LAS VEGAS – Sophomore Sage Kellerman scored a perfect 10.000 on vault to lead No. 11 Michigan State gymnastics to a third-place 196.300 finish at the Super 16 Friday night in Las Vegas in the Spartans' season opener.

No. 1 Oklahoma, the defending back-to-back national champions, took the win with a 197.850, while No. 11 Kentucky posted a 196.775 to secure second. No. 6 Michigan finished fourth with a 195.875.

"I'm really proud of them for coming back from where they did and how they finished," said head coach Mike Rowe. "Knowing we could still make it up on vault and bars, it came together in the end."

The Spartans opened the meet on beam with a 48.800. Juniors Skyla Schulte and Gabrielle Stephen posted the top two scores for MSU with a 9.875 and 9.850, respectively. Senior Giana Kalefe posted a 9.750 in the leadoff spot, while sophomore Nikki Smith scored a 9.700 and senior Delanie Harkness earned a 9.625.

Making her first appearance in the floor lineup since the 2023 Big Ten Championships, sophomore Elle Beaufait led the Spartans to a 48.800 on floor with a team-high 9.800 in the leadoff spot. Schulte posted a 9.775 in the anchor position, while Smith and Stephen earned matching 9.750s. Freshman MaKayla Tucker scored a 9.775 in her collegiate debut and Harkness earned a 9.725.

Debuting a full 10.00 start value lineup, MSU earned its second-best event score of the night on vault with a 49.200. Tucker earned a 9.750 in her second debut of the night, while freshman Gabi Ortiz made the second collegiate debut for the Spartans on Friday with a 9.775. Sophomore Olivia Zsarmani (9.875) and Stephen (9.725) debuted upgraded vaults for MSU and Smith scored a 9.800 in the anchor spot. In the No. 5 spot, Kellerman took the event title with the first vault 10.000 in the NCAA this season and second 10.000 overall, following Maile O'Keefe's (Utah) 10.000 on beam earlier Friday night. Her perfect score is the fourth on vault and fifth overall for MSU.

MSU ended the night with its best event score of the meet on bars, scoring a 49.450 for the second-best team score on the event behind Oklahoma. The Spartans posted five scores of 9.850 or higher, led by a runner-up finish in the anchor spot from Harkness who scored a 9.950. Smith capped off her night with a 9.925 in the No. 5 spot and Zsarmani and Kellerman posted matching 9.850s. Stephen scored a 9.875 to end the night.

In the all-around, Stephen placed ninth with a 39.200 and Smith finished in 10th with a 39.175.

Up next, the Spartans stay on the west coast to compete in the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad in West Valley City, Utah on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. MT.

Recap courtesy of MSU Athletics.

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Michigan State fifth-year senior linebacker Jacoby Windmon announced that he will forgo his final year of college eligibility and declare for the 2024 NFL Draft.

Initially, Windmon entered the transfer portal on Dec. 11. As a redshirt senior, he was limited by a reported pectoral injury this past season, and played in just three games in 2023. However, he had a highly productive career between MSU and UNLV.

More here:

Tom Izzo credits the Spartans performance on defense as of late. Through their last five games, the Spartans are allowing an average of 63 ppg.

I was not at the game last night, but I saw confirmation on Twitter that beer was successfully consumed. Back in the fall, I prepared *the* definitive ranking of beers at Spartan Stadium:


But the selection last night looked a bit different. I did see Sparti Parti but I also saw at least one photo of Oberon Eclipse. Can anyone confirm the full list of options last night?

Malik Hall on his 24-point performance against Penn State:

“It’s really just a blessing... I’ve been here through highs and lows. So just to have a little bit of success and have a little happiness for tonight is something I’m happy for.”

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Michigan State Hockey was back on the ice on Friday night at Munn Ice Arena. The Spartans played an exhibition game against the USNTDP U18 team.

MSU was victorious 5-2. Austin Oravetz, Karsen Dorwart, Joey Larson, Gavin O'Connell and Daniel Russell (empty net goal) scored the five Spartan goals.

The USNTDP has three future Spartans on its roster and one of them, Austin Baker, scored on the power play. The other two are Lucas Van Vliet and Shane Vansaghi.

Michigan State will resume Big Ten play next week for a two game series at Penn State.

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The IIHF World Junior Championship is underway in Gothenburg, Sweden. There are four Spartan players competing in the tournament.

Finland: F Tommi Mannisto
Slovakia: D Maxim Strbak
USA: G Trey Augustine, F Isaac Howard

The tournament runs from Dec. 26 - Jan. 5. All games can be watched on NHL Network.

Maliq Carr went on Instagram Live with Charles Brantley and he had some interesting things to say...

"I know one thing for sure, I'm not coming back to Michigan State... They don't want me there."

He did say that he wants to stay, but Carr added that he met with Jonathan Smith and tight ends coach Brian Wozniak separately. And 10 minutes after the meeting with Wozniak, he got a call from a staff member (he didn't specify who it was from) saying that they should go their separate ways and that he should start looking at other schools.

"If they say they don't want me, I'm not staying. End of story."

for M vs. Alabama?

I was away from computer but watched the game off and on. I have always been a fan of KH professionalism and fairness. I heard some pro M comments from him that surprised me. Skimmed thru here but didn't see any comments. It is a very busy time for me so I could not go thru the game discussion. Did anyone enter the OSU site and see their surprise too?

Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 2025 ATH Bryson Williams recently received an offer from Michigan State, which was his first from a Power Five School.

Williams breaks down the offer, his relationships with the coaching staff and more.

@Seth Berry has the story here:

Malik Hall's 24 points notched a career high in the Spartans blowout of the Nittany Lions Thursday night as MSU picks up its first Big Ten win of the season. @CarterElliott has the full recap up now on the homepage:

BREAKING: Michigan State football has gained its fourth commit of the day as 2024 OL Rustin Young has announced his commitment to the program.

STORY:

Here is what Tom Izzo had to say after Michigan State's 92-61 win over Penn State.

I had reported previously that current Oregon State kicker commit Martin Connington was planning an official visit to Michigan State in January.

He told me today that the official visit is now scheduled for Jan. 19 until Jan. 21.

Connington is listed as a two-star prospect by Rivals, but Kohl’s Kicking rates him as a five-star prospect and ranks him as the No. 5 kicker in the 2024 class.

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Although his exact role not clear at the moment, he was the Minnesota DL coach in 2021 under Rossi
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"Everybody, especially Ohio State, were stealing signals legally, so we had to cheat to do it better for an 'even playing field'" is not the kind of justification one thinks it is...

The new Michigan State staff is already attacking the recruiting trail hard and will be hitting the road this weekend. Additionally, several official visits have already been set up. We will track those official visits here for the month of December. With the early signing period opening on Dec. 20, the staff has limited time to get its signing class together, but, as mentioned, is already hard at work in doing so.

This post will be updated as more news comes in.

Dec. 8-10, 2023:

• 2024 four-star wide receiver Nick Marsh (commit)
• 2024 three-star athlete/linebacker Jadyn Walker (commit)
• 2024 three-star athlete/defensive back Justin Denson Jr. (commit)
• 2024 three-star running back Brandon Tullis (Oregon State commit)
• 2024 three-star linebacker Brady Pretzlaff (Minnesota commit)
• 2024three-star offensive lineman Mercer Luniewski (commit)
• 2024three-star offensive lineman Charlton Luniewski (commit)
• 2024 three-star tight end Wyatt Hook (former Oregon State commit)
• Oregon State transfer quarterback Aidan Chiles (Dec. 9-11)
• 2024 three-star athlete/running back Makhi Frazier
• Oregon State transfer tight end Jack Velling (reported)
• 2024 quarterback Tyler Cherry (reported, Duke commit)

Dec. 13-14, 2023

• Kentucky transfer defensive tackle Jamarius Dinkins (has since committed to Purdue)

Dec. 15-17, 2023:

• 2024 four-star cornerback Jaylen Thompson (commit)
• 2024 three-star athlete/defensive back Andrew Brinson IV (former Oregon State commit)
• 2024 four-star running back Anthony Carrie (visit has been canceled)
• 2024 three-star cornerback Keshawn Williams (commit)
• 2024 three-star offensive lineman Rustin Young (former Oregon State commit)
• Purdue transfer wide receiver Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen (tentative)
• 2024 three-star defensive end Kekai Burnett (former Oregon State commit)
• Purdue transfer wide receiver TJ Sheffield (reported)
• 2024 three-star offensive lineman Payton Stewart (former Oregon State commit)
• 2024 three-star offensive lineman Rakeem Johnson (Oregon State commit)
• Middle Tennessee State defensive end Richard Kinley
• 2024 three-star quarterback Alessio Milivojevic (Ball State commit)
• Tulsa transfer defensive tackle Everitt Rogers (committed to Houston and visit was canceled)
• 2024 two-star wide receiver Austin Clay
• Colorado State transfer defensive back TJ Crandall (canceled)
• 2024 three-star quarterback Daniel Kaelin (canceled)
• Arizona State transfer offensive lineman Isaia Glass (reported)
• Wisconsin transfer linebacker Jordan Turner
• Liberty transfer defensive tackle Kendy Charles
• 2024 three-star defensive back Camren Campbell
• 2024 four-star defensive tackle Francis Brewu (Pittsburgh commit)

Unofficial visits:

-Dec. 15: Holy Cross transfer offensive lineman Luke Newman

January:

-Jan 4, 2024: Louisville transfer defensive tackle Jeff Clark
-Jan. 5, 2024: Northwestern transfer defensive back Rod Heard II
-Jan. 12, 2024: 2024 kicker Martin Connington (Oregon State commit)
-Jan. 18, 2024: Holy Cross transfer offensive lineman Luke Newman

Big Ten play is back underway as Michigan State (8-5, 0-2) hosts Penn State (7-6, 1-1) from the Breslin Center. Tip off is at 7:00 on Peacock. Noah Eagle and Robbie Hummel will be on the call.

This is a big game for the Spartans as they want to avoid starting 0-3 in Big Ten play.

Myself, @Ryan OBleness and @KLuce98 will be in the house tonight.

Former Michigan State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jay Johnson is reportedly headed to Wyoming.

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Could it happen this year? If Washington, Florida State and the winner of Um/Osu remains undefeated and Texas wins out. Georgia gets beat by Bama. Texas beat Bama at Tuscaloosa. Would the committee have the guts to leave out the SEC? Wow it could happen.

I mentioned this in another thread as well, but I figured this update needs its own space.

Sources tell Spartans Illustrated that Michigan State is heavily interested in both Oregon State transfer offensive lineman Tanner Miller and wide receiver Silas Bolden. We can also report that Miller has interest in MSU as well. I’m still not exactly sure of Bolden’s interest in MSU at this juncture, but he is obviously comfortable playing for the staff, so it would make sense if he wanted to learn more about the school and program. Bolden is garnering heavy attention from other programs as well.

They are both priority transfer portal targets for the staff.

Miller received numerous honors in 2023. He earned midseason Associated Press All-American honors. Additionally, he was named to ESPN’s second All-American team, the All-Pac-12 first-team by the Associated Press and the All-Pac-12 second-team by the coaches. Miller was also a nominee for the Burlsworth Trophy, which honors the most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on.

Bolden recorded 54 catches for 746 yards and five touchdowns in 2023. He also returned 17 kicks for 392 yards (23.1 yards per return average) and had a punt return touchdown. Bolden was named second-team All-Pac-12 as a return specialist for the second consecutive season.

Both players have just recently entered the portal, so we don't know just yet if either plans to visit or what those dates will be if they do visit, but we will be sure to update if we learn more.

These are certainly two names to monitor moving forward.

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“A Michigan spokesperson said that it is not being accused of the allegation and believed it was one of the schools targeted in the breach.“

This reeks of farting in an elevator and claiming i was someone else

Just seen this that Martin enters transfer portal ( package deal) ?