Tag: local

LSJ’s Graham Couch ranks the all-time top MSU athletics coaches

Who are the best coaches in Michigan State sports history? That’s a question Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal has answered

Who are the best coaches in Michigan State sports history? That’s a question Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal has answered.

Couch released a batch of the all-time top Spartans coaches this week, with some interesting thoughts on who belongs on this list. Couch’s ranking is for all Michigan State sports and includes the top 12 all-time in his opinion.

Click on the tweet below to see who Couch listed as the top 12 coaches in Michigan State sports history:

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Contact/Follow us @The SpartansWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Michigan state news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Robert Bondy on Twitter @RobertBondy5.

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Colts’ 2023 NFL draft big board: Wide Receivers

Here’s our big board for the WR position in the NFL draft.

The Indianapolis Colts have a solid starting wide receiver duo, but they still are likely to add some depth and upside to the room during the 2023 NFL draft.

With Michael Pittman Jr. and Alec Pierce projected to work on the outside, the Colts brought in Isaiah McKenzie to compete for the slot role. Ashton Dulin also will return as a special teamer and depth player in the room.

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The Colts certainly have a type at the wide receiver position. They prefer the bigger, more athletic types even if it means that player is more raw when it comes to the techniques and nuances of route running. Ideally, they leave this draft with a prospect who can compete immediately as a slot receiver and one who can win vertically and/or after the catch.

As we break down the prospects by round, think of the “rounds” as tiers and when I believe the team should begin to consider drafting them.

We also created big boards at the following positions:

Here’s a look at my big board for the wide receiver position as it relates to the Colts in the 2023 NFL draft:

GM Monti Ossnfort, Cardinals coaches attend Kyler Murray’s special day

The GM, head coach and three other offensive coaches were in Norman, Oklahoma as Murray had a statue unveiled.

Last offseason, there seemed to be some question as to how much support Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray had in the building. An anonymous report attacking Murray’s character came out early. When he agreed to his contract extension, it included clauses like attending offseason workouts and doing film study at home.

With changes in the front office and coaching staff, things are going differently.

The organization is publicly praising him, privately pushing him and spending time with him, and now they are supporting him in his special days.

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Murray was honored this weekend in Norman, Oklahoma. The school unveiled a bronze statue of Murray to be added to Heisman Park outside Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Murray was the Heisman Trophy winner in 2018 after his one season starting for Oklahoma before the Cardinals selected him first overall in the 2019 draft.

Murray’s family was there and so were many from the Cardinals.

General manager Monti Ossenfort, head coach Jonathan Gannon, offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, quarterbacks coach Israel Wollfork and Bill Bidwill coaching fellow recipient Connor Senger also attended in support of their quarterback.

The number of coaches in attendance says how much they value Murray.

Showing Murray that support can only help with him buying in to their style of play and system moving forward.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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WATCH: Braelon Allen scores a touchdown during Wisconsin’s ‘launch’ event

WATCH: Braelon Allen scores a touchdown during Wisconsin’s ‘launch’ event

Wisconsin football held their version of a spring game on Saturday, and the Badgers offense was on full display.

Unsurprisingly, running back Braelon Allen was one of the Badger standouts and he capped off an impressive drive with a three-yard score against Wisconsin’s defense.

Allen is heading into year three as Wisconsin’s lead back, coming off of a season where he led the Badgers with 1,242 yards on the year. Through two seasons in Madison, Allen has rushed for a total of 2,510 rushing yards and has led Wisconsin in each of the last two seasons in that category.

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Check out his spring practice score:

 

Wisconsin in the top five for 2024 speedster

Wisconsin in the top five for 2024 speedster

The Badgers are officially in the top five for 2024 safety Kahmir Prescott. Prescott is a Philadelphia native who is a consensus three-star recruit in the 2024 class according to 247Sports.

Wisconsin is joined by a pair of Big Ten schools as well as local spots on Prescott’s list. The Badgers are alongside Penn State, Pittsburgh, Nebraska, and Michigan State in the top five for the 2024 safety prospect.

Prescott has yet to announce when he will make his final decision, and just before naming his top five he received an offer from Deion Sanders at Colorado.

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Prescott has played both wide receiver and in the secondary and is known for his speed and quickness at both positions.

Dolphins make surprising pick in Touchdown Wire mock draft

The selection would certainly cause a stir.

The Miami Dolphins have only four selections in the NFL’s upcoming draft, and that comes just one year after general manager Chris Grier made four selections in 2022.

Last year, the group of rookies didn’t make much of an impact. The only player with significant opportunities was unfortunately quarterback Skylar Thompson due to injuries to Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater.

This year, Miami will have to make better decisions and add players who can help bring them closer to their ultimate goal – winning a Super Bowl.

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In Touchdown Wire’s newest mock draft, Doug Farrar has the Dolphins selecting Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker with pick No. 51 and South Dakota State tight end Tucker Kraft with pick No. 84.

Hooker may be one of the most surprising picks in recent mock drafts, as Miami has been so committed to Tua Tagovailoa publicly. Even last week, when speaking to the media about the draft, general manager Chris Grier stated they haven’t had quarterbacks in for meetings.

At 25 years old, Hooker is the same age as Tagovailoa and is coming off of a torn ACL. He has been impressive in his two seasons at Tennessee, completing 68.8% of his passes for 6,080 yards with 58 touchdowns and five interceptions while also adding another 1,046 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.

This would just be too sudden of a shift unless Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel are really good at hiding their true feelings.

Kraft, on the other hand, feels like a pick the Dolphins could make. They’ve reportedly already met with him at his school, and tight end is a clear need for this team with only Durham Smythe, Tanner Conner and free agent signing Eric Saubert on the roster.

Making the jump from South Dakota State is more difficult than the average transition to the NFL, but Kraft has the potential to be a solid option in McDaniel’s offense if he were selected.

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Latest Colts’ 7-round mock draft goes in different direction

Breaking down the latest 7-round mock draft from CBS Sports, which had the Colts going in a different direction.

With the 2023 NFL draft quickly approaching, analysts are all doing their best work to predict how the big weekend will unfold, and that includes projecting how the Indianapolis Colts will go about their selections.

The Colts have done an admirable job keeping their information close to the vest when it comes to who they want to target—contrary to some national reports.

And while we know the Colts won’t draft solely based on need, there’s a slight blueprint to how we think their picks will go.

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But in their latest seven-round mock draft (a feat within itself), CBS Sports’ Chris Trapasso had the Colts going in a differnt direction.

Here’s a quick look and breakdown of how that mock draft went for Indy:

Giants’ Joe Schoen would trade future picks for ‘right player’

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen says he would be open to trading future draft picks for the “right player.”

The New York Giants find themselves in unfamiliar territory in the 2023 NFL draft. They are currently slated to select 25th overall which is not what fans have become accustomed in recent years — top 10 picks have been much more common.

In fact, during general manager Joe Schoen’s pre-draft press conference on Thursday, he joked about the difficulty in picking 25th overall as opposed to 5th and 7th overall.

“I wish I knew. I’m trying to figure it out. 25 it’s a little bit harder than 5 and 7 to come up with names,” Schoen said when asked who he was going to select.

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While the Giants surprised many by making the playoffs last season, the roster still has plenty of needs. Schoen is apparently open to all avenues when it comes to the draft, including trading future draft picks.

“I’d be open to any of that. I’m never going to rule it out. If it’s the right player and the value aligns, I’d move up. If it was a future pick, I would do that, too. Last year, just where we were financially, we needed as many depth pieces as we can. So, moving back a couple of times last year just made sense. It got us some more bodies that — so that was a little bit of the thought process that went into that,” he said.

Certainly, it’s a wise move for Schoen to avoid ruling out possibilities going into the draft. However, he also made it clear that they are confident that there would be a player at No. 25 that they like.

Whether it’s a veteran player with a proven track record or a prospect that they believe would be worth trading up for, if the Giants feel like there is value in parting ways with future draft picks to get a more immediate impact, Schoen is certainly open to it.

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B/R grades Colts’ offseason entering 2023 NFL draft

B/R hands out a pre-draft offseason grade for the Colts.

The Indianapolis Colts were extremely active for about a week during the offseason, but they’ve been quiet for the majority of the time since the new league year began in the middle of March.

While some subtle moves were made in free agency, along with the departures of a number of veterans, the roster could still use some infusion of talent in several areas.

The talk of the offseason has been about the likely addition of a rookie quarterback in the draft, so grading their offseason up to this point would be an incomplete adventure.

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But it’s still not a bad idea to gauge the grades of teams entering the draft. That’s what Bleacher Report did in grading every team’s offseason moves leading into the league’s biggest weekend of the offseason, giving the Colts a C+.

The Indianapolis Colts’ offseason will hinge on their ability to find their quarterback of the future with the fourth overall pick, and they may be eyeing Kentucky’s Will Levis.

“Will Levis and the Colts, there is a little bit of buzz leaguewide about that pairing at No. 4 overall,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said on SportsCenter earlier this month.

In the meantime, the Colts named former Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen as their head coach after he helped develop Jalen Hurts into a Pro Bowl quarterback and viable MVP candidate. The hope is that he can do the same with Levis or another top prospect.

Indy also picked up a solid bridge option in Gardner Minshew, who has a career passer rating of 93.1. While Minshew might not be a clear upgrade over 2022 starter Matt Ryan, he shouldn’t be any worse.

Ryan tossed only 14 touchdowns against 13 interceptions and had a lowly 83.9 QB rating.

The Colts picked up players like Samson Ebukam, Taven Bryan and Isaiah McKenzie, but their biggest additions thus far are those of Minshew and kicker Matt Gay, who might be a bit overpaid at $22.5 million for four years.

However, Indianapolis didn’t lose a ton aside from cornerback Stephon Gilmore and wideout Parris Campbell, who finally had some solid production (623 yards, 3 TDs) after three injury-hampered campaigns.

The Colts roster just doesn’t seem remarkably different than it was a year ago, but Indy could be a surprise AFC South contender if running back Jonathan Taylor can stay healthy and Minshew and/or a rookie-to-be-named can upgrade the quarterback position.

That’s a better grade than I would have assumed considering the lack of high-end moves the Colts have made this offseason.

The offseason for the Colts really does hinge on the draft as it does every year with Chris Ballard at the helm. Whether the selection is Will Levis, Anthony Richardson or C.J. Stroud, it’s likely we’re looking at an incoming rookie quarterback to work as the face of the franchise.

Even so, the Colts still need to add some depth to the cornerback, wide receiver and offensive line spots through free agency and/or the draft.

We’ll see how this grade changes after the draft takes place in less than a week as that will have a major impact on the perception of the future.

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Wisconsin basketball head coaches extended through 2028

The Badgers extended the contracts of both Greg Gard (MBB) and Marisa Moseley (WBB) through the 2028 season Friday.

The Badgers extended the contracts of both Greg Gard (MBB) and Marisa Moseley (WBB) through the 2028 season Friday. This move is typically made to assure recruits that the coaches will be around, but it certainly quiets the haters surrounding Gard in particular.

In eight seasons as the Badgers men’s basketball head coach, Greg Gard has led the team to a 164-93 overall record (63.8%) while winning two Big Ten regular season titles. His squad finished the season 17-14 in 2022-2023, missing the national tournament for the second time under his leadership, but they did make it to the semifinals of the NIT.

Although it wasn’t what Badger fans wanted, Gard was able to salvage something as the season came to a close and has now been very active in acquiring transfer assets. Former four-star AJ Storr has already committed to join the Badgers after spending his freshman season at St. John’s.

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On the other side, Marisa Moseley is still new to Madison, producing a 19-41 record in his first two seasons at the helm. From the outside, that record would appear to be a massive disappointment, but the Badgers seem to be headed in the right direction.

The women’s basketball team won six games versus the Big Ten in 2022-2023, their most conference wins since 2014. Under her leadership, the Badgers have a lot more hope moving forward as a program than they did before.

Also getting extended through 2028 were seven-time national championship winning women’s hockey head coach Mark Johnson, impressive wrestling head coach Chris Bono and successful swimming and diving head coach Yuri Suguiyama.

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