EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State volleyball senior setter Julia Bishop has been named one of 18 recipients of the American Volleyball Coaches Association's (AVCA) Coaches 4 Coaches scholarship. Bishop is the only active undergraduate student-athlete to earn the scholarship, joined by 17 current graduate student or full-time assistant coaches.

Funded by AVCA members, the scholarship program was developed as a way to provide a head start to young coaches and recent college graduates who have interest in coaching volleyball. This year's 18 Coaches 4 Coaches recipients join more than 165 program alums.

"One of the most important qualities of any coach is their adherence to a set of personal values, and Julia has embodied our values of service, growth and honor to the highest degree," said Michigan State head coach Leah Johnson. "Her commitment to serving her teammates, constantly seeking improvement and upholding integrity both on and off the court is a testament to the kind of leader and role model she is."

During the Convention, which will take place Dec. 18-22 in Louisville, Kentucky, scholarship recipients will have the opportunity to network with successful coaches from all levels and take part in educational opportunities.

"On behalf of the committee I would like to congratulate the 2024 scholarship recipients," said Jaime Gordon, AVCA CEO and Coaches 4 Coaches Committee Chair. "There was a tremendous pool of applicants for our 16th year, and that made the committee's work challenging."

In the Summer of 2024 Bishop launched Zone1 Volleyball Training where she attended and coached at interscholastic volleyball camps throughout the state of Michigan.

Bishop, who is in the midst of her senior season at MSU, leads the Spartans with 457 assists on 6.09 assists per set. Since moving to a 5-1 system, Bishop is averaging 8.21 assists/set for Michigan State. Bishops, six double-doubles (assists and digs) lead MSU this season. In an upset of No. 16-ranked USC last weekend Bishop posted a season-best 46 assists, the second most of her career.

Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

First of all, Happy Halloween!

Historically speaking, Michigan State has performance well against Indiana. In fact, the Spartans have more wins over the Hoosiers (50) than they do over any other school.

But there aren't you daddy's Hoosiers.

Maybe I am just a bit salty and grouchy over the outcome from last weekend and (more importantly) the University of Michigan's continuing campaign against honesty, accountability, integrity, intelligence, and reality, but whatever the reason, I am not at all optimistic about this weekend's game.

To borrow from my Phantom of the Opera theme this time around, the Hoosiers are not just masquerading as a contender. They are a legit contender. Even if MSU plays an A- game, it might not be enough.

Check out my full article and all my betting advice here:

As the Spartans turn the page to focus on Indiana, it's time to look at the three key stats, two things we want to see, and one best bet this weekend as MSU takes on No. 13 Indiana. Check out the 3-2-1 preview from @mattsheehan here:

How about the emergence of the O-line? Where did that come from?

I thought I heard Smith say last week that the same unit played the entire game together for the first time. Anyway, the run game was there last night - unfortunately the victory was not.

ROSEMONT, Ill. - Michigan State freshman midfielder Kaleigh McPherson was named the Big Ten Women's Soccer Freshman of the Week, as announced by the conference Tuesday afternoon.

McPherson is the first Spartan to win Freshman of the Week honors this season and third Spartan overall to collect a conference weekly award, joining graduate midfielder Justina Gaynor (Defensive, Aug. 20) and graduate goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks (Goalkeeper, Sept. 24 and Oct. 22). She is the first MSU player to be named Freshman of the Week since current sophomore Bella Najera on Oct. 24 last season.

The St. Charles, Missouri native scored the game-winning goal in MSU's 3-1 win over Purdue to conclude the regular season on Oct. 27. The goal was her first in the Green and White. Playing all 90 minutes as a defensive midfielder, McPherson also helped hold the Boilermakers to just five shots on goal.

McPherson has played in all 18 games for the Spartans this season and has started in MSU's last 10 games. She was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Freshmen list earlier this season.

The Spartans have earned a No. 4 seed in this year's Big Ten Tournament and face fifth-seeded Rutgers on Saturday, Nov. 2 in the tournament quarterfinals. The University of Minnesota will host the first round and quarterfinal matches, while the semifinals and championship are scheduled for Nov. 7 and Nov. 10, respectively, at CITYPARK in St. Louis.

Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Michigan State will be wearing its all-black uniforms for the first time since the Michigan game last year. The Spartans also wore the black helmet and pants against Indiana last year.

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The Spartans are currently fourth in the Big Ten standings.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State men's soccer heads into the final week of the regular season with a pair of games to secure seeding for the Big Ten Tournament. The Spartans will start the week on the road, taking on No. 1/2 Ohio State on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus. MSU will then end the season celebrating Senior Day at home against Rutgers on Sunday, Nov. 3.

Last time out, Michigan State tied Michigan, 0-0, in the Battle for the Big Bear in East Lansing on Oct. 22, MSU stands 5-6-3 overall and 4-3-1 in Big Ten action.

Dean Linke and Patrick Doody are on the call for the Big Ten Network.

DID YOU KNOW?
The Buckeyes are the first No. 1 team that MSU has faced since falling to No. 1 Creighton on Sept. 13, 2015.

BRACING FOR OFFENSE
With his brace against No. 25 Wisconsin, senior midfielder Sean Kerrigan led the Spartans to a 2-0 win over the Badgers on Oct. 11. It was the first time this season that the Spartans had scored multiple goals in a game. Kerrigan is now second on the team in scoring with three goals. He is first on the team in shots on goal with 11.

LOOKING AT THE BUCKEYES
The Buckeyes are No. 1 in the 16-team NCAA Division 1 Men's Soccer Rankings. It's the highest ranking in program history. OSU is also No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, also the highest ranking the Buckeyes have achieved.

Michael Adedokun leads the Big Ten in scoring with 25 points off of eight goals and nine assists. The nine assists is tied for the league lead with Michigan's Beto Soto. Patrick McLaughlin and Max Trejo have both started seven games this season in goal. McLaughlin has allowed seven goals for a 1.03 GAA, while Trejo has only allowed four goals for a 0.58 GAA.

SERIES HISTORY
Michigan State leads the overall series with Ohio State, 29-27-3, but the Buckeyes have taken control of the series of late. OSU has won the last four meetings. Last season, the Spartans only two losses came at the hands of the Buckeyes, including the Big Ten Tournament in East Lansing. At home, MSU leads the series 14-11-2. In Columbus, the Buckeyes are on top 13-8-1. On neutral ground, the Spartans lead 7-3-0.
Last season in the Big Ten Tournament, sixth-seeded OSU scored in the 54th minute and was able to hold of third-seeded MSU in the quarterfinals on Nov. 3.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State men's soccer retained the Big Bear Trophy by playing to a scoreless draw with Michigan Tuesday night in the 25th annual Battle for the Big Bear at a packed DeMartin Stadium.

Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly made four saves in registering his sixth clean sheet of the season, including his fifth in B1G play. Kelly made a highlight-reel leaping snag early in the second half.

TOURNEY TIME
This year's Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be held in Bridgeview, Illinois, at SeatGeek Stadium. The quarterfinals will be held Nov. 7 (1/3:30/6 p.m.) between seeds 2-7. The No. 1 overall seed will get a bye to the semifinals. The semifinals will be held Nov. 10 (3/5:30 p.m.). The highest remaining seed will host the finals on Nov. 17 at 3 p.m. on BTN. The Spartans have secured a spot in this season's seven-team tournament.

LOOKING AT THE STANDINGS
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Spartans have secured a spot in the seven-team Big Ten Tournament. Michigan State currently stands fourth in the standings with 13 points. Indiana holds the top spot with 20 points with one game remaining. Ohio State second with 19 points, while Maryland is third with 17 points.

IN CONFERENCE ACTION
The Spartans may not be lighting up the scoreboard in Big Ten play, but they have allowed only seven goals in eight games. Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Zac Kelly has played all 720 minutes in league play for a 0.88 GAA. He has made 26 saves in B1G games. Junior midfielder Jonathan Stout is tied for 10th in the league in goals scored in B1G games with three.

BATTLE FOR THE BIG BEAR
This was the 25th anniversary for the Battle for the Big Bear Trophy. The trophy originated in 2000. MSU leads the series 14-5-5 since 2000. The Spartans currently have possession of the trophy after the teams tied 0-0 in both 2023 and 2024. In 2022 in East Lansing, Michigan State came out on top with a 2-0 win behind goals from Greyson Mercer and Jonathan Stout. With the ties, Michigan State has held the trophy 18 years.

PACKING THE STANDS
Michigan State is 11th in the nation in attendance this season, averaging 1,905 fans per game this season. That stands third in the Big Ten behind Indiana (2,992), which is third, Maryland (2,230).

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Becomes third different Spartan to garner weekly accolade from conference this season.​

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State men's tennis freshman Danial Rakhmatullayev (Daniel Rock-Ma-too-liev) has earned the Big Ten Player of the Week Award, announced by the conference office Wednesday afternoon.

This is Rakhmatullayev's first weekly accolade as a Spartan, and he is the third different MSU player to garner recognition from the league office this season. He joins fellow Spartans, senior Max Sheldon, who won this award on September 25 and junior Ozan Baris, who was Co-Player of the Week with Michigan's Gavin Young on October 16.

MSU has now earned or shared the award in three of the seven weeks, and no other school has earned the award more than once. While this is the first year of fall season part of the official season and the B1G recognizing Player of the Week Awards in the fall and spring, this is the first time that MSU has earned more than two weekly awards from the conference office in the same year, topping the two picked up last season.

Rakhmatullayev finished up his weekend competing at the Louisville Classic tournament held this past weekend, Oct 25-27.

During this tournament, Rakhmatullayev put three wins on the board for the Spartans, only losing one match the entire weekend.

Determined to bounce back from his loss on Friday, Rakhmatullayev dominated Russell Lokko from Louisville, securing a 6-4, 6-0 win.

He earned another victory for the Spartans, defeating Evan Duggal from Louisville 6-3, 6-2.

Rakhmatuellayev wrapped up the weekend tournament with an impressive 6-0, 6-3 win over Nice from Bellarmine.

Despite a tough loss to start, Rakhmatullayev rebounded with three consecutive wins, showcasing resilience and high-level performance throughout the weekend.

Rakhmatullayev and freshman Mitchell Sheldon will head to Notre Dame, Indiana for the Fighting Irish Mini Duals, Friday-Sunday, Nov. 1-3.

Release courtesy of MSU Athletics.

First off, let me start this post off with this: Do I, as a criminal defense attorney truly believe that anything that happened on that field should result in criminal charges? No, absolutely not. Things like this rarely ever lead to criminal charges, even when a basketball player uses a chair to "assault" another player in a rivalry game. Suspension, sure, but we shouldn't involve prosecutors or police in sports fights.

That's not to say that "normal" people aren't charged with felonious assault, which is really "assault with a dangerous weapon" in Michigan, for stomping or kicking someone with a shoe. There are cases that have found shoes, yes, regular shoes, not cleats, as "dangerous weapons" for the purpose of the felonious assault statute in Michigan. But, personally, I don't think things like this should end up in a criminal court.

That said, the Washtenaw County Prosecutor set his own charging policy in regards to incidents like this when he charged 7 MSU players for their "involvement" in the tunnel fight. Only one of those players swung a helmet, which certainly would qualify as a "dangerous weapon." The others? Well, one of them wasn't even involved, and yet, he faced criminal charges and was suspended. So, I say all this in hopes of making it clear that I don't blame people that want the same response to this incident, even if I'm not really one of them. A simple statement from the Prosecutor that he was wrong for the way he handled the tunnel incident would be more than enough for me.

But back to the post. I broke this down on twitter and wanted to do it here as well. Even with the little video we have, it's pretty easy to see what happened. Sure, the 4k video from the broadcast, or in-stadium cameras could certainly clear this all up and provide a better picture than I could.

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Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore and U-M tight end Colston Loveland discuss the postgame skirmish.

“It’s an emotional game, and you don’t love finishing that way, especially for what I thought — the football game itself — it was physical, I think guys were playing really hard and I thought it was a pretty clean game,” Smith said. “So it’s tough to finish that way.”

More from @Seth Berry:

It's impossible to draw up conclusions about a college basketball team in October, and I won't do that. But MSU does have a lot of work ahead of itself if it wants to become the team it wants to be.

Read here:

Coach-to-player in-game communications during Power 4 college football games this season have been occurring on unencrypted frequencies, sources told ESPN on Wednesday, a revelation that raises questions about whether they could have been compromised.

Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt said he raised the issue during a call with Big 12 athletic directors Tuesday, after learning the Red Raiders' helmet communications were unencrypted and accessible to anyone with a scanner and knowledge of how to locate the frequencies.

The best lineup that played in the exhibition win over Ferris State was a three-guard look with freshman Jase Richardson, redshirt freshman Jeremy Fears Jr. and junior Tre Holloman on the floor with sophomore Coen Carr and junior Jaxon Kohler. It likely was not a coincidence that those five had the best five plus-minuses on Tuesday.

Kohler: "There was just different energy out there. We were playing tough. We were playing with energy. We brought life to the floor.”

More on the three-guard lineup:

Hey Guys! New episode of the We Got it Podcast just dropped! Would love your thoughts, feedback, discussion on the episode! As always, Go GREEN!
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A painful loss, but a lot of valuable lessons learned. Happy to talk about it!

MSU's Frankie Fidler has been named to the Julius Erving Award Preseason Watchlist. The Erving Award is given to college basketball's top small forward each year.

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Secondary coach Blue Adams:
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DL Alex VanSumeren:
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LB Jordan Hall:
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LB Darius Snow:
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Here is what Izzo had to say after the exhibition win over Ferris State, 85-67.

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Michigan State took down Ferris State to finish out exhibition play. The Spartans host Monmouth in the home opener on Nov. 4.

Full game recap:

Michigan State will have its final exhibition game tonight before the regular season gets underway.

The Spartans will host Ferris State tonight with tip off set for 7 p.m. on B1G+.

Stay tuned here for game discussion and live updates from the Breslin Center.

AHC/co-STC/RBs coach Keith Bhonapha:
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Quarterback Aidan Chiles:
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Tight end Jack Velling:
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Carson Cooper talked frankly about the upcoming season. There were three areas of focus for himself and for the team as a whole that he brought up at a recent press availability. It'll be interesting to see how the season unfolds with these in mind.

Smith said the team held a players-only meeting Sunday night to sharpen their focus on how to move forward from the rivalry game and on to undefeated Indiana.

Smith says MSU appealed LB Jordan Turner's second-half targeting penalty, and the Big Ten denied it. He will sit out the first half Saturday vs. Indiana per NCAA targeting rules.


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MSU coach Jonathan Smith on his first Michigan game : "That thing is different, that thing is important." Says, "I will not forget that thing, but we do gotta move on to to a big time opponent."

Jonathan Smith: "We will not forget Saturday night, I promise you that."

Smith says MSU had a player and staff member in the pile where Michigan RB Kalel Mullings was caught on video stomping. That is something the Big Ten will be examining, he adds.

Smith says he believes MSU long snapper Kaden Schickel will miss the rest of the season.


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Smith says Haller has been in contact with the Big Ten about the postgame altercation at Michigan.

MSU AD Alan Haller if he planned to approach Washtenaw County about pressing charges for the altercation: "I don't plan on doing that. I don't think that situation should have been a criminal incident, and I don't, I don't think this should be as well.

Haller: "This is a sportsmanship policy situation and the conference will look at it. And it's my wish that the same standard that everyone's held to, that (U-M) be held to the same standard. But I do not believe that incident or this incident is a criminal situation."

Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller on the scuffle following Saturday's game:
“I was out on the field immediately. I didn't see any of the things that I’ve since seen on videotape. I did call the (Big Ten) commissioner immediately after the game. I thought the sportsmanship policy should be applied. I requested that the Big Ten look at this.
"Look, I've played four of these, and the emotions are high. This game is not like anything that any of our teams play in throughout the year. The emotions are high. I can't play in the game anymore, but when we play that team, I'm just going to make sure that our kids have a fair playing field and that we are held to the same standards as everybody else.”


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Jonathan Smith says not calling a timeout out on 4th-and-goal from the 2 on the first possession is one he'd love to have back.

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Smith on Indiana's QB situation, says he did not see much difference in operations between the two.

Class of 2026 running back Favour Akih, out of Hayes High School in Delaware, Ohio, recently visited Michigan State and received an offer from the Spartans shortly afterward.

He broke down the offer with @Lee Wardlaw and provided his thoughts on MSU assistant head coach/co-specials team coordinator/running backs coach Keith Bhonapha.

“He’s a really transparent guy," Akih said about Bhonapha. "He said he’s going to coach me hard, and that I would have to fight for my spot on the team. That’s just the competitive nature that I love about college football!”

Akih's family is originally from Cameroon and came over to the United States in 2010 when he was just 2 years old.

More here: