We lack a take charge guard and it is key to a deep run. Examples are Shannon Jr. and Chucky Hepburn. They wanted the ball and pretty much pushed their team to victory. The last time we had that type was Cassius.
Our guards are adequate but I can’t compare Hoggard or Akins to them. Tyson could be that player but he appears to me to be a little tentative and his recent stats prove the point.
If we are going to make any kind of a run, Tyson will have to be the one. Your thoughts?
I

"KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NABC has announced the 2023-24 NABC Division I All-District Teams and District Coaches of the Year. The All-District honors are voted on by NABC-member coaches across NCAA Division I."

District 7

First Team

Boo Buie – Northwestern

Zach Edey – Purdue

Terrence Shannon Jr. – Illinois

Tyson Walker – Michigan State

Jahmir Young – Maryland



Second Team

Ace Baldwin Jr. – Penn State

Marcus Domask – Illinois

Dawson Garcia – Minnesota

Braden Smith – Purdue

AJ Storr – Wisconsin



Coach of the Year: Fred Hoiberg – Nebraska

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@ColinJankowski and I were on hand for the first day of Michigan State's 2024 spring practice. No major takeaways off the bat because we mostly only saw stretching and a few drills, but it is an exciting time no less. @Brendanmoore101 wil join us for player interviews later and we should have plenty of content coming. For now, here are some social media posts from practice:

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Get's a 9 seed same as UM, who they beat twice and finished ahead of in the standings.

To make it worse, they are placed in the same regional as the #1 overall seed, undefeated South Carolina.

Great year by the ladies and sadly going to come to a quick tourney end.

Former Ravens Pro-Bowl guard Kevin Zeitler intends to sign a one-year deal with the Detroit Lions, per source. Zeitler is flying to Detroit tonight to take a physical with the plan to sign Tuesday with the Lions.

Jaden Akins took ownership for his performance against Purdue:

“It was just me. It was my fault. It was my fault, not making shots. That’s what the team needed from me today.”

More postgame reaction after Michigan State's loss from Minneapolis:

By @DavidHarns

Tuesday will be Jonathan Smith’s first team practice in East Lansing after arriving in late November.

“It feels like a long time coming to get to working with these guys on the field,” Smith said on Monday. “I know they’re excited.”

Smith is also “eager” to get to learn about his team a little bit more as they step out onto the practice field.

“I’m eager to just kind of learn what it’s like out there,” Smith said. “This is why I chose to coach, is to truly coach and get on the field with them and watch them interact and compete and learn and grow.”

More:

Kirk talks about the value of competition and the MSU QB room he shared with Brian Hoyer (15-year NFL Vet) and Nick Foles (Super Bowl MVP) (Starts at 13:10)

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Please join us in casting your votes for the most favorite Spartan ever. Remember, this is not the best player, but rather the favorite.

A program spokesperson confirmed to Spartans Illustrated that running back Jaelon Barbarin is no longer on Michigan State's football roster.

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As such, he is not listed on the spring roster.

Michigan State Football head coach Jonathan Smith had a press conference ahead of the Spartans first spring practice on Tuesday, March 19.

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There is a Title IX lawsuit filed by women athletes alleging the NCAA and Georgia violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. This lawsuit has the opportunity to shape sports by addressing gender and fairness in competition. Please keep this discussion within forum rules.

Michigan State opens spring practice tomorrow.

Today, MSU released its full numerical roster.

LINK:

With spring practices beginning on Tuesday, March 19, the Michigan State football program will be hosting several prospects during the months of March and April. One of the first visitors this spring was an important one in four-star defensive end/outside linebacker/rush end Jayden Woods, who was in East Lansing for an unofficial visit this past Friday.

The Spartans offered Woods a scholarship in January and have remained in contact with him ever since. Woods listed Michigan State in his top-13 in February.

"I have very good relationships, all are great coaches," Woods noted about MSU's staff. "They're very genuine, straightforward people."

More on Woods' thoughts after the visit here:

NORMAL, Ill. - Led by a 39.500 all-around victory from junior Gabrielle Stephen, No. 8 Michigan State gymnastics concluded the regular season with a tri-meet victory over Illinois State and Lindenwood, scoring a 197.050 at Illinois State's CEFCU Arena Saturday afternoon.

Host Illinois State took second, scoring a 195.975, and Lindenwood finished third with a 195.825. MSU heads into the postseason with an 18-3 overall record.

In addition to Stephen's all-around title, MSU earned at least a share of every event title. Stephen also captured the bars title, her first of the season, while sophomore Olivia Zsarmani won the vault title, senior Baleigh Garcia earned a share of the beam title, and junior Skyla Schulte and Nikki Smith shared the floor title.

"Tonight we got the chance to start on one of our best events and finish on beam, which is great when you get the opportunity to start on anything other than vault or bars like we constantly do in the regular season," said head coach Mike Rowe. "A few uncharacteristic issues in a couple of our floor routines, followed by scores reflecting those issues, shook us a little but the rest of the event improved. We just knew we had to make it up on vault. We did just that. Tied our program record as our 10.0 starts are getting better and better and it ended up getting us out of the little setback we had on floor."

Following the same rotation order as next week's Big Ten Championships, the Spartans started the meet on floor with a 49.275. Smith and junior Schulte led the Spartans in the fifth spot and anchor position, respectively, each scoring a 9.925. Senior Delanie Harkness added the third 9.900-plus score for MSU with a 9.900 in the third spot, while Stephen scored a 9.850. MSU held a narrow lead over Illinois State (49.225) after the first, followed by Lindenwood's 49.825 in third.

MSU took the lead by nearly a point after the second rotation with a spectacular 49.575 on vault, tying the program on the event for the second time this season. Sophomore Olivia Zsarmani captured her second vault title in as many meets, setting a career-high 9.975 and earning a 10.000/9.950 split from the judges. Stephen tied a season-high 9.925 to finish second, while Tucker and Smith earned a share of third place with matching 9.900s. Schulte was the second Spartan to tie a season-high, scoring a 9.875 in the leadoff position and sophomore Sage Kellerman earned a 9.825 in the anchor spot.

The Spartans increased their lead over second-place Lindenwood (148.000-146.975) in the third rotation with a 49.150 on bars. MSU took the top three spots on the event, led by a 9.900 from Stephen, who scored the only 9.900 of the meet on the event and earned the second bars title of the season and third of her career. Schulte (9.875) and Harkness (9.850) rounded out the podium, while Kellerman scored a 9.800 and fifth-year senior Jori Jackard earned a 9.725.

Garcia scored her third 9.925 on beam of the season to lead MSU to a 49.050 in the final rotation. She shared the event title with Illinois State's Madison Kipp, earning her second beam title of the season. Making her second-straight appearance in the beam lineup, Harkness scored a 9.825, which was matched by Stephen in the anchor spot. Schulte scored a 9.800.

Stephen's 39.500 in the all-around was a season high. Schulte finished second behind Stephen in the all-around standings with a 39.500.

"Overall, not our best performance. We still pulled off a 197.050, but it's just the fire to keep us hungry for fixing what we need to without dwelling on anything," concluded Rowe. "We've got Big Tens to focus on this week and our mission and strategy is the same. We're looking forward to a mostly Spartan crowd with lots of cheering and amazing gymnastics. Definitely the best ticket in town."

Up next, the Spartans host the 2024 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships on Saturday, March 23 at Jenison Field House. MSU will compete in the evening session against Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio State at 5:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.

Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Tennis Downed at Penn State​

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 71-ranked Michigan State women's tennis was downed on the road at Penn State, 4-1, to start the Big Ten season.

Action began on the doubles court with the Spartans top tandem of No. 38-ranked Ayshe Can and Nicole Conard sweeping through the pairing of Olivia Dorner and Karly Friedland in clean fashion, 6-0.

Following a loss on court three for MSU, the doubles point came down to the pairing of Ria Bhakta and Marley Lambert going toe-to-toe with Sofiya Chekhlystova and Yvonne Zuffova. In a back-and-forth matchup, the Nittany Lions got the edge and the doubles point with a 6-4 victory.

Penn State hot steam continued into singles competition to clinch the dual with straight sweeps on courts three (6-0, 6-0), one (6-2, 6-2) and four (7-6, 6-1).

Bhakta continues to impress in her first season, securing the Spartans only point on court five as she took down Karly Friedland 6-3, 6-2. The Delray Beach, Florida, native now has nine singles victories which leads the team.

Michigan State will have a quick turnaround as it faces Youngstown State on Saturday, March 16. The match is set to begin at 10 a.m.

Box Score

Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State graduate student Heath Baldwin was named the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association Men's Indoors Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year Thursday.

The prestigious honor comes after the Kalamazoo, Mich. native finished runner-up in the heptathlon at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Boston, Mass. on March 9. Not only was Baldwin's score of 6238 a school record, but it is also the Big Ten record, sixth-best of all time and makes him the current U.S. No. 1 in the event.

The regional award from the USTFCCCA marks Baldwin as the first Spartan to ever receive the award of its kind following his fifth career All-American finish - third as first-team - last weekend.

Prior to notching four personal bests at the national championships, the 2023 MSU Athletics George Alderton Male Athlete of the Year posted a school record in the 60m hurdles on the way to the podium at the B1G Championships (2/23-24), also scoring points in the high jump.

Baldwin qualified for the NCAA Championships on his first and only attempt of the season back in January when he won the heptathlon title at the competitive PNC Lenny Lyles Invite (1/26-27). During the meet he broke the Norton Healthcare SLC facility record in the heptathlon shot put (15.73m) while finishing in the top four of each of the seven events.

Baldwin and the rest of the MSU men's and women's track and field team kicks off the outdoor season on Friday, March 22 at the Clyde Hart Classic in Waco, Texas.

Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State wrestling learned the seeds and opening-round matchups for its five national qualifiers, as the NCAA posted brackets and individual seeding for the 2024 Wrestling Championships on Wednesday night. The Championships will be held from Thursday, March 21, through Saturday, March 23, inside the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

After being added as an at-large bid, senior Caleb Fish enters as the No. 21 seed and is the Spartans' highest individual seed out of the five qualifiers. The Eaton Rapids, Michigan, native will open his third national tournament against a familiar foe, Ohio's Garret Thompson. The two wrestlers faced off earlier in the year in a dual at East Lansing, where Fish bested Thompson with two takedowns and racked up over two minutes of riding time en route to a 7-1 victory.

After placing seventh in last week's Big Ten Championships, graduate 184-pounder Layne Malczewski enters as the second-highest seeded MSU wrestler, slated at No. 23. Malczewski is a veteran in the national tournament, making his fifth appearance. But for the first time in his career, he goes one on one with North Carolina State's No. 10 seed Dylan Fishback in the opening round next Thursday. A native of Macomb, Michigan, Malczewski looks to continue to rise his name into the record books, as last week he earned his 103rd career victory, passing current MSU associate head coach Chris Williams for 20th in program history.

The third Spartan is senior 157-pounder Chase Saldate. After a seventh-place finish at the B1G Championships in College Park, Maryland, Saldate garners the No. 24-seed heading into championship week. In his first contest, Saldate will face Michigan's Will Lewan, in their seventh all-time meeting. The four-time national qualifier is 2-0 overall against Big Ten opponents in the national tournament.

Redshirt senior 141-pounder Jordan Hamdan will enter his second career NCAA Tournament as the No. 28-seed. Hamdan's first round draw is against Anthony Echemendia out of Iowa State. Last week at the Big Ten Championships, Hamdan secured the final automatic bid with a 6-3 victory over Maryland's Kal Miller.

Rounding out the group is redshirt junior Tristan Lujan who makes his national championship debut as the No. 33-seed. Lujan secured his position with a strong day two at the Big Ten Championships with a pair of victories to claim the final allocation spot. Lujan will open the tournament against Brown's Mike Joyce.

Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Wash, Hawley Lead Late Rally in Walk-Off Win over Golden Gophers​

COLUMBIA, S.C. – A walk-off victory highlighted day one of the Garnet & Black Invitational for Michigan State softball on Friday as the Spartans defeated Minnesota (5-4) and fell to No. 22/23-ranked South Carolina (8-0) at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field.

A split on Friday moves Michigan State's record to 12-11 in the non-conference portion of its schedule. Friday's game against Minnesota does not count as a B1G contest.

Game One – Michigan State 5, Minnesota 4
Senior Liv Grey (8-4) tossed her second complete game of the season striking out two and allowing four earned runs on seven hits.

Sophomore Hannah Hawley led the Michigan State offense with a pair of hits including the game-winning home run in the bottom of the seventh. Hawley drove in three to tie for the game high. Also recording hits for the Spartans were junior Macy Lee, sophomore Sydney Doloszycki, senior Jenae Wash and senior Collette Allen. Wash also homered in the seventh as part of a five-run Spartan rally.

Minnesota opened a 3-0 advantage in the third inning after a three-run homer that cleared the left field fence. The Golden Gophers extended their lead to 4-0 after a two-out double down the left field line in the sixth scored one.

Down to its final two outs, Michigan State started to rally. Wash cut the Minnesota lead in half with a two-run shot to left in the bottom of the seventh. It was Wash's first long ball in over two years, last hitting one on February 26, 2022.

With Allen on first after a single, redshirt sophomore Mik Anthony reached on an error to help prolong the inning. A ground out moved both runners into scoring position, but it wouldn't matter for MSU. Hawley sent the first pitch she saw flying over the left field fence to walk-off the Golden Gophers.

It was a return to Carolina Stadium for Hawley who played for the Gamecocks in 2023.


Game Two – #22/23 South Carolina 8, Michigan State 0
Junior Madison Taylor (1-4) allowed four earned runs in 4.1 innings of work before being relieved by junior Faithy Guidry. Guidry recorded an out, allowing four earned runs on three hits and two walks.

Junior Macy Lee led the Spartans offensively with a pair of singles. Senior Alexis Ross, sophomore Britain Beshears and redshirt sophomore Mik Anthony also had hits for Michigan State. Anthony had the lone extra-base hit of the game with a double in the second inning. Sophomore Hannah Hawley reached on a walk while facing her former team.

Taylor got out of trouble in the first, stranding a bases loaded threat to keep things scoreless.

South Carolina struck first however scoring a pair of runs on three hits in the bottom of the second. The Gamecocks plated six runs in the fifth inning to end the game by run rule.

Up Next
Day two of the Garnet & Black Invitational kicks off for the Spartans at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 16 against NC State. NC State is 16-8, and winners of two-straight, after a 1-0 win over Northwestern on Friday morning.

Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Michigan State finds out its fate today. Will the Spartans make their 26th consecutive NCAA Tournament under Tom Izzo? Do they end up in the first four? Will they miss the tournament entirely?

The world will find out tonight at 6 p.m. ET on CBS.

No matter what happens, Tom Izzo will have a press conference after the selection show to offer his thoughts on tonight's proceedings.

In the mean time, what do we think? 10-seed? First four? 9-seed? Out?

Well, the streak continues. 26 in a row. But this one might have been the harriest of them all. Read on to see how Izzo felt starting Saturday night when the bubble talk heated up all the way through the last region revealed during the selection show.

MSU is the No. 9 seed in the West Region, playing against No. 8 seed Mississippi State. The Bulldogs went 21-13 overall and 8-10 in SEC Conference PLAY. Guard Josh Hubbard averages 17.1 points per game, and 6'7 forward Cameron Matthews leads them in rebounds (6.9), blocks (0.7), and steals (2.0) for a team that averages 74.8 points per game and allows 69.1 points per game. It should be a good matchup for the Spartans.

OFFENSE: Miss State finishes as the rim and gets their share of offensive rebounds; MSU will have to block them out. They are not a great 3-point shooting team.

DEFENSE: They have an excellent defense vs. both shots in the paint and 3-point shots. Teams to get to the free throw line against them.

Michigan State earns its first NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Roybn Fralick in her first at bat.