Tag: AJ Hoggard

Former Spartans PG reportedly suspended for one game

A former Spartans point guard has been reportedly suspended for the season-opener at his new program

A former Spartans point guard has been reportedly suspended for the season-opener at his new program.

College basketball insider Jon Rothstein is reporting that former Spartans point guard A.J. Hoggard will be suspended for one game this year. Hoggard transferred to Vanderbilt this offseason after playing four years with the Spartans.

According to Rothstein, Hoggard will be suspended for his participation in the Portsmouth Invitational this offseason. Vanderbilt opens the season on November 4 against Maryland East Shore.

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1845939375605170602

Hoggard started all but two games across the past seasons at Michigan State. Last season, he averaged 10.7 points and 5.2 assists per game and elected to hit the transfer portal in the offseason instead of return for one more year at Michigan State.

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Vanderbilt lands former Michigan State point guard via transfer portal

Former Michigan State point guard AJ Hoggard will play for Mark Byington and the Vanderbilt Commodores in his final college basketball season.

After four years playing for Tom Izzo at Michigan State, veteran point guard AJ Hoggard entered the transfer portal and ultimately committed to the Vanderbilt Commodores for his final season in college basketball.

Hoggard chose to play for new coach Mark Byington at Vanderbilt over a final five that included Florida, Georgia, Washington, and USC.

Hoggard is a polarizing player, regressing from an excellent junior year to average 10.7 points and 5.2 assists as a senior in what was a rough year for the Spartans in the Big 10.

Vanderbilt has been very active in the transfer portal since Byington replaced Jerry Stackhouse, adding four guards already in Chris Manon (Cornell), Grant Huffman (Davidson), MJ Collins (Virginia Tech), and Jason Edwards (North Texas).

Still, Hoggard should get the keys to the offense for Vandy, and in an offensive system that worked exceptionally well at James Madison there is an opportunity for the 6’3 guard to put together the best season of his career under coach Byington in Nashville.

Michigan State transfer A.J. Hoggard narrows list down to five schools

Michigan State transfer guard A.J. Hoggard has narrowed down his potential destinations.

Michigan State Spartans basketball guard A.J. Hoggard is in the transfer portal after spending the past four seasons at Michigan State. Hoggard has started when healthy for the Spartans over the past two seasons.

Hoggard averaged 10.7 points, 5.2 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game last season. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound guard is the No. 72 player in the transfer portal according to 247Sports. If Hoggard transferred to Georgia, then he would become the Bulldogs’ highest-ranked incoming basketball transfer.

Hoggard’s top five schools are Georgia, Florida, Washington, USC and Vanderbilt. Hoggard is a veteran player with tons of experience. In fact, the four-star transfer prospect has played in eight NCAA Tournament games in his distinguished career.

A.J. Hoggard brings playmaking to his new transfer destination. Hoggard is a good free throw shooter (78.7%), but does not attempt many three-pointers (just 2.1 attempts per game).

3 good and 3 bad takeaways from Michigan State basketball’s loss to No. 2 Purdue

3 good and 3 bad takeaways from MSU’s loss to No. 2 Purdue

Michigan State has lost its third straight game on Saturday, dropping a matchup with No. 2 Purdue, 80-74, inside of Mackey Arena.

While the loss isn’t what any Spartan fan wanted, the team showed some really good things in this game, while also showing some inconsistencies that have killed this team all season long.

At the end of the day, it ends up being a loss for MSU, dropping the team to 17-12 (9-9 B1G) on the season. If there is any hope of keeping Tom Izzo and the school’s NCAA Tournament streak alive, there is work that desperately needs to be done.

Let’s take away at 3 good and 3 bad takeaways from MSU’s loss to Purdue:

WATCH: Tom Izzo, Juwan Howard, and Michigan State basketball players’ media sessions following MSU’s win over Michigan

WATCH: Tom Izzo, Juwan Howard, and Michigan State basketball players’ media sessions following MSU’s win over Michigan

On Saturday night, Michigan State basketball earned one of their most satisfying wins of the season, taking down their rival, Michigan, in Ann Arbor 73-63.

This was an important one for MSU for many reasons. This team now has won three conference road games, something that has been extremely hard for them, and many other teams, to come by this season.

It also featured another dominant performance from Malik Hall (18 points), who, along with Tyson Walker (19 points), led the Spartans in scoring. This has been extremely encouraging sign as Michigan State approaches March.

After the game, Tom Izzo, A.J. Hoggard, Tyson Walker and Malik Hall all spoke to the media, and you can find each of those interviews below, which were recorded and posted on YouTube by SpartanMag.com. Juwan Howard, Tarris Reed Jr. and Nimari Burnett also spoke to the media, and their session was recorded by UMHoops.com.

Quotes: Michigan State basketball players react to win over No. 10 Illinois

Michigan State basketball players react to win over No. 10 Illinois

On Tuesday, Michigan State basketball suffered one of their more disappointing losses of the season, dropping a game against Minnesota on the road that they had a lead in late in the game. On Saturday, we saw a motivated and energized MSU team handle business at home against No. 10 Illinois, beating their rivals 88 to 80.

After the game, a few of the Spartan players talked to the media about the victory and gave their thoughts on an exciting day for the program. You can see some of their quotes, along with a few social media posts they sent out, and a nice message from a Spartan legend below.

Highlights: Michigan State basketball makes huge plays in win over Baylor

Check out the highlight filled day for Michigan State over Baylor

Michigan State and Baylor met inside of Little Caesars Arena on Saturday afternoon with the Spartans desperate for a big win over the No. 6 team in the country. The Spartans got exactly what they were looking for, dominating the Bears, 88-64, getting the huge win.

En route to the huge victory, the Spartans made highlight play after highlight play to keep the crowd loud and on their feet throughout their dominating victory.

Check out the highlight filled day for the Spartans:

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Michigan State basketball: 3 Pros and 3 Cons so far this season

Taking a look at 3 Pros and 3 Cons so far this season for MSU:

Michigan State basketball has started off the 2023-24 season with an unsettling 1-2 record, with losses coming to James Madison and Duke. While the start is not ideal, it is not the end of the world and there is still a long season ahead of the team, which is why it wasn’t surprising that Tom Izzo was still fairly positive after his team’s loss to Duke on Tuesday.

There have been a lot of obvious concerns early in the year, with a lot of things that need to be fixed by Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo, but there have also been some bright spots to the season so far, and things to build on.

Let’s take a look at three pros and three cons to Michigan State so far in the early season:

Two Michigan State basketball players make Naismith Trophy Men’s Preseason Watchlist

Two Michigan State players make Naismith Trophy Men’s Preseason Watchlist

Michigan State basketball has a ton of hype this year, and a lot of it is because of the growth of their two star guards: Tyson Walker and A.J. Hoggard. Both players have been getting their fair share of flowers heading into the season, and that continued on Monday as it was announced that both players have made the Naismith Trophy Men’s Preseason Watchlist.

The Naismith Trophy is given annually to the best Men’s and Women’s player in college basketball.

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Ranking the Top-10 Big Ten players heading into the basketball season

Ranking the top 10 players in the Big Ten entering the college basketball season.

The long-awaited 2023-24 college basketball season begins today, and the Big Ten’s slate of games features 10 of the conference’s teams in action. Iowa, Indiana, Maryland and Michigan will have to wait one more day.

The Big Ten does not lack star power as the conference boasts the reigning national player of the year in Purdue’s Zach Edey as well as a bunch of premier guards. As we all know, guard play dominates college basketball, especially in March.

Before the games tip off this evening, we take a look at the top 10 Big Ten players. Are any freshmen ranked? Does any supplant Edey as number one?

Honorable mentions (in no particular order): Bruce Thorton (Ohio State), Keisei Tominaga (Nebraska), Mackenzie Mgbako (Indiana), Jamison Battle (Ohio State), Tyler Wahl (Wisconsin), Coleman Hawkins (Illinois), Chucky Hepburn (Wisconsin).