Tag: msu spartans

A roundup of Spartans in the NFL as training camps get started

All of the Spartans currently on NFL rosters as training camp gets going.

With the exception of a couple of teams and players, the majority of the NFL world will be reporting to training camp this week.

There are a number of former Michigan State Spartans on NFL rosters as things get going; some undrafted rookies looking to make a roster and some established, and high-paid, veterans.

Just for a refresher, here are all of the former MSU players currently on NFL rosters.

Brian Allen, C, LA Rams

Joe Bachie, LB, New Orleans Saints

Le’Veon Bell, RB, NY Jets

Shilique Calhoun, OLB, New England Patriots

Jack Conklin, OT, Cleveland Browns

-Conklin signed a three-year $42 million deal with Cleveland this offseason.

Kirk Cousins, QB, Minnesota Vikings

Andrew Dowell, LB, New Orleans Saints

William Gholston, DE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Joel Heath, DT, Denver Broncos

Tyler Higby, OG, Minnesota Vikings

Brian Hoyer, QB, New England Patriots

-Hoyer returned to New England as a backup quarterback this offseason

Justin Layne, CB, Pittsburgh Steelers

Mike Panasiuk, DT, Las Vegas Raiders

Josiah Scott, CB, Jacksonville Jaguars

Matt Sokol, TE, Detroit Lions

Darrell Stewart Jr., WR, Green Bay Packers

Trae Waynes, CB, Cincinnati Bengals

-Waynes agreed to a three-year, $42 million deal with Cincinnati, but has yet to officially sign due to COVID-19 limiting the ability for the Bengals to perform a physical on him.

Kenny Willekes, DE, Minnesota Vikings

Raequan Williams, DT, Philadelphia Eagles

Khari Willis, S, Indianapolis Colts

NOTE: Cody White and Brian Lewerke were released Sunday, July 26. Darqueze Dennard is a free agent after his offseason contract was rescinded due to a failed physical.

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Report: Michigan State basketball recruiting target Enoch Boakye to announce college decision June 28

Michigan State is the favorite to land the top-20 prospect.

Tom Izzo could very well be a week away from landing another top 20 prospect.

According to recruiting edit extraordinaire Tipton Edits, Canadian center Enoch Boakye will be announcing his college decision on July 28.

The six-foot-ten Boakye is ranked as a very high four-star recruit and the No. 20 player in the class of 2022 by 247Sports. Boakye is the No. 3 center in the class and top player in Ontario. He isn’t rated on ESPN nor Rivals, most likely because he is a Canadian prospect and it is still early on the class of 2022.

Currently four of four predictors on Rivals and 247Sports have Michigan State landing the big man out of George Harris Prep in Mississauga. Boakye has offers from Arizona, BYU, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and UCLA among a number of others. Duke and Kentucky are also recruiting him, but are yet to offer.

MSU’s 2022 class is currently the best in the country with No. 1 overall prospect Emoni Bates as its lone commit. Boakye’s addition would further cement MSU’s No. 1 status and if Bates does reclassify into 2021, Boakye would make for a great building block of the 2022 class, although he too is considering reclassifying in 2021.

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Michigan State makes top six for three-star lineman out of California

Elia Migao has MSU on his short list.

After a couple close misses, Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker is looking to land his first California recruit since arriving at MSU and he just made a top group for another one.

Class of 2021 offensive guard Elia Migao announced his top six teams on Twitter with the Spartans being joined by San Diego State, Oregon State, Arizona, BYU, and San Jose State.

Migao, out of Chaparral High in Temecula, is rated as a three-star player and the No. 667 player in the class of 2021 in the 247Sports composite rankings. He is the No. 34 offensive guard and No. 62 player in talent-rich California.

Currently MSU has one guard committed for the class of 2021, Kevin Wigenton out of Hun School in New Jersey. Michigan State’s 2021 recruiting class currently ranks No. 62 in the country and No. 12 in the Big Ten.

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Michigan State announces pay cuts in athletic department, including salaries of Tom Izzo and Mel Tucker

Tom Izzo and Mel Tucker will have their salaries reduced by 7% to help the department combat losses sustained during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michigan State University has announced a number of salary reductions in the athletic department to help cope with financial losses due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo and football coach Mel Tucker will see their salaries reduced by the most total money, while athletic director Bill Beekman will take the greatest cut by percentage at 10% of his $772,00- salary. All staff members that make $100,000 or more annually will see a reduction in pay.

Izzo and Tucker are among a number of coaches making more than $500,000 that will see their pay reduced by 7%. Also included are six of Tucker’s assistants and MSU women’s basketball coach Suzy Merchant.

Tucker’s reduction will come off his base pay, which is listed as $3.8 million. Meanwhile Izzo’s base pay is around $430,000, but his salary reduction will be based off of his total compensation, which is closer to $3.5 million.

Other reductions within the department will be levied on a tiered scale: 6% for salaries between $400,000 to $499,999, 5% for salaries between $300,000 to $399,999, 4% for salaries between $200,000 to $299,999, 2.25% for salaries between $150,000 to $199,999, and 2% for salaries between $100,000 to $149,999.

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Michigan State basketball recruiting target Karim Mane to stay in NBA Draft

The five-star point guard was considering Michigan State among other schools.

One moving part for the 2020 Michigan State men’s basketball season has settled in.

Five-star Canadian point guard Karim Mané has told ESPN that he will be signing with an agent and keeping his name in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Mané, who is eligible for the draft as a 19-year-old international prospect, was reported to be heavily interested in attending Michigan State if he elected to remove his name from the draft. Marquette, Memphis, DePaul, and Pittsburgh were also involved in the six-foot-five point guard’s recruitment. Mané is projected as a late second round pick or undrafted free agent in the 2020 NBA Draft.

Michigan State will head into 2020 with sophomore Rocket Watts, junior Foster Loyer, and freshman AJ Hoggard all as options at point guard.

MSU is still waiting on whether or not Xavier Tillman and Aaron Henry will return to school or stay in the draft. They have until August 3 to decide.

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Michigan coaches join rival MSU for COVID-19 PSA

To encourage Michigan citizens to wear a mask to slow the spread of COVID-19, coaches of the rival schools made a “wear a mask” PSA.

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It’s not over yet, folks.

Currently, there is a surge of cases of COVID-19 in the United States, well after the curve started to flatten in April and May. Thus, there’s a lot of consternation as to whether or not football will resume this fall.

The Big Ten was the first major conference to announce that it was canceling its nonconference games and moving to a B1G-only schedule. The state of Ohio launched a campaign proclaiming that if fans want football, they should wear a mask.

The state of Michigan went its own route, releasing a video on Wednesday that featured coaches from both its flagship schools.

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From Jim Harbaugh, Juwan Howard and Kim Barnes-Arrico to Mel Tucker, Tom Izzo and Suzy Merchant, the brass of the in-state rivals of Michigan and MSU are putting their words behind a public service announcement to coerce fans of either school to mask up and slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Watch below:

Central Michigan tight end transfer Tony Poljan could be a great fit at Michigan State

Poljan grew up in the Lansing area and is a promising tight end prospect.

One man’s loss is another man’s gain.

That will be true of whichever college football team lands standout tight end Tony Poljan, who on Wednesday announced an intent to transfer out of Central Michigan University.

Poljan, a second-team All-MAC selection in 2019, will be a coveted player in the transfer market, as some NFL scouts have him as a potential late-round selection. Michigan State could have a leg up on the competition to secure the 6-foot-7 standout for a handful of reasons.

First, Poljan is from Lansing. He played his high school ball at Lansing Catholic and the Spartans recruited him back then. The problem was that MSU recruited Poljan as a tight end/athlete and Poljan was determined to play quarterback in college. Thus, he ended up at Central Michigan. Poljan mostly played  quarterback at CMU for his first two seasons, with 147 passing attempts in 2018. He did mix in some snaps at receiver and tight end during those seasons. He switched to tight end full time for the 2019 season and caught 33 passes for 496 yards and four touchdowns while putting his name on the NFL’s radar.

Second, Poljan has familial connections to MSU. His sister Rebecka is currently on the MSU volleyball team. Between growing up in the Lasning area and having a sibling on an MSU team, it’s a safe bet that Poljan is quite familiar with Michigan State, the campus, and the football team. He was on the CMU team that traveled to Spartan Stadium in 2018 and I’m sure is familiar with a handful of players on the Michigan State roster.

Third, MSU has a need at the position. Redshirt sophomore Trenton Gillison is the presumed starter at tight end and flashed some ability in 2019. Behind him there are a lot of question marks between Matt Dotson coming off a torn Achilles and a couple of converted defensive ends in Parks Gissinger and Adam Berghorst. Offensive coordinator Jay Johnson said shortly after his arrival to MSU that the tight end would be the “MVP” of the MSU offense. If that’s truly the case, having two really good options at the position would be more ideal than just one. Transferring up in mid-to-late July is going to be tough, and I’d bet Poljan is looking to go somewhere where snaps are available. He would certainly find that at MSU.

Lastly, Poljan is 6-foot-7 and we know how much Mel Tucker and co. like their tall players.

Tony Poljan and Michigan State could be a match made in transfer heaven. With Poljan’s abilities and connections to MSU and the Spartans’ need for help at tight end, they might just be what each other is looking for.

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WATCH: Training session for Michigan State quarterback commit Hampton Fay

Fay shows off his impressive and healthy arm in a video from his quarterback coach.

Michigan State football feels like they got a plan “A” recruit in 2021 quarterback Hampton Fay.

Fay, a three-star prospect, has been considered underrated at his position since he was offered by the Spartans. (For more on Fay’s recruitment and why he is underrated, read this.)

Fay’s quarterback coach Foster Sawyer released a quick training video on Twitter and in it Fay’s talents are obvious.

Fay quickly goes through three progressions throws, displaying impressive arm strength and down field accuracy.

Now, this is of course throwing against air and in gym shorts, but Fay’s 2019 season was cut short after three games due to a shoulder injury that required surgery to fix. There have been some videos of Fay throwing out there since his procedure, but this is the first I’ve seen of him really opening it up and throwing deep. By the looks of it, Fay’s shoulder has recovered and is up to full strength.

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Locked On Spartans Podcast: Max Christie commits to Michigan State

MSU lands its second five-star prospect in an eight-day span.

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Wil and Matt talk about Michigan State landing five-star basketball prospect Max Christie. They break down MSU’s scholarship situation and then talk to Christie’s high school coach.

You can find the episode on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

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Locked On Spartans Podcast: A FOOTBALL RECRUIT, getting mad at BTN

Let’s yell about the BTN All-Decade football teams.

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Wil and Matt talk about Michigan State’s newest football recruit and the state of MSU’s 2021 class. Then they get mad at BTN for their All-Decade football team.

You can find the episode on iTunes, Spotify and Google Podcasts.

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