The Spartans and the Boilermakers play twice during the regular season.​

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EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State women's basketball returns home for its longest homestand since early December. The Spartans will host Purdue on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 6:30 p.m., before taking on Michigan on Saturday, Jan. 27 at Noon. Jack Stager and Derrick Mitchell will be on the call for Big Ten Plus.

• The Spartans stand 13-5 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten action. MSU is looking to get back on track after a 69-50 loss at Minnesota on Jan. 20. Purdue comes to the Breslin Center looking to snap a four game losing streak. The Boilermakers are 9-9 overall and 2-5 in league contests. Last time out, Purdue lost a hard-fought battle to Indiana, 74-68.

• Graduate guard Moira Joiner is inching near the 1,000 point mark. With seven points against Minnesota, she now has scored 995 points in her Spartan career. With one 3-pointer against the Gophers, she also stands sixth all-time in the MSU record books with 175 treys.

• Michigan State has had a history of bouncing back after losses this season. After the Spartans previous four losses, MSU has rebounded with a vengeance. Three of the four wins after losses have been by 18 points or more.

• MSU was limited to a season-low 50 points against Minnesota, after the previous season-low of 65 points in the 70-65 loss at No. 17/16 Ohio State (1/14/24).The Spartans were held under 80 points for just the sixth time this season.

SCOUTING PURDUE
Purdue comes to the Breslin Center with a 9-9 overall record and stand 2-5 in Big Ten contests. The Boilermakers are looking to snap a four-game losing streak. Purdue has league win against Rutgers and Wisconsin.

Last time out, the Boilermakers fell to No. 16 Indiana, 74-68. For the second time this season, the Boilermakers had five players in double figures. Caitlyn Harper led the way with 18 points and six rebounds. The sixth-year senior connected on her 100th career triples in the first quarter.

The Boilermakers are shooting 77.5 percent from the free throw to rank 25th in the country and third in the Big Ten. Abbey Ellis is fifth in the league, shooting 85 percent from the charity stripe. Overall Ellis is 18th in scoring, averaging 13.7 ppg.

Rashunda Jones has scored 19.5 points per game over her last two outings with a career-best 23 points against Penn State. She is third among Big Ten freshmen at 10 points per game. Jones is the first Purdue freshman

Head coach Katie Gearlds is in her third season at Purdue, leading the Boilermakers to back-to-back postseason bids, including the first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017. She holds and overall record of 273-85. During her three seasons at Purdue she has a record of 45-35.

SERIES HISTORY VS. THE BOILERMAKERS
Purdue leads the overall series with Michigan State 44-37. The Spartans are on top of the series in the Breslin Center 24-16, while the Boilermakers are on top 23-11 in West Lafayette. On neutral ground, Purdue leads 5-2. The Boilermakers have won the last two meetings in East Lansing, including last season's overtime thriller, 76-71 on Dec. 22. MSU's last win came on March 3, 2022 in the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis, 73-69.

LAST TIME VS PURDUE
Despite fighting back from a 16-point second-half deficit, the Michigan State women's basketball team dropped a 76-71 overtime thriller against Purdue in its Big Ten opener at the Breslin Center on Dec. 20, 2022.

Graduate guard Kamaria McDaniel's layup after a steal with two second left in the second half sent the game into the Spartans' first overtime game of the season. The Boilermakers took care of business in overtime to hold on for the win.

The two teams were set to play on Feb. 15, 2013 was postponed after the shooting on MSU's campus on Feb. 13.

CRASHING THE BOARDS
The Spartans ability to crash the boards has played a key role in their success this season. Michigan State is 9-1 when out-rebounding its opponents. They are also 4-0 when a player has reached double-digits in rebounding.

MORE ON REBOUNDING
MSU was limited to a season-low 50 points, after the previous season-low of 65 points in the 70-65 loss at No. 17/16 Ohio State (1/14/24).The Spartans were held under 80 points for just the sixth time this season.

WELCOME HOME
On Jan. 27 against Michigan, the Spartans will also celebrate Alumni Day. Among the events scheduled is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 2013-14 Big Ten Championship team. That team went 23-10, reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Spartans were led by Annalise Pickrel, Aerial Powers and Tori Jankoska that season.

BY THE NUMBERS VS. MINNESOTA
• MSU's starting five of junior guard DeeDee Hagemann, sophomore guard Abbey Kimball junior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate, graduate guard Moira Joiner and graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault for Wednesday's contest marked the eighth game in a row with that starting line-up and the 15th overall game this season that those five Spartans opened the game on the court. Michigan State is now 10-5 with that starting line-up.

• MSU was limited to a season-low 50 points, after the previous season-low of 65 points in the 70-65 loss at No. 17/16 Ohio State (1/14/24). The Spartans were held under 80 points for just the sixth time this season.

• Redshirt-junior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate pulled down a season-high tying eight rebounds, matching her output at Iowa (1/2/24), as part of the 10th game with five or more boards, including the last two contests.

GETTING IN THE LINEUP
MSU's starting five of junior guard DeeDee Hagemann, sophomore guard Abbey Kimball junior guard/forward Jocelyn Tate, graduate guard Moira Joiner and graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault for Saturday's contest marked the eighth game in a row with that starting line-up and the 15th overall game this season that those five Spartans opened the game on the court. Michigan State is now 10-5 with that starting line-up. The only other two Spartans to start this season are sophomore guard Theryn Hallock and junior forward Isaline Alexander.

CLOSING IN ON 1,000
Graduate guard Moira Joiner is inching near the 1,000 point mark. With seven points against Minnesota on Jan. 20, she now has scored 955 points in her Spartan career. With one 3-pointer against Ohio State, she also stands sixth all-time in the MSU record books with 175 treys. The last Spartan to reach 1,000 points was All-American Nia Clouden, who ended her career in 2022 with 1,882 points. She is looking to become the 30th member of the 1,000 point club.

MOVIN' ON UP
Several Spartans are moving up the MSU record books. With three blocks against Northwestern on Jan. 17, graduate guard Julia Ayrault now has 112 blocks and stands tied for fifth all-time at MSU, passing Spartan Hall of Famer Liz Shimek (2002-06), who had 108. Graduate guard Moira Joiner now has 174 made 3-pointers and still stands sixth all-time. Even though she is just a junior, guard DeeDee Hagemann already has 367 career assists. Hagemann's two assists against Minnesota give her 367 for her career, where she is just four away from tying Spartan great Linday Bowen (2002-06), who had 371 during her All-American career.

AROUND THE BIG TEN
This season, Michigan State is second in the Big Ten in scoring margin (+19.6) and second in assists (19.5 apg). The Spartans are also second in the league in 3-point field goals made, averaging 9.67 per game. MSU is first in turnover margin (+7.33) and first in assist/turnover ratio (1.76).

Graduate guard Moira Joiner leads the Spartans in scoring, averaging 15.9 points per game, which is tied for ninth in the Big Ten with Indiana's Sara Scalia. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault is sixth in rebounding with 7.4 rpg. Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann is eighth in the league in assists, averaging 4.5 apg and second in assist/turnover ratio (2.8). Joiner is tied for third in the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.400) with Iowa's Caitlin Clark. Ayrault is also second in the conference in blocks, averaging 2.3 bpg, behind Wisconsin's Serah Williams.

LAST TIME OUT
Michigan State women's basketball fell to Minnesota on the road, 69-50, Saturday afternoon at Williams Arena.

The Spartans slid to 13-5 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten action, while Minnesota improved to 14-4 overall and 4-3 in league play.

Michigan State had its worst shooting performance of the season going 20-for-61 from the field for 32.8 percent in scoring a season-low points. Junior guard DeeDee Hagemann led the Spartans with 18 points and seven rebounds, as the only Spartan to reach double figures. Graduate guard/forward Julia Ayrault added nine points and eight rebounds for MSU.

Full recap available here:

Preview courtesy of MSU Athletics.

Michigan State 2024 offensive lineman signee Rustin Young is now a four-star prospect on Rivals. Young saw a huge bump in the final 2024 rankings, going from a 5.5 three-star to a 5.8 four-star prospect.

Young impressed at the Under Armour All-American game and Polynesian Bowl.

He also now ranks as the No. 31 offensive tackle in the 2024 class and the No. 3 player out of Hawaii.

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Tom Izzo on playing Wisconsin on Friday and he gives an update on the health of Jeremy Fears Jr. and Jaden Akins

Spartans Illustrated obtained the Michigan State vs Louisiana football game contract via FOIA. Attached are a couple sections that I found interesting, including this sentence:

"The officials for the game shall be a solid crew from the Big Ten Conference."

Ha.

As a reminder, MSU was scheduled to play Louisiana during week three of the 2024 football season, but sources have indicated that Louisiana backed out of the game.

The contract -- which was signed on 4/8/21 by University of Louisiana at Lafayette President Dr. E. Joseph Savoie and on 4/11/21 by MSU Director of Athletics Bill Beekman -- says that MSU would pay Louisiana $1.1 million for the game (by 2/15/25). The contract also stated that if one party canceled the game, that school would pay the other $500,000 as liquidated damages.

So now it appears that Michigan State has $1.6 million with which to use to schedule their replacement opponent in a budget-neutral way.

Michigan State has successfully flipped 2024 kicker Martin Connington from Oregon State. Connington announced his pledge to the Spartans on Monday.

Connington, out of Mountain View High School in Meridian, Idaho, took an official visit to Michigan State this past weekend, arriving to East Lansing on Jan. 19.

"I decided to commit to Michigan State because of the coaching staff and what I believe they will do when I am there," Connington told Spartans Illustrated. "I believe they will make me into a great young man who helps his community and leaves an impact on where he is. I also believe that the Big Ten and Michigan State specifically produce NFL-caliber specialists and it’s an opportunity I could never pass up."

More on his commitment and official visit here:

Michigan State has a new scholarship offer out to 2025 tight end Tyler Kielmeyer.

MSU head coach Jonathan Smith and tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator Brian Wozniak took a trip to Westerville, Ohio on Wednesday morning and stopped at Westerville South High School to offer Kielmeyer in person.

Following the offer, Kielmeyer spoke with Spartans Illustrated to discuss what it meant to him and his thoughts on Michigan State.

More here:

Here's an OT for everyone.

Name the dish and the restaurant where you always (as in, always, each and every time) get the exact same thing. Extra points for repeat dishes of 50, 100 + visits.

Granted for most of us such repeat visits mean everyday restaurants. I mean, I've been to Nobu three times and ordered the black cod each time but I won't include that on this list. Same for Hals in Atlanta, always the ribeye (at least a couple dozen visits), but that's not what I'm going for here.

On the flip-side I've probably been to Taco Bell over 1000 times but I would get different stuff...

Mine are:

Jimmy Johns, Club Tuna with hot peppers, 200+ visits

Jersey Mike's, #6 Mike's Way with pepper relish and jalapeños, 100+ visits

A lot of names on the list and it will be cut down eventually, but good to see Jackson make it.

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It’s time for him to retire after this season. He’ll have over 700 wins and more wins than any coach in the Big Ten.
Can still have a office either in the Breslin or the
Izzo Football building. Live life with his family and
enjoy watching the MSU programs. If Nate Oats needs
help Izzo will be there.
Izzo had a great run, players, coaches and fans will
always be appreciative of what he has done for MSU.

While Michigan State cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin is just getting started in his new role with the Spartans, he is already busy on the recruiting trail. On Monday, Martin and MSU offered a scholarship to highly-touted class of 2027 cornerback Havon Finney Jr.

Like Martin, Finney is a California native. The young cornerback is originally from Carson, California and currently attends Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworh. Martin is originally from Pasadena.

Also like Martin — who was a four-year letterwinner for the Spartans from 1992 through 1995 — Finney has connections to Michigan State and the East Lansing area.

Following the offer, Finney spoke with Spartans Illustrated to discuss his thoughts on Michigan State and to provide an update on his early recruiting process.

More here:

Update from Kenny Jacoby of USA TODAY: Mel Tucker's appeal in the sexual harassment case brought against him by Brenda Tracy has been denied, which also ends Michigan State's investigation.

Here is an excerpt:

An outside attorney hired by the school to review Tucker’s challenge to the findings of fault against him denied his appeal in a 24-page report issued Thursday, ending the process nearly 13 months after the complaint was filed by a rape survivor and anti-sexual violence activist.

“Based on the facts outlined in the record, the (Resolution Officer) had a reasonable basis for each of the challenged findings,” wrote Courtney Bullard, a Tennessee-based attorney and founder of consulting firm Institutional Compliance Solutions. “The RO’s Decision is upheld. This decision is final.”

Tucker, who had been one of the highest-paid coaches in any sport before being fired in September, was formally disciplined for sexually harassing and exploiting Brenda Tracy, who he had hired to educate his team about sexual violence – an outcome that lessens his odds of ever coaching football again.

University leaders will now determine any sanctions to issue Tucker. Although he is no longer an employee, they can still ban him from campus, future employment at MSU or participating in school activities, such as attending football games.

Click to expand...

Full story:


Brenda Tracy's response:

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Tom Izzo is set to take the podium at the top of the hour to preview Michigan State's road game against Wisconsin.

Stay tuned here for updates.

Moved up 3 spots in the NET to 21st

3 votes in AP and only 1 in Coaches. Not recovering much from losing to NW and IL 2 weeks ago.

The Michigan State football program has been hitting the recruiting trail hard over the past couple of weeks and sending out many scholarship offers. One of the most recent offerees is elite 2026 four-star athlete/cornerback Davon Benjamin Jr.

Benjamin currently attends Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, California. He ranks as the No. 33 overall prospect in the 2026 class.

MSU's newest assistant coach, cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin, was on the road recruiting in California and sent out the offer to Benjamin on Monday.

Benjamin spoke with Spartans Illustrated to discuss what the offer meant to him and to update where he stands early on in his recruiting process.

"I'm just a kid that loves football and that’s going to continue to work to get to the next level," Benjamin said.

More here:

and expecting to see positive news, new recruits, information on coaches and their travel, and other football news. Coupled with good results from other non revenue sports and it's fun to be a Spartan again.

Michigan State will host 2024 East Lansing wide receiver/tight end Charlie Baker for a visit on Sunday, Jan. 28. The Spartans are looking at Baker as a preferred walk-on and he was recently re-offered by the new staff.

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First of all, This is Sparta podcast with Sedrick Irvin was awesome. They had me LOL several times with their stories about recruiting, Saban, other players, etc. Highly recommend! 👍

One thing tho - Stray made it sound like his sons weren’t being recruited (at least not yet) by the current staff. Sedrick also said his all-American son (LB I think) also doesn’t have an MSU offer.

I know the staff has a process, but damn….they made it sound like they felt bitter about it.

MODS - did I read too much into this sentiment, or am I missing something?

You might have noticed that a new Twitter account and website were set up for a new NIL Collective at Michigan State today. I've been working this story for a few weeks now but there isn't a lot to report on the record yet.

I can say that the folks behind this collective are in touch with the MSU athletic department and that it is not affiliated with SD4L or This is Sparta!. There are a lot of moving parts but I promise to keep you updated as I can.

From a big picture perspective, I can say that the powers that be are excited about this new collective. As you can tell by the accounts that shared the original tweet, it will have a heavy football focus.

Those behind Spartan Nation NIL are committed to transparency and doing things in an excellent manner.

More to come.

Happy to answer any questions you might have (if I can).

I think every football fan can agree that we love seeing Jason kelce shown ALOT more than Taylor Swift, lol

2 days ago

I guess that should make some interesting future Spartan/Illini matchups....

Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith recently extended an offer to in-state LB DiMari Malone from Dakota High School.

Malone breaks down what the offer means to him, visit plans and where the Spartans sit in his recruitment:

More on Newman from Ryan here:

The second half was not pretty but a W is a W. My question is how we can look so good in the first half and only get 17 points in the second?
Our transition game was throttled by the Terps. Have opponents figured out how to shut down the transition game? Minnesota was very effective doing so. I understand that we couldn’t buy a basket in the second half but I feel that it is mote due to the fact that our half court offense leaves a lot to be desired.
your insights are welcome,

While Michigan State was busy hosting 2024 prospects and transfers on official visits this past weekend, the Spartans brought a 2025 recruit to campus as well.

Alexander McPherson, a defensive end out of IMG Academy in Florida, took an unofficial visit to East Lansing and walked away with a scholarship offer.

McPherson was the lone 2025 prospect on campus during his visit, which made him feel like a priority.

"They thought it would be a good time for me to come up and be kind of excluded from everybody else (in the 2025 class)," McPherson told Spartans Illustrated about the visit. "It felt special. It felt like they really want me and it felt good ... I can picture myself playing in Spartan Stadium."

More here:

Recent class of 2024 wide receiver offeree Jaylan Brown has an official visit with Michigan State scheduled for Jan. 26 through Jan. 28, he tells me.

The 6-foot-4 Texas native trains with Sean Cooper of C4 Sports Performance, whom Michigan State defensive end Bai Jobe also trains with.

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