Tag: msu spartans

Locked On Spartans Podcast: Jerel worthy joins the show

The MSU great dishes on current events, his time in the NFL and his MSU career.

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Wil and Matt are joined by MSU great Jerel “4-0 against Michigan” Worthy to talk about current events, how crazy Buffalo Bills fans are and the time Will Gholston punched Taylor Lewan, among many other things.

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

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Locked On Spartans Podcast: RIP Quality Dairy on Grand River

Plus, MSU football returns to campus and some recruiting talk.

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Wil and Matt pay their respects to the Quality Dairy on Grand River which is being torn down. Then they talk about MSU athletes returning to campus for voluntary workouts and football recruiting.

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

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Michigan State basketball staff virtually meets with top-50 sophomore Donovan Clingan

MSU’s staff met with seven-foot prospect Donovan Clingan as the recruiting communication period opens for the class of 2022.

The recruiting world for basketball players in the class of 2022 is about to heat up.

Starting at midnight eastern on Monday, June 15, college basketball coaches are permitted to start contacting ’22 prospects. But Michigan State’s staff was virtually meeting with top sophomore Donovan Clongan prior to the midnight start, according to Jake Weingarten of Stockrisers.com.

As Weingarten mentions, Clingan was permitted to contact MSU’s staff prior to midnight and it’s a safe bet Tom Izzo and staff weren’t about to commit a recruiting violation for a 30-minute head start. Nonetheless, Izzo and co. are making an early move for Clingan, a seven-foot center out of Bristol, CT. The Spartans are yet to offer the big man, but one could be on the horizon soon.

Clingan is a prolific scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker according to MSU hoops savant Seouljaa.

With the communications between coaches and players now open in both directions, it’s safe to assume MSU will be starting to make it known which rising prospects they are honing in on for their 2022 class.

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Tom Izzo named one of the most influential people in college basketball

Izzo is one of a number of college basketball coaches to be honored.

Tom Izzo has been named of the 100 most influential people in college basketball by Silver Waves Media.

The list is comprised of college coaches, conference commissioners, and other people impacting the college basketball world. According to Silver Waves, to be considered for the list a candidate must either win at a high level, produce top-flight talent, effect movement int he college coaching carousel, or have his or her fingerprints all over the sport.

It’s fair to say that Izzo qualifies for any one of those categories. While the listing is ranked alphabetically instead of numerically, it’s safe to assume Izzo is going to find himself near the top of any type of list measuring influence in college hoops.

Of Izzo Silver Waves, writes, ” You can never count the Spartans out under Tom Izzo. The Naismith Hall of Famer has a winning clip of .706 in the month of March, which ranks fourth among all active coaches with at least ten tournament games coached. His 52 NCAA Tournament wins are the most ever for a Big Ten coach, and rank sixth all-time. The winningest coach in Michigan State history has led his Spartans to seven Final Four appearances between 1999 and 2015, making the program just one of four to ever accomplish such a feat in a 17-year span. His seven Final Four appearances rank fifth all-time, third among active coaches and first all-time among Big Ten coaches. He has always been atop the Big Ten with his teams too. His .696 winning percentage in Big Ten games ranks third all-time among league coaches with at least 10 years of service. With 288 conference victories, Izzo ranks second all-time, trailing just Indiana’s Bob Knight (353 wins), while also ranking second for most wins at a Big Ten institution (606), trailing just Knight (662). The legendary success has kept multiple eyes of decision makers on the program. Former assistants Jim Boylen, Tom Crean, Tim Buckley, Darrin Horn, Tod Kowalczyk, Buzz Williams, Brian Gregory, Stan Heath, Stan Joplin, Doug Wojcik, Mark Montgomery have all been picked by athletic directors at some point during their career to be a head coach and make up his coaching tree. Additionally, 20 Michigan State players like Jaren Jackson, Miles Bridges, Gary Harris, and Zach Randolph have all been selected by NBA general managers.”

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Michigan State football adds three future home games with Central Michigan

The Chippewas will visit Spartan Stadium in 2023, 2027, and 2030.

What could go wrong?

Michigan State football has announced three future home games with Central Michigan in the years 2023, 2027, and 2030.

The Spartans will host the Chippewas in Spartan Stadium to open the 2023 season on Sept. 2. In addition, the two schools announced future dates in 2027 (Sept. 11) and 2030 (Aug. 31).

MSU leads the all-time series against CMU, 8-3. The Spartans have won four straight against the Chippewas and won the last meeting between the two schools in 2018, 31-20, in Spartan Stadium. CMU’s most recent victory in the series came in 2009 at Spartan Stadium.

The Celebrate State Football Series, which featured ten games between MSU and the three FBS directional schools from 2011-19, has concluded. It was originally supposed to feature three games against each of Central, Western, and Eastern Michigan, with each school hosting the Spartans at home once. However, two of Eastern Michigan’s games, including MSU’s visit to Ypsilanti, were changed due to their being no guaranteed money for EMU going to East Lansing. The Spartans won in Mount Pleasant in 2012.

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Michigan State President Stanley: Football could return with limited fans

Stanley says there could be fans in the stands at Spartan Stadium this fall, although in a limited capacity.

Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley said this week that he could see a scenario in which college football returns this fall with limited fans in attendance amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Stanley appeared on WKAR’s “MSU Today” show on Tuesday to talk about a number of topics, including the return of the school’s biggest money-making sport in the fall. “I think there are ways that this could be done,” he said. “It involves frequent testing of players, coaches and trainers to make sure they’re free of COVID-19 infection.

“It involves physical distancing and making sure anyone who comes on the field doesn’t show any evidence that they’re infected with the virus. If you get there, then I think you can play. Then the next question becomes whether we can have fans in the stands. We would be outside and that reduces risk. And we can spread people six feet apart. Managing the entering and exiting of the stadium is one of the most difficult things to handle. The critical thing will be for all of us to wear masks.”

Spreading fans out to maintain social distancing would of course limit capacity. Numbers ranging from 20 to 30 percent of Spartan Stadium’s 75,005-seat capacity have been bandied about as potential targets, including by athletic director Bill Beekman.

Athletes from football, basketball, and volleyball will be allowed to return to campus for voluntary workouts on June 15. They will undergo two rounds of COVID-19 testing, requiring two negative tests to begin working out.

Stanley also recently announce that students at Michigan State would be returning to campus for the fall semester before turning back to virtual classes after Thanksgiving break on Nov 23.

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Michigan State women’s basketball adds former Ohio State guard Janai Crooms as a transfer

Crooms played a key role of the Buckeyes’ bench in here two seasons.

The Michigan State women’s basketball team has landed a transfer from a Big Ten rival.

Janai Crooms announced on Twitter that she has committed to MSU after transferring from Ohio State after her sophomore season.

Crooms averaged 6.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game last season as a key reserve for the Buckeyes. In her two years at Ohio State, Crooms averaged 7.8 points and 2.8 assists per game. Crooms helped the Buckeyes get to the Big Ten Tournament title game this season, averaging 8.8 points per game through OSU’s four-game run.

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Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo releases statement on the death of George Floyd

Izzo calls for a collective fight to end racism in America.

Michigan State head basketball coach Tom Izzo has released a statement on the death of Georg Floyd.

Floyd died on May 25, 2020 after Derek Chauvin of the Minnesota Police Department knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest. The incident was captured on camera and sparked outrage and protest across the country which has continued through five nights.

In the statement Izzo calls for a collective fight against racism, saying, “If we are going to fight racism, it’s a burden we all share, regardless of the color of our skin.” He continues, “As a country, we must do better. We can’t change the past, but must start to build a better future – a future where everyone feels safe and valued.”

You can read the full statement below. Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker also released a statement on Floyd’s death Friday night.

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Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker releases statement on death of George Floyd

The Michigan State football coach calls the video of Floyd’s death “horrific and heartbreaking to watch.”

Michigan State Football Coach Mel Tucker took to Twitter on Friday night to share his thoughts on the death of George Floyd.

Floyd died on May 25, 2020 after Derek Chauvin of the Minnesota Police Department knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest. The incident was captured on camera and sparked outrage and protest across the country which has continued through four nights.

In his statement Tucker called the video, “horrific and heartbreaking to watch.” Tucker also calls for the collective to, “make our purpose and direction to stop the violence and come together to make our country a better and safer place for our children.”

You can read the statement in full below.

On Friday, May 29 Chauvin was taken into custody and charged with third-degree murder.

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Ian Rapoport: No one treated NFL scouts worse than MSU

A not-so-shocking revelation emerged which certainly gives some ammunition to Michigan fans who delight in hating Michigan State.

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You just hate to see it. Wait — no, you don’t.

After a decade of evening the score and more against its rival Michigan, Michigan State has been on something of a free fall. It turned a surprising win over the maize and blue in 2015 into a College Football Playoff berth, then? 3-9, a seeming rebound, but then a complete fall into irrelevance. Its legendary head coach Mark Dantonio resigned this offseason, on the eve of National Signing Day and the program hired Mel Tucker — a well-respected coach with very little track record.

That said, MSU has to turn things around significantly. The roster is depleted of talent, doesn’t have an obvious starting quarterback on the team — and not due to having multiple competitive options — and lost other big time players, including Cody White and Josiah Scott this offseason. While there’s optimism in East Lansing at the moment, it could be something of a climb for the Big Ten East program.

And then there’s this.

Michigan alum and director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl was recently scouting the Spartans on tape, praising two of its offensive linemen. It seems that he was thus extended an invitation to come to campus sometime in the future, as announced on Twitter by new director of player personnel Scott Aligo. But then NFL insider Ian Rapoport dropped something of a bombshell in response.

While that’s a step in the right direction for MSU, given how much the fanbase continues to chirp at Michigan fans following a 44-10 shellacking, we’ll enjoy the backhanded compliment.

Regime change or not, it’s a glorious revelation.