while playing lock-down defense on the opposition’s top perimeter threat. If that all-encompassing two-way play continues, Duke won’t lose Saturday night.