Michigan State football picked up yet a commitment in its 2024 recruiting class, as three-star offensive tackle Payton Stewart pledge to the Spartans on Tuesday.

"My relationships with the coaches are great," Stewart told Spartans Illustrated. "I really like how they see the future and how they want to win games and that’s what I want to do."

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Do you think there will be any pleasant suprises in the next few days with players committing either from high school or the transfer portal, or even our own players re-committing from the TP that we did not know about or expect?

Michigan State has landed one of its preferred quarterbacks in the 2024 class as three-star prospect Alessio Milivojevic committed to the Spartans on Sunday.

Milivojevic had been previously committed to Ball State, pledging to the Cardinals back in June. However, after officially visiting Michigan State this past weekend, Milivojevic publicly announced his decision to decommit from Ball State on Saturday.

A strong pitch from Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brain Lindgren and the rest of the coaching staff, the chance to play football at the Big Ten level, and the university itself all stood out to Milivojevic.

"Michigan State really stuck out in many ways — playing in the Big Ten, having an amazing coaching staff like this and getting developed by them, and also at the same time getting a great education," Milivojevic told Spartans Illustrated.

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I have been on a personal three-game losing streak when I have covered MSU this fall. So far, I have only attended the Tennessee exhibition, the James Madison loss, and the Wisconsin loss. I was getting concerned that maybe I should just sit this season out. It was fun to see the Spartans play well and win on Monday night. This time, I focused on talking to the players in the locker room following the game.


There was a lot of attention paid to Tyson Walker scoring 1,000 points, with good reason. If nothing else, it has been really fun to watch him mature from a VERY shy mid-major transfer to the man he is today. He is still pretty shy, but two years ago he seemed downright terrified to talk to the media. That has all changed, and it is really cool to see.

That said, I still think that the bigger story was now MSU's bigs played and how MSU used transition to (finally) get past Oakland's zone. That zone was a PROBLEM in the first half, but MSU eventually figured it out. I asked each player about the zone and they each gave a slightly different and interesting answer.

Finally, I just also wanted to say how much I love Greg Kampe from Oakland. He is a national treasure and one of those coaches who I feel like I could listen talk about basketball for hours. The first game that I ever covered was an MSU/Oakland game at LCA in the fall of 2019. Tonight came full circle a bit for me. It was cool.

I will update this with quotes when I have them, but Michigan State has landed a commitment from 2024 Ohio wide receiver Austin Clay.

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Signing Day thoughts;

If you grew up in the eighties, there was a movie about an amazing qb who every college wasted. His name was Johnny “Rocket Arm” Walker.

During the movie, Johnnys coach, best friend and everyone else tries to get something for themselves based on his talent. He eventually goes to the State College and inquires what hook ups he can expect when he signs like cash, cars or girls. The coach says all you’re going to get is a great education. Johnny says, “ Coach you’re losing out on the best recruits in the country. The coach says, “ when word gets out that a kid like you is looking for a “deal” that kid gets more than he ever bargained for.

It’s crazy that in almost 40 years the coach was wrong and the kid was right, but the kids probably do lose out in many ways.

Michigan State (5-5) returns to the Breslin Center tonight as the Spartans host Oakland (6-5).

Tip off is at 7 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.

Follow along for updates from the SI team.

Here is what Tom Izzo had to say after MSU's win over Oakland.

Jonathan Smith and the Spartans land Oregon State tight end transfer Jack Velling.

Ryan O'Bleness has more here:

The 5 star, #1 qb just flipped from UGA to Nebraska as expected. I wonder how much that NIL deal will cost?

Former Purdue WR TJ Sheffield commits to Michigan State.

Second transfer portal pickup of the day for the Spartans.

More here from Zach Manning:

Sarah was an outstanding OH at MSU. When George left, Franklin transferred to Wisconsin. She was just named the National Player of the Year. Wisconsin made the final four. Makes one wonder what could have been.

Michigan State gets back above .500 with a 79-62 victory Monday night over Oakland.

Tyson Walker led the way as he broke into the Green & White's 1,000 point club amidst his 14-point performance.

Catch the full recap on the homepage now:

Michigan State landed a commitment from Wisconsin transfer linebacker and Michigan native Jordan Turner.

He amassed 135 total tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and five sacks in 30 career games. He also had three interceptions, six passes defended and two forced fumbles in his three seasons with the Badgers.

His former head coach (now at Walled Lake Western High School), Kory Cioroch, had nothing but praise for Turner when asked about his development as a player.

"Jordan Turner is a great football player and has had an awesome college playing career thus far," Cioroch told Spartans Illustrated. "But he is an even better person than he is a player. He is a great leader and like a son to me."

More from @zmanning10 here:

Suffice it to say that the last few weeks have been interesting for MSU basketball. In the losses to Wisconsin and Nebraska, the Spartans looked more like an N.I.T team than the Final Four team we all expected to see.

But that potential Final Four team finally showed up on Saturday afternoon at LCA. So, what do we make of all of this?

As usual, I use the magic of math and simulation to try to sort out fact from emotion. I have updated all the numbers and rerun the simulation of the remaining Big Ten season and I present the results here:


Even with a 0-2 Big Ten record, the Spartans can still fight their way back into the conference race. MSU is right on the border of projecting to have a 11-9 or 12-8 conference record.

If MSU goes 20-11 (12-8) with a win over Baylor, that should be enough to make the tournament. A record of 19-10 (11-9) is probably still OK as long as Michigan State is in the top five of the Big Ten and right now that is how things look (assuming MSU wins out over the next three games, which is not guaranteed).

If the Spartans can continue to improve, there is a chance that the Green and White can get to a record of 15-5 or even 16-4. After a home game with Penn State on Jan. 4, the next six games will tell us if the Spartans can challenge for the regular season crown. If MSU can get wins at Wisconsin and at Illinois, the damage done by the first two losses will be erased.

I also have some thoughts on luck versus grit and some early tidbits on eventual Big Ten Tournament seeding tiebreakers. The Spartans may have some advantages over both Ohio State and Illinois on that front.

All of that and more is discussed in detail.

Tennessee defensive back commits, and high school teammates, Jaylen Thompson and Keshawn Williams are ready to officially become Michigan State Spartans, and are excited to play together in college.

"I'm too excited," Thompson said with a laugh when asked about playing with Williams at Michigan State. "Keshawn is my guy, that’s like my brother for real. We have battled together, and to see him have the same opportunity and come in with me, that means a lot. I’m glad that they see in him that he has what it takes. That man’s gonna do something awesome up here, we all are. And having someone from back home with me is an added bonus."

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I can't really remember one. Bobby McAllister?! I mean...maybe Lewerke-ish? Am I forgetting someone?

Btw, MSU teams have been burnt by dual threat QBs so often over the years, it will be nice to be able to (hopefully) frustrate other teams with it.

As expected MSU will be without Freshman Maxim Strbak for the GLI as he makes the Slovakia U20 World Junior Championship roster. Strbak, like Freshman goaltender Trey Augustine will be making his 2nd appearance in the U20s.

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Relive the action from Michigan State's dominant win over No. 6 Baylor through the camera lens of Spartans Illustrated's photographer, @MarvHall, in the photo gallery below.

Team defense great. Had 15 steals 20 turnovers by Baylor. We ran the break and made them pay on turnovers. Only negative missed 10 free in the second half.

QB

Alessio

To East Carolina.