Wilt:
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Tom Izzo Press Conference Ahead of Spain Trip...

ON THE SPAIN TRIP: 'They have scheduled three games and we might get a 4th game in. And we will play by international rules.'

ON JADEN AKINS: 'We need to rely on him more, and he needs to be our leading scorer.'

ON JEREMY FEARS: 'He is 99% healthy and came back quicker than expected. We want to see how he runs the team and plays defense, but he still gets frustrated.'

ON KUR TENG: 'He is our best shooter and is going to be a really good player. He can guard and has been coached well. He has some Josh Langford in him.'

ON JASE RICHARDSON: 'Jase Richardson is impressive; he can do some things better than his Dad as a freshman.'

ON MONEYBALL: 'Desmond (Ferguson) is a class guy and does a great job, but I don't see a lot of one guy guarding another guy. I have seen guys improve, but Teng is not going to score 45 against Kansas.'

ON ROTATIONS: 'We will play different guys this year. We have more depth this year. So don't read too much into things. We will start different guys based on teams; we may go big, we may go small, and Coen (Carr) may play at the Four.'

ON THE BIG MEN: 'We are a lot stronger inside than a year ago. Coen (Carr) has made strides, and Jaxson (Kohler) has made strides. (Szymon) Zapala is bigger and better than we thought. He has great strength and a great touch and is better than the minutes he has played in college so far.'

ON THE PORTAL: 'We are looking for fits. Fidler is a bigger wing who can shoot, get fouled, and get to the line.'

SUMMER EMPHASIS: 'This summer, the emphasis was on rebounding, getting more physical, and shooting more free throws. The vets are helping the new guys, and we are adjusting to the times.'

ON OTHER TEAMS: 'Indiana has the most talent, Purdue will still be good even without a monster in the middle, and Kansas will probably be No.1 in the nation.'

ON NEW GRAD ASSISTANT BLAKE LAMPMAN: 'He was a great shooter and player and brings something to the table. He fits in already.

ON TOM IZZO HIMSELF: 'I feel happy and rejuvenated.'

Regarding the Stallions on the CMU sideline situation... VIDEO incoming:

Earlier this week, Michigan State men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo previewed his team’s upcoming trip to Spain, updated the health of guard Jeremy Fears Jr., discussed how the transfers are fitting in and more:

Greg Smith, who covers the Midwest and national recruiting for Rivals, invited me to collaborate on his Fact or Fiction column for this week, and the question that we pondered was an interesting one.

Fact or Fiction: Michigan State has an opportunity to capitalize on the latest twists in the Michigan cheating scandal.

I thought about this for a while and while there could absolutely be an "opportunity" for Michigan State to leverage based on the imminent punishment coming down for Michigan at some point due the Connor Stalions illegal scouting scandal, I did not not feel that it would be anything significant.

The general thought from experts is that vacated or forfeited wins are unlikely for Michigan. Also, because Michigan is not accused of using ineligible players as far as we know, it feels very unlikely that U-M’s national title from the 2023-2024 season is going to be taken away. So, what is most likely going to happen? In my opinion, Michigan gets a hefty fine and Sherrone Moore gets hit with a show-cause penalty and maybe is suspended for a couple of games.

Earlier today, we saw former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh get hit with a four-year show-cause penalty and a one-year suspension if he were to return to the college game, but that was for COVID dead period recruiting violations and is somewhat irrelevant now that he is in the NFL, as is any discipline handed down for the other former staffers involved who are no longer with U-M. We'll see what happens to Harbaugh, Moore, Stalions and Michigan's football program when the punishments are actually handed out for the cheating allegations (who knows how long it will take).

So, maybe Moore is suspended for the Michigan/Michigan State game in 2024, but there isn't much likely to change on the field as players are not expected to be suspended. And it's unclear what, if any recruiting restrictions come out of this. If they're hefty, maybe that helps Michigan State win a couple of in-state/Midwest kids over Michigan, but U-M has usually been a stronger recruiter at the national level, so I don't see a big difference there either, even those penalties were applied.

I also don't get the feeling that Jonathan Smith and his staff are too worried about what is going on in Ann Arbor as they work to build their own program in year one at Michigan State

Ultimately Greg and I both felt that the answer is fiction.

Read our full thoughts on as to why here:


What is your opinion?

Brennan and Colin Walton earn preferred walk-on spots with MSU Men’s Basketball team​

I'll go first. 14 of 18. And I'll rank them as far as atmosphere of the campus when I've been there...

A couple of short clips, one about Chiles and one on the move to the Midwest

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Jordan Hall, Wayne Matthews III & Jordan Turner on the depth of the LB room, scheme, new staff & more

FAU gave Illinois all they wanted last year with a good first quarter, but the Illini held on for a 23-17 victory.

The Owls raced out to a 10-0 lead but Illinois scored 23 of the next 30 points to ice the game.

Should be interesting.

At the second-ever Big Ten Volleyball Media Days event, the Spartans will be appearing on Monday, Aug. 5 and are being represented by junior outside hitters Evie Doezema and Taylor Preston.

The full pads were on for the first time on Monday, as Michigan State enters its second week of fall camp.

Due to the rain, Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith and the Spartans had its practice on Monday indoors.

Smith was impressed with the energy he saw from his team with heavy contact allowed in some periods.

"First day in full pads today, I was really pleased with the physicality," Smith said. "We actually did some live tackling — a limited amount, but some live tackling. I thought it was good for the guys to continue to progress and play. They're working hard. A week into it, I've been pleased with the effort and attention to detail. We're throwing a lot at them. It's not flawless (or) perfect in any way, but I do appreciate the effort these guys are giving and battling each other day in and day out."

More here:

Just got out of practice. Here are some notes


Jordan Hall was working with the LBs for the first period I saw. Then, he was working with Coach Wilt and the rush ends for the last few periods I saw.

Other guys working with the rush ends were Khris Bogle, Tyler Gillison, Stone Chaney, Avery Dunn, James Schott & Anthony Jones.

Some players not in pads & watching on the sideline were TEs Brennan Parachek & Wyatt Hook, WR Grant Calcagno & DB Khalil Majeed (noticed a compression brace on his left leg covering his knee).

One other interesting thing I noticed is that the Bengals, Cardinals, Lions & Seahawks all had scouts (I assume) here.

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This is why I try not to have my happiness depend on the decisions of 17- and 18-year-olds. Can you imagine MSU with Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis instead of Tum Tum?
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Joe Rossi had a press conference last week to give an update on the defensive unit.

“We want to see guys playing with extreme effort,” Rossi said. “Any really good defense is going to play really hard.”

More here:

A combination of Lacrosse, roller derby, and hockey is kind of cool.

With transfer portal movement mostly complete, Michigan State currently sits at No. 7 (No. 1 in the Big Ten) in the Rivals Transfer Team Rankings.

Here is the full top 10:

1 Colorado
2 Louisville
3 UCF
4 Texas A&M
5 Ole Miss
6 Arizona State
7 Michigan State
8 Oregon
9 South Carolina
10 California

For the full list, click below.

Khris Bogle shared his thoughts on the revamped Spartan defense.

OC BRIAN LINDGREN:


ON CHEMISTRY: Lindgren thinks the team was able to build a good amount of chemistry through the summer and credits them with taking the initiative to practice when the coaches weren’t around.


ON THE OFFENSIVE LINEMEN: Lindgren says they’re throwing a lot at the offensive linemen to see what they can handle.

ON AIDAN CHILES: “Maturity is something we have challenged. He has taken steps." Says they are looking for more consistency. He mentions that he has not started a game yet.

Chiles has that swagger and moxie where players gravitate towards him, but he is still working on consistency.


ON BRENNAN PARCHEK: “We are just scratching the surface with him. His size and ability to move at that size. We have been around some pretty high draft picks, and he has the potential to be one of those guys."

They love Parachek's size and mobility and they could flex him out wide.


ON NATE CARTER: “He is super talented and has played a lot of ball. I am super excited about Nate.”


ON KAYRON LYNCH-ADAMS: He has shown a lot of flashes. He says he will earn first-team reps, and he is excited about that.

ON NICK MARSH: He says he's impressed with his maturity already. He says he’s strong and physical for his age, and they’ve moved him around a couple of different positions.



DC JOE ROSSI:


ON THE INTERIOR DEFENSIVE LINE: He says they went out to find guys who fit what they want to build in the program.
Says you have to be able to stop the run in the Big Ten:

“If you can’t stop the run in the Big Ten, you’re going to have a lot of problems.”


ON MSU ALUMNI: Rossi says he’s noticed that the MSU alumni takes more pride in the program than anywhere else he’s ever been.. says he’s really enjoyed seeing a lot of those guys around at Spartan Dawg Con and other Spartan events.


ON DEFENSIVE SCHEME: “We don’t have a set scheme; we have to evaluate and then do what fits the players the best.”


ON EVALUATING PLAYERS: Rossi says they are still in the process of evaluating players.

“The things we want to see on film is guys playing with extreme effort. Any good defense is going to have guys playing hard. There is an emphasis on toughness.”

It's just as beautiful as we all hoped it would be...

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MSU's Tom Izzo likes how the summer has gone for his team and believes that if things go right, Michigan State can have a big year.

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