Spartans get a Commit from ASU transfer Jaddan Simmons

Jaddan averaged 9.5 PPG, had 104 assists and 57 steals at Arizona State last year!

It’s scary to think of the type of skill players MSU put on the field for a period. Jayden Reed, Speedy Nailor, Keon Coleman, and K9!!! CRAZY!!!!

Wingo, from St. Louis, started his career at Missouri in 2021, then transferred to LSU. He played in eight games as a junior in 2023, with seven starts. He had 25 tackles, five tackles for loss and 4½ sacks. He had surgery for a lower-body injury late in the regular season.

Strengths​

• Hustles to beat the blocker to the spot.
• Uses hands and power to work across lateral blocks.
• Good bend and base strength to challenge a downhill block.
• Above-average reactive athleticism with short-area quickness.
• Experience rushing off the edge expanded his skill set and process.
• Lateral quickness and leverage create rush wins into the pocket.

Weaknesses​

• Undersized and can be smothered by bigger blockers at times.
• Widened off the spot by angle blocks, allowing lane to grow.
• Punch-and-shed action at point of attack can be labored.
• Rush can become too straight-legged into contact.
• Longer guards can slow his upfield charge with early hands.

I saw on the MSU site that the Men defeated UM4-3 but when you go through the box score, everything is screwed up. For instance it has Houmann winning #2 singles for UM but also winning #3 singles for MSU. This happens several other times in the box score. Does anyone know what the real outcomes were?

Former Spartan WR Keon Coleman was taken with the first pick in 2nd Round, No. 33 overall to the Buffalo Bills.

Transferring to Florida State upset many Spartan fans, but he still has some friends here.

Coach Hawk did a very good job with Jailon Nailor, Jayden Reed, and Keon Coleman.

Jay Johnson's offense wasn't that great, but they were proficient with deep balls where guys could make plays.

Another example would be Rocky Lombardi to Ricky White, who eventually transferred to UNLV.

With the No. 205 overall pick, the Lions select...Christian Mahogany G, Boston College

Per NFL.com...

Strengths​

• Has broad, girthy build and plays like a big man.
• Has heavy hands to jolt and knock opponents off-kilter early on.
• Tape of him pulling and wiping out defenders is a coach's dream.
• Has upper-body power and chippy demeanor to maul and scrap at the point.
• Consistent use of inside hands bolsters an already sturdy protection anchor.

Weaknesses​

• Pad level suffers from inability to play with consistent bend.
• Inconsistent contact balance and body control throughout the strain phase.
• Double-teams footwork and fit tend to be a little too sloppy.
• Heavy feet open him to arm-over moves and spin counters.
• Lacks lateral quickness to slide and mirror with edge-to-edge rushers.

Tariq "RIQ" Watson---has been offered by MSU per sources and saw action in 13 games last season for the Gophers and has an obvious connection to Joe Rossi.

He has some speed:

In high school: He placed second as a junior at the May 2021 Louisiana 4A state meets in the 200 meters (21.40) and third in the 100 meters (10.49). Ran the second leg of Helen Cox' 4A state-qualifying 4x100 relay.

Detroit Lions use second-round pick No. 61 overall for Ennis Rakestraw Jr CB from Missouri

With Terrion Arnold from Round 1, it has been a good draft so far for the Lions.

Another Holmes pick with a torn ACL however, is par for the course lol

NFL DRAFT PROFILE per NFL.com

Strengths​

• Highly competitive with quality toughness at the position.
• Rough ride for receivers when he’s jamming them from press.
• Excellent body control allows him to stay in phase against comeback routes.
• Drives hard to the throw from off coverages and runs through targets.
• Uses well-timed punches and slaps to disrupt the catch try.
• Salty in run support with willingness to wrap and lift ball-carriers.

Weaknesses​

• Handsy play that will be flagged in the NFL.
• Won’t often get head turned to find the football on deep throws.
• Displayed some confusion from zone coverages in 2022.
• Recovery speed comes into question at times.
• Tore his ACL in 2021 and missed multiple games in 2023 due to groin injury.

If you are not an early-round pick with guaranteed money, it is usually better to be a free agent than a late-round draft pick. The reason is that you may be offered by multiple teams, and as a player, you can check the roster, the scheme, the potential fit, get with your college coaches, and make an educated decision.

Congrats to Nick Samac on being drafted, and good luck to the other nine guys trying to find a free-agent slot.

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TEN THOUGHTS: The Spartans NFL Draft Preview and How the "New" Big Ten Will Change the Draft...

A closer look at Ten MSU football players who desire to play in the NFL, and their chances of making it happen...

The NFL confirmed Friday that it has adjusted its rules to allow players to use Guardian Caps in regular-season games to enhance their protection against head injuries.

The padded headgear was mandated for players at certain positions during training camps in 2022 and 2023. Earlier this year, NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller said that Guardian Caps have contributed to a nearly 50% reduction in concussions for the position groups that wore them during those periods.

Per a Michigan State spokesperson, wide receiver Antonio Gates Jr. has withdrawn from transfer portal. He is now expected to rejoin the Spartans.

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Will have more on her for you all tomorrow.

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Lions Compensatory pick at No. 132 is Utah RB/S Sione Vaki

Likely a specials team player, not an NFL RB

NFL.Com Profile:

Strengths​

• Productive tackler with a nose for the ball on coverage teams.
• Works eyes from quarterback to the route as split safety.
• Heavy hands send jarring punch into blockers’ attempts.
• Comes to balance and makes himself wide as open-field tackler.
• Patient to launch tackle tries only when he has target locked in.

Weaknesses​

• Backpedal is sluggish and fails to gain enough ground.
• Struggles to flip hips and run in phase with the route.
• Can be exploited when tasked with man coverage duties.
• Short arms and limited athleticism shrink his range as a tackler.
• Has very little margin for error playing in big spaces.

or should we all jump together! Just having fun, but what a day. Mods, were there any rumblings going on about Harmon/Berger or was this tight lipped? Must be about the $ bag because they surely were going to play significant reps. I guess not everyone can be a SPARTAN, next dawg up!

MSU Offensive Line Coach Jim Michalczik coached the highest drafted Oregon State player since 1963.

Oregon State OT Taliese Fuaga was picked No.14 overall by the New Orleans Saints last night (4/25/2024).

Fuaga was graded as the nation's No. 1 run blocker by Pro Football Focus, at 90.7.

He was also offered by Oregon, Nevada, and USC out of high school and had a 5.5 rating from Rivals and 3-Stars.

It shows you what Coach M can bring to the table in terms of coaching and developing players.

Agent Shawn O'Gorman confirms to Spartans Illustrated that Michigan State will host his client, Auburn transfer wide receiver Ja'Varrius Johnson, for an official visit from April 25 through April 27. We have also confirmed this through Michigan State sources.

Pete Nakos was the first to report.

Johnson has recorded 64 career receptions for 1,114 yards and eight touchdowns in 35 career games played with the Tigers. He has also recorded 83 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.

In 2023, he tallied 19 receptions for 347 yards (18.3 yards per catch) and three receiving touchdowns, in addition to one rushing touchdown.

Johnson was a three-star prospect out of Hewitt-Trussville High School in Alabama in the 2019 class and ranked as the No. 58 wide receiver in the cycle.

Johnson would enter his sixth and final year of eligibility in 2024.

As we reported previously, wide receiver was a position we expected the Spartans to target in the spring window, especially after parting ways with TJ Sheffield (who recently committed to UConn).

East Lansing, Mich. – To see their name pop on the television screen during the selection show for the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Regionals wasn't a surprise to members of Michigan State's women's golf team, even if they were part of the last of five regionals announced. The Spartans, after all, are serving as the host for the NCAA East Lansing Regional.

But it was still a thrill for Head Coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll and her team when the East Lansing Regional, featuring No. 5 seed Michigan State, appear.

"It's always exciting when you see your name appear for an NCAA Regional," Slobodnik-Stoll said. "Obviously, it was a bit different since we're the host, but it's still a great feeling and a great sense of accomplishment.

"It's that confidence knowing that we did it last year, we can do it again this year. We have the same players on the team this year from last year (when MSU won the Palm Beach Regional in 2023), so they are better, they are more mature, they have grown over the last year."
The Spartans were an at-large selection and are the No. 5 seed among 12 teams in the East Lansing Regional, which will be hosted by Michigan State, the Lansing Sports Commission and the Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau. The regional will be played at the Forest Akers West Course, from Monday, May 6 to Wednesday, May 8.

The 12 teams competing in the East Lansing Regional include, in order of seed, Southern California, Northwestern, Florida, Pepperdine, Michigan State, Kentucky, Denver, Oklahoma State, Indiana, Augusta, Illinois State and Oakland.

"The mindset, as it is with every other regional, is getting one of those five spots (to advance to the NCAA Championships)," Slobodnik-Stoll said. "Without question, they have the talent to win another regional. It's the exact same six players that we had last year. It's also comforting being in your own town and on your own golf course."

The field also includes six individual competitors – Isabel Sy (Illinois), Catie Craig (Western Kentucky), Lauren Beaudreau (Notre Dame), Carmen Griffiths and Hana Ryskova (Louisville) and Kate Petrova (Evansville).
Michigan State will be making its 24th NCAA Regional appearance since 1999, all under Slobodnik-Stoll.

Michigan State is ranked No. 30 in the country in the latest NCAA Division I rankings and is coming off a runner-up finish at the Big Ten Championships last weekend. The Spartans were one of eight schools from the Big Ten Conference to reach the NCAA Regionals.

Three of Slobodnik-Stoll's former players will be coaching teams or individuals at the East Lansing Regional. Florida's head coach is Emily (Bastel) Glaser, who graduated in 2002, played for the team from 1999-2002 and is a member of the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. Oakland's head coach is Sarah Burnham, who graduated in 2018 and is one of the most decorated golfers in program history, being named an All-American three times and earning Big Ten Player of the Year honors twice. Notre Dame head coach Caroline Powers-Ellis, who will coach an individual at the regional, graduated from MSU in 2013, was a three-time honorable mention All-American and an All-Big Ten First Team selection.
Regional play will take place May 6-8 at six regional sites, with 396 participants and each site featuring 12 teams and six individuals.

The top five teams (30 teams total) and the low individual not on an advancing team (six individuals total) from each regional site will advance to compete in the national championships to be played May 17-22 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.

Championship play will be hosted by University of Texas at Austin, with the final three days of the championships televised live by the GOLF Channel.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Frank, Dzierwa lead Spartans into home state for MSU's penultimate conference road weekend series.​

• Michigan State hits the road for its penultimate conference road weekend series, heading to Columbus, Ohio to battle the Buckeyes of Ohio State in a three-game Big Ten Conference series, Friday-Sunday, April 26-28 at OSU's Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium ... Friday's series opener is slated for a 6 p.m. start time, followed by Saturday's 2 p.m. first pitch, before wrapping up on with Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m.

• This weekend marks the third time in the last four seasons that MSU and OSU have played in Columbus.

• The Spartans' schedule is subject to change, stay tuned to MSUSpartans.com and @MSUBaseball on X/Twitter for schedule updates.

• Fans can follow this weekend's action with "Watch Live," "Live Stats" and "Listen Live" links, where available, at MSUSpartans.com.

• For the eighth-straight year, the Spartan Media Network will carry a live audio stream for all home and select road Spartan baseball games this season ... The broadcast will be available exclusively at MSUSpartans.com by clicking on "Listen Live" on the baseball schedule ... Broadcast veteran Scott Moore calls the action, with Spartan baseball alum Jim Cotter providing analysis for select home games.

COACH VAN AMEYDE BACK WITH TEAM
• Michigan State veteran pitching coach Mark Van Ameyde (VAN-uh-mead) is returning to the dugout this weekend after behind away from the team since mid-March after undergoing a successful kidney transplant on March 20 ... Van Ameyde's wife, Melissa was his donor.

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RETURNING TO COLUMBUS
• After not traveling to Columbus from 2015 until 2021, Michigan State is now making its third trek to Columbus in the last four years ... the Spartans and Buckeyes played in Columbus in 2021 and 2022, after not playing there since 2015 ... the 2015 series was end of streak of 10 games there in a row, the longest stretch in the series history.

ABOUT OHIO STATE
• The Buckeyes have a 19-18 overall and 6-6 B1G ledger ... OSU is 2-3 in its last five games and 6-4 in its last 10 ... the Buckeyes are coming off a wild 14-13 loss at Wright State on Tuesday, getting overtaken and walked off in the bottom of the ninth after taking a 13-12 lead in the top of the ninth ... the 14-13 score was identical to OSU beating Wright State in Columbus the previous Tuesday on April 16.

• Last weekend Ohio State lost a weekend series at Michigan, dropping the opener, 4-0, before bouncing back in a big way with a 16-1 walloping of the Wolverines, but dropped the rubber match on Sunday, 7-5.

• Ohio State is hitting .277 as a team, with 349 hits (9.4 pg) and 253 runs (6.8 pg), with 36 HR (0.97 pg) ... the Buckeyes are also 67-of-90 on the basepaths (1.8 stolen bases per game) ... OSU leads the B1G and ranks 36th in the NCAA in stolen bases per game, while ranking second in the league and 45th in the nation in total stolen bases, trailing league-leader Rutgers with 70.
• The Ohio State pitching staff has a combined ERA of 5.70, with 298 strikeouts (8.1 pg) and 176 walks (4.8 pg), with no shutouts ... the opposition has a .272 average.

• OSU head coach Bill Mosiello is in his second season leading the Buckeyes, with a 50-43 record ... Mosiello came to Columbus following nine seasons as the associate head coach at TCU for nine seasons (2014-22).

OSU TEAM LEADERS
STAT VALUE NO NAME (YR, POS)
AVG .329 #6 Henry Kaczmar (SO, INF)
SLG .571 #7 Nick Giamarusti (OF)
OB % .458 #1 Joseph Mershon (GR, INF)
H 48 #6 Henry Kaczmar (SO, INF)
HR 5 #42 Tyler Pettorini (JR, INF) & #28 Trey Lipsey (JR, OF)
RBI 34 #42 Tyler Pettorini (JR, INF)
SB 13 #1 Joseph Mershon (GR, INF)

ERA 1.59 #11 Gavin DeVooght (FR, RHP)
Ws 4 #35 Landon Beidelschies (SO, LHP) & #31 Jacob Morin (GR, RHP)
SO 65 #35 Landon Beidelschies (SO, LHP)
IP 56.0 #35 Landon Beidelschies (SO, LHP)
SV 6 #4 Justin Eckhardt (GR, RHP)

COMMON OPPONENTS
• Michigan State and Ohio State have two common opponents in Michigan and Purdue.

• The Spartans played Michigan in a non-conference game on March 26 in Ann Arbor, with a deluge of runs and rain in a 16-6 Victory for MSU ... Michigan State hosts UM next weekend, Friday-Sunday May 3-5 in a B1G series ... the Buckeyes are coming off a weekend series at UM in Ann Arbor, dropping the opener, 4-0, before bouncing back in a big way with a 16-1 walloping of the Wolverines, but dropped the rubber match on Sunday, 7-5

• OSU hosted Purdue March 29-31, and the Buckeyes won the series, winning the first two games, 8-2 and 12-10, before falling in the finale, 7-1, to deny Ohio State the sweep ... MSU played at Purdue on April 12-14, losing 7-2, 14-0 and 21-1 in the weekend series in West Lafayette.

HEADIN' HOME TO THE BIRTHPLACE OF AVIATION
• The Spartans have two players who are from Ohio, the Birthplace of Aviation, on their roster, in senior outfielder Jack Frank (Strongsville/Strongsville HS) and sophomore pitcher Joseph Dzierwa (Haskins/Otsego HS) ... Frank is MSU's starting right fielder, while Dzierwa is Friday night's probable starter on the mound.

• MSU also has one member of its staff from Ohio in Director of Player Development Adam Eaton, who is a native of Springfield, Ohio (Kenton Ridge HS) and played at Miami, where he was a two-time All-Mid-American Conference honoree for the RedHawks, earning first-team accolades in 2009 and second-team honors in 2010 ... Eaton also earned second-team All-Mideast Region recognition in both 2009 and 2010, before being drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 19th round of the 2010 MLB Draft ... Eaton played Major League Baseball for 10 seasons (2012-21), before retiring prior to the 2022 season, including winning the World Series with the Washington Nationals in 2019 ... He was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 19th round of the 2010 MLB Draft out of Miami of Ohio.

• Eaton is still Miami's single-season triples record holder with nine in 2010, along with the career record holder with 18 from 2008-10, in addition to several other career and single-season marks in the RedHawk record book ... Eaton also holds the Miami single-game record for both hits and runs, with six of each in a game at Furman on Feb. 20, 2010.

HOME STATERS
• The Spartans have 22 players on its 2024 roster from the state of Michigan, while the Buckeyes also have 22 Ohio natives on their roster ... MSU has the aforementioned three Ohio natives on its roster, while Ohio State has three Michiganders on its roster in freshman pitcher Gavin DeVooght (Walled Lake/Walled Lake Central HS), junior outfielder Trey Lipsey Southfield/Birmingham Grove HS) and sophomore pitcher Hunter Shaw (Chelsea/Chelsea HS/Lansing CC).

FROM STARS TO FOES
MSU junior catcher Hunter Bright and OSU sophomore pitcher Hunter Shaw were teammates at Lansing Community College last season for coach Steven Cutter ... Bright and Shaw helped LCC to the NJCAA Division II World Series for the second-straight season, advancing to national semi-finals, finishing third with a 50-12 overall record, winning back-to-back Region 12 championships.

BOSS 800
• MSU's game vs. Central Michigan on April 9 was MSU head coach Jake Boss Jr.'s 800th game at the helm of the Spartans, becoming the third MSU baseball head coach to coach 800 games leading the Spartans and also the third with 400+ wins, joining John Kobs and Danny Litwhiler.

Coach Years Gms. W L T Pct.
John H. Kobs 1935-63 (39) 969 576 377 16 .603
Daniel W. Litwhiler 1964-82 (19) 859 489 362 8 .574
Jake Boss Jr. 2009-pres. (16th) 807 433 374 0 .537

POWERS-ING WAY UP RECORD BOOK
• Spartan senior southpaw Nick Powers earned the win in Saturday's 11-5 Victory for MSU over Penn State ... the win was Powers' sixth of the season and 19th of his career, moving up to tie for No. 9 on MSU's career wins list, matching Tim Day (2002-05) and Andrew Waszak (2010-13).

• Powers is also just two strikeouts away from cracking the top 10 strikeouts list, as he enters the weekend with 178 career Ks, just two shy from tying Mick VanVossen (2012-15) and Mickey Sinks (1959-61) with 180 ... Powers is just 22 strikeouts away from becoming just the sixth Spartan pitcher to reach the 200 Ks plateau.

• Powers is third in the B1G and 73rd in the NCAA in strikeout-walk ratio (4.17).

NIFTY FIFTY FOR FRANK IN RECORD BOOK
• Senior outfielder Jack Frank swiped his 17th stolen base of the season and the 50th of his career, becoming the sixth Spartan to swipe 50 career stolen bases and the first since former teammate and fellow outfielder, Bryce Kelley (2017-21), who became MSU's stolen base king, breaking the record and finishing with 83 stolen bases.

• Frank is tied with Brandon Hughes (2015-17) for No. 5 on MSU's stolen base list.

FRANK-ING FAST ON THE BASEPATHS
• Senior outfielder Jack Frank is also third in the B1G and 68th in the NCAA with the 17 stolen bases ... he also is fourth in the conference and 75th in the country in stolen bases per game (0.46).

• The 17 swipes is just two shy of his single-season career-high of 19 stolen bases last season, and is his third-straight double-digit swipes season after 10 in 2022.

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State's men's golf team tees off in the Big Ten Championships on Friday morning at the Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio.

The three-day, 54-hole tournament is being played on the par-70, 7,240-yard course, the first 18-hole course in central Ohio but the Club where golf's greatest player, Jack Nicklaus, learned the game.

The 14-team field will tee off on Friday, April 26 and play 18 holes each day through Sunday, April 28. Michigan State tees off starting at 9:20 a.m., playing alongside Northwestern and Indiana.
BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Dates: Friday, April 26 – Sunday, April 28
Course: Scioto Country Club, Columbus, Ohio
Par/Yardage: 70 / 7,240
Format: Stroke play, 54 holes / Play five, count four
Live Stats: Golfstat
Schedule: Friday – 18 holes starting with a 9 a.m. shotgun start
Saturday – 18 holes starting with a 9 a.m. shotgun start
Sunday – 18 holes starting with a 9 a.m. shotgun start

MSU LINEUP
No. 1 – Ashton McCulloch
No. 2 – August Meekhof
No. 3 – Drew Hackett
No. 4 – Brad Smithson
No. 5 – Lucas Acevedo
No. 6 – Lorenzo Pinili

SCIOTO COUNTRY CLUB
Designed as the first 18-hole golf course in central Ohio by renowned Scottish-born architect Donald Ross, it later became the Club where golf's greatest player, Jack Nicklaus, learned the game. With the opening of the golf course in 1916, the Club quickly gained national stature as a pre-eminent facility and a decade later hosted the 1926 U.S. Open Championship won by golfing legend Bobby Jones. This started the rich tournament tradition that Scioto enjoys as one of only five golf courses in the United States to have hosted five different major championships.

THE FIELD (NCAA ranking)
The Big Ten Championships field includes all 14 conference teams, with five of those squads ranked among the top-50 in the country in the latest NCAA Golf Rankings. Michigan State, ranked No.73 in the latest edition, will be joined by Illinois (18), Purdue (28), Ohio State (37), Northwestern (43), Indiana (45), Michigan (83), Iowa (86), Rutgers (88), Wisconsin (89), Minnesota (98), Penn State (114), Nebraska (115), and Maryland (192).

RESULTS
Live scoring for the event is available through Golfstat.

LAST YEAR AT THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Michigan State finished in ninth place among 14 teams in a rain-shortened Big Ten Championships last year at Galloway National Golf Club in New Jersey. The Spartans shot a 26-over par 310 in the first round and finished with a two-round score of 30-over par 598. Ashton McCulloch and August Meekhof were the top finishers for MSU, tying for 23rd place at 6-over par 148.

MICHIGAN STATE IN THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Michigan State has four Big Ten titles, the last of which came in 2008. MSU won three titles (2005, 2007, 2008) in a span of four years with current head coach Casey Lubahn then serving as an assistant coach. The Spartan also won the league crown in 1969.

ABOUT THE SPARTANS
Michigan State closed out the regular season with a runner-up finish at the Illini Spring Collegiate. It wrapped up a final two months of the season in which the Spartans posted five-straight top-five finishes, with runner-up showings at the Hoosier Collegiate and the Illini Spring Collegiate.

Junior Ashton McCulloch has been the team's top finisher seven times this year, including the last four events and last weekend when he finished in second place at even-par 213 (74-69-70). McCulloch leads the team with a 70.90 scoring average and has three top-5 finishes and five among the top-10. Senior August Meekhof is second on the team with a 72.48 average and has three top-20 finishes during the spring, including a tie for 10th place at Illinois last week at 5-over par 218. Graduate student Drew Hackett is third on the team with a 72.61 scoring average and has five top-20 finishes, including a tie for sixth place at the Johnnie-O at Sea Island at 7-under par 209. Graduate student Bradley Smithson carries a 72.66 average, including a season-best 10th place finish at the Illini Spring Collegiate (5-over par 218) and three-straight top-20 finishes.

LUBAHN'S THOUGHTS
"I can't begin to say how proud I am the fight that our guys have shown. Not only this year through some tough stretches, but especially over the last two months when our backs have been against the wall and they responded with some of the best golf all year. We've given ourselves a chance to play in the postseason and that starts with the Big Ten Championships. We are excited to get out on such a legendary course and hope that we can bring home some hardware."

Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics,

Four Spartans Win Postseason Awards, Baris Named B1G Player of the Year​

CHICAGO, ILL. – Four Michigan State Men's Tennis student-athletes received Big Ten postseason awards Thursday, headlined by conference first-teamers sophomore Ozan Baris, the Big Ten Player of the Year and Aristotelis Thanos, the B1G Freshman of the Year.

Graduate student Ronald Hohmann III earned second-team honors while senior Reed Crocker merited the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

Baris, who was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season, becomes the first Spartan to be named Player of the Year since the award's inception in 1987. The Okemos, Mich., native is ranked ninth in singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and as high as fourth, the highest rating of any Big Ten player. He owns a 27-6 singles record, 14-3 in dual matches, 6-0 in B1G play. With junior Max Sheldon he helps form a doubles team that is ranked 16th, as high as first in the nation, after winning the ITA Fall Doubles National Championship in November.

"This team, we set out to do historic things at the beginning of the year, we said we were going to do this and that and it's really cool to see a guy like Ozan, who's really taking the leadership role as a sophomore to get this historic achievement," MSU Head Coach Harry Jadun said. "It's great to see his hard work, dedication, long hours on the court and in the gym pay off but this isn't the end goal for him."

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For Thanos, the 23-year-old from Athens, Greece earns his first collegiate honors. Thanos is 12-2 as a Spartan, 5-1 in conference action. He is 7-0 at the No. 3 singles slot and went on a team-high 11-match winning streak from Jan. 19 to April 7. The 2023 Davis Cup Greek National Team selection is the third Spartan to earn B1G Freshman of the Year and makes it consecutive seasons that an MSU player has collected the award.

"Long time coming for Aris, obviously he had to sit out and redshirt last year and he came out hungry this year," said Jadun. "He's a really good competitor and it's really cool to see the coaches recognize that and hopefully he follows the same path that Ozan is on."

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Hohmann, a Second-Team Southeastern Conference player in 2023 at LSU, earns his second conference award as a Spartan. The Oyster Bay, N.Y. native was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Feb. 28 for two ranked-win clinching efforts that led the Spartans to the Blue Gray Classic final. Hohmann is 24-14 on the year, the ITA's No. 50 player, as high as No. 11, and has been ranked in doubles all season.

"We're so blessed to have Ronnie come in from LSU and take a chance on this program," Jadun said. "This honor is very well deserved and I'm excited to see what he does in Big Ten's and NCAA's."

Crocker represents the Spartans as their Big Ten Sportsmanship award winner in 2024. The program veteran from Kalamazoo, Mich. is 3-1 on the season in doubles.

"If there was an award for Big Ten good guys, Reed would be first team all-good guy," Jadun said. "He brings a great atmosphere to college tennis and he's be excellent for us all four years."

Jadun was outvoted for Big Ten Men's Tennis Coach of the Year, which was won by conference regular season winner Ohio State's Ty Tucker.

The 19th-ranked Spartans take to the courts for their postseason opener in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals as the three seed and will face sixth-seeded national No. 68 Indiana in Chicago, tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET with the match being streamed on B1G+.

Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

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Men's Tennis Sets Sights on Big Ten Tournament Opener Friday​

CHICAGO, Ill. – 19th-ranked Men's Tennis kicks off the postseason Friday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament as the three seed against sixth seeded and national No. 68 Indiana with first serve at 5 p.m. ET.

Live Results | Full Bracket | TV: B1G+

In a season of program firsts, the Michigan State will seek its first Big Ten Tournament title and second ever conference championship, first since 1967. The Spartans have won each of their last three first round matches but have not made it out of the second round since the tournament switched to the single-elimination format in 1999.

The match will be streamed on B1G+ and the winner will advance to the semifinals on Saturday to play the winner of No. 2 seed Michigan vs. No. 7 Northwestern at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Scouting No. 68 Indiana
Indiana finished the regular season 16-10 overall and 4-5 in the Big Ten. In the ITA collegiate tennis rankings, the Hoosiers are represented by sophomore Sam Landau in singles, slotted at No. 100 nationally. In doubles, seniors Michael Andre and Ilya Tiraspolsky combine to make the 67th-ranked pairing.

Series History vs. Indiana
The Hoosiers hold a 63-25 all-time series lead over the Spartans. Michigan State has however come out on top in the previous three meetings between the two sides, including a 7-0 senior day sweep in East Lansing just 18 days ago on April 7.

The Hoosiers were without Landau, their top-rated player, for that match however, while the Spartans sat their own top singles player, Baris. The two are likely to meet on main court Friday.

Spartans in ITA DI Men's Tennis Rankings Update (April 23, 2024)
Singles

• No. 9 – Ozan Baris
• No. 50 – Ronald Hohmann III
• No. 124 – Graydon Lair

Doubles

• No. 16 – Max Sheldon/Ozan Baris
• No. 72 – Ronald Hohmann III/Ozan Baris
• No. 74 – Sebastien Collard/Ronald Hohmann III

They've got Chemistry
In 23 matches second-year head coach Harry Jadun has lined up 19 different doubles pairings, all of which have recorded at least one win while 12 of the duos have winning records.

10-Win Club Singles Lineup

1. Ozan Baris | So. | 14-3, 6-0 B1G, 7-2 at No. 1
2. Ronald Hohmann III | Gr. | 12-10, 3-6 B1G, 4-3 at No. 2
3. Aristotelis Thanos | R-Fr. | 12-2, 5-1 B1G, 7-0 at No. 3
4. Sebastien Collard | Gr. | 13-8, 3-5 B1G, 3-3 at No. 4
5. Max Sheldon | Jr. | 14-5, 5-3 B1G, 6-1 at No. 5
6. David Saye | So. | 10-6, 5-2 B1G, 2-1 at No. 6

Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Spartan Track & Field will compete at three meets to wrap up the last week regular season competition, including the highly-touted 128th edition of Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa. on Friday and Saturday, April 26 and 27.

Select women's distance runners and members of the men's and women's throws crew will kick off the week at the GVSU Extra Weekend meet in a one-day competition in Allendale, Mich. Thursday. A handful of MSU jumpers and sprinters will compete at the Len Paddock Invitational on Saturday.

At last year's Penn Relays the Spartans broke three women's relays school records in the distance medley relays, 4x1500m relay and the 4x800m relay. The last time the MSU women raced the DMR, Shae Harbaugh, Abbey Carvey, Kate Stewart-Barnett and Lauren Freeland won the Big Ten Indoors title on Feb. 23.

The three meets will conclude the regular season for the Spartans ahead of the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships which will take place from May 10-12 in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Season Headlines Review
Jim Green Invite – April 19-20 | Lexington, Ky. & Virginia Challenge – April 19-20 | Charlottesville, Va. & Al Owens Classic – April 20 | Allendale, Mich.
Personal Bests Plentiful for Spartans at Weekend Meets, Pole Vaulters Shine
The distance squad accepted the challenge at the Virginia Challenge as the majority of Spartans collected PRs on the weekend. Several individual breakthroughs were made, including the return of junior Kaitlyn Hynes and the men sweeping wins in each of the four 1500m heats.

The sprints, throws and jumps teams meanwhile put the 'Green' in the Jim Green Invite in Lexington, Ky.. Spartans swept the pole vault victories as sophomore Sophia Mettes continued her continual growth with a 4.27m PR, winning the event by over a foot on Friday, ranking her as NCAA East Region No. 6. Sophomore Adam Blue topped the competition at 5.12m, his first time clearing five meters in his career. Junior Valadian Pallett won the hammer throw by .8 meters behind a PR of 54.82m.

Mt. SAC Relays – April 17-18 | Torrance, Calif.
Baldwin Meets Olympic Standard, Breaks Several Records
Heath Baldwin's decathlon score of 8470 at the Mt. SAC Relays poises him for the 2024 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, ranking as the U.S. No. 1, world No. 3 and NCAA seventh-best of all time.

The Kalamazoo, Mich. native's score over the ten events meets the Olympic standard and makes him the current Team USA Decathlon Olympic trials front-runner for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

Baldwin breaks the Big Ten conference decathlon record and shatters his own MSU school record by 386 points, set at the 2023 Mt. SAC Relays. The graduate student used four personal best marks over the two-day competition (100m dash, long jump, 400m dash and javelin) to reset his school record overall score, with his javelin throw of 71.02m also breaking his school record in the event.

Bryan Clay Invite – April 11-13 |Azusa, Calif. & JMU Invite – April 13 | Harrisonburg, Va.
Track & Field Continues Success with 10 wins at JMU, Women Set PR's at Highly-Touted Bryan Clay
Michigan State Track and Field wrapped up a full weekend of action with 10 victories at the JMU Invite Saturday while three Spartans from the women's distance team recorded solid marks at the highly-touted Bryan Clay Invite.

Representing the green and white at the Bryan Clay Invite in Azusa, Calif. junior Kate Stewart-Barnett in the 3000m Steeplechase Thursday and graduate student Katie Osika in the 5000m Friday both logged significant PR's among talented competition.

Spartan Invite – April 5 | East Lansing, Mich.
Spartans Collect 15 Event Wins on Home Grounds
Graduating seniors contributed to several top performances at their final home meet, the Spartan Invite presented by Auto-Owners Insurance.

Spartans won 15 events on the day including nine of ten consecutive events to end the day, including three straight sweeps of the podium on the track at Ralph Young Field. 21 soon-to-be Spartan Track and Field graduates were recognized during the senior day celebrations.

Raleigh Relays – March 28-30| Raleigh, N.C.
Spartans in all Specialties Solid Throughout Raleigh Relays
At the competitive three-day Raleigh Relays, Spartans across all event specialties put together solid performances, starting with a throws team sweep of the shot put in the first events of day one.

Freshman Jessica Stieb kicked things off, winning the collegiate shot put at 15.99m. Sophomore Colby Morlock won the men's shot put by over two feet behind an 18.53m PR, completing the Spartan sweep of the shot Thursday.

Running unattached and coming off the back of a Big Ten steeplechase title last outdoor season, junior Kate Stewart-Barnett won the 3000m steeplechase at 10:01.08 Friday. National runner-up in the heptathlon during the Indoor season and fellow Olympic hopeful graduate student Heath Baldwin showed his consistent progress with two PRs and third place finishes in the long jump (7.35m) and 110m hurdles (13.81s), also claiming fourth in the pole vault.

Clyde Hart Classic – March 22-23 | Waco, Texas
Men's Sprints Highlight Outdoor Opener
On the first meet day of the outdoor season Friday, it was the senior Kendel Hammock that delivered, posting a 400m hurdles winning time of 53 seconds flat.

On Saturday, junior Noah Sage followed it up with Michigan State's other podium finish of the weekend, a 46.57 400m dash time, which is good for the 13th fastest in NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field on the young season.

Other notable performances included a pair of top-five finishes on the women's side. On Friday, sophomore Natalie Blake pole vaulted to a fourth-place finish at 4.00m. Freshman and MSU Indoor shotput record holder Jessica Stieb tossed the shot 16 meters, good for fifth.

Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – In a hard-fought bout that came down to the final court, the Michigan State women's tennis team season came to an end on Wednesday morning, losing to the No. 12-seeded Rutgers, 4-3 in the first round of the Big Ten Championships.

The first match of the B1G Championships turned to be a thriller from start to finish; beginning with the Spartans opening play taking the doubles point. The Scarlet Knights attacked early taking court No. 2, 6-1.

On the top court, senior Ayshe Can and junior Liisa Vehvilainen are coming off a ranked victory against Iowa last Sunday, but found themselves trailing 3-5 to Yana Gurevich and Mai Nguyen. The Green and White duo would soar back to win four-straight games to secure the come-from-behind victory, 7-5.

The deciding point came down to the final court with the young pairing of sophomore Marley Lambert and freshman Natalie Stasny. It was a back-and-forth matchup against Amira Badawi and Naomi Karki going into a 6-6 tiebreaker match, the Spartans young duo pulled off a nail-biting 8-6 victory, giving their team an early advantage into singles play.

Rutgers would take the first lead of the day, sweeping courts one (6-1, 6-4), four (6-2, 6-2) and six (6-3, 6-3) in straight sets.

Michigan State continued to fight and keeping the match close with victories on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts. Sophomore Matilde Morais opened her match in the second slot blanking Tara Chilton 6-0 and kept the domination going on the second set, 6-2, giving the Spartans another point.

No. 109-ranked freshman Ria Bhakta – who missed the final three matches of the regular season – made her return to the starting lineup and didn't appear to miss a beat. The lone individual ranked player for MSU defeated Amira Badawi, 6-4, 6-1, tying the match 3-3.

The determining point came down on court No. 5 with Stasny going head-to-head with Minchae Kim that came down to a third and final set. Stasny battled back to take the second set, 6-2 but was in an early 1-5 deficit. The young freshman from Woodbridge, Illinois, worked her way back from 40-love to make it 2-5 and almost pulled off another comeback from 30-love to tie it 40-40 but fell in a heartbreaking 2-6 match. Stasny showed a lot of grit in her first B1G Championships appearance and looks to be a key piece for the Spartans moving forward.

Michigan State finished the season with a 10-16 record and 1-10 against Big Ten foes. The Spartans eclipsed the 10-win threshold for the first time since the 2018-19 season.

MATCH RESULTS

No. 12 Rutgers 4 vs. No. 13 Michigan State 3

Doubles

No. 1 -- Ayshe Can/Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU) def. Yana Gurevich/Mai Nguyen (RU) 7-5

No. 2 -- Tara Chilton/Minchae Kim (RU) def. Matilde Morais/Nicole Conard (MSU) 6-1

No. 3 -- Natalie Stasny/Marley Lambert (MSU) def. Amira Badawi/Naomi Karki (RU) 7-6 (8)

Singles

No. 1 -- Yana Gurevich (RU) def. Liisa Vehvilainen (MSU) 6-1, 6-4

No. 2 -- Matilde Morais (MSU) def. Tara Chilton (RU) 6-0, 6-2

No. 3 -- Ria Bhakta (MSU) def. Amira Badawi (RU) 6-4, 6-1

No. 4 -- Mai Nguyen (RU) def. Issey Purser (MSU) 6-2, 6-2

No. 5 -- Minchae Kim (RU) def. Natalie Stasny (MSU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2

No. 6 -- Jackeline Lopez (RU) def. Ayshe Can (MSU) 6-3, 6-3

Order of Completion: Doubles 2-1- 3; Singles 1-4-2-6-3-5

Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.