MSU's newest Spartan was in Spartan Stadium on Saturday - but it wasn't to play football.The MSU men's basketball program received their first verbal commitment for the 2005 recruiting class on Saturday in Bay City Central junior Eric Devendorf.
Former MSU basketball star Jason Richardson was in Saginaw County District Court on Thursday to testify that he had acted in self- defense in a domestic dispute last April, the Saginaw News reported Thursday. Richardson, now with the NBA's Golden State Warriors, was charged in April of domestic violence after former girlfriend Roshonda Jacqmain accused Richardson of shoving her into a wall and kicking her when he came to pick up the couple's daughter. Richardson testified that the two did argue when Richardson went to Jacqmain's Saginaw home on April 29 to visit his daughter but that when Jacqmain brought up her fist, Richardson grabbed her and shook her. After Richardson let her go, she fell to the floor, Richardson said.
The national spotlight will be casting its light on the Spartan Men's Basketball team many times this season. The Big Ten released this year's conference schedule Tuesday, which includes eight nationally televised games for MSU. The 16-game stretch, which is sandwiched between byes at the beginning and the end of the season, will begin Jan.
MSU head basketball coach Tom Izzo and the rest of Team USA faced its second loss at the 2003 Pan American Games on Tuesday, forcing the Americans to move to the bronze medal game. Team USA (2-2) lost to Brazil 92-80 in the last five minutes of the semifinal game.
The USA World Junior Championship team had a rocky stretch during the weekend, falling to Australia, but rebounding to defeat Slovenia and Puerto Rico to close out the basketball tournament in fifth place. Team USA (7-1) defeated Puerto Rico on Saturday, 82-80.
Team USA still perfect after edging Lithuania The USA Junior World Championship Team is still dominating the 2003 FIBA Men's Junior World Championships. MSU sophomore center Paul Davis and sophomore guard Maurice Ager continued their undefeated exposure to international basketball on Tuesday with a slim 87-84 victory over Lithuania. Davis scored 13 in the evenly-matched game, his most weighty basket a score with just under seven minutes remaining to give Team USA (5-0) a 71-68 lead.
Fans of MSU or Kentucky basketball without tickets to the schools' Dec. 13 matchup are officially hard-pressed to find a ticket because "The BasketBowl" is sold out.After season-ticket holders and university donors from both schools claimed the first 50,672 seats, the remaining 19,028 tickets allotted to the general public on Tuesday sold out in a span of four days, according to the Ford Field Ticket Office.
MSU sophomore center Paul Davis and sophomore guard Maurice Ager are having a hand in leading the USA World Junior Championship Team to a 3-0 record in first round play at the 2003 FIBA Men's Junior World Championships in Thessaloniki, Greece.
MSU's attempt to set a world record in basketball attendance is shaping up into a reality as ticket sales for "The BasketBowl" have now topped 50,000. On Saturday, MSU ticket manager Chris Besanceney reported that 50,172 tickets have been sold for the Kentucky-MSU basketball game at Ford Field in Detroit on Dec.
Last March, three wins in seven days at the 2003 NCAA Tournament laid a season of skepticism surrounding the MSU men's basketball team to rest - and woke up the groggy sleeping giant of MSU basketball fandom.But even though the Spartans' run to the Elite Eight in the 2003 NCAA Tournament was an improbable - albeit unexpected - step back to championship-caliber expectations, players and coaches are looking toward the national crown this season regardless.Last season, all talk was about "bridging the gap" between the Spartans of 2003 and the 2000 national championship team that cut down the nets at the Final Four.
After a weekend of tryouts, three MSU athletes have taken another step toward taking the summer off from Spartan basketball and representing the United States against the rest of the world.Junior guard Chris Hill, sophomore forward Paul Davis and sophomore guard Maurice Ager all made the cut as finalists under consideration for placement on two different USA Basketball teams."It just shows that we're more than just basketball, we can go out and represent our country," Davis said.
Michigan's basketball team was restricted from the next postseason last Thursday by the NCAA for violations involving former booster Ed Martin paying Wolverine basketball players during the 1990s.Although the university placed a self-imposed ban on the men's basketball team from appearing in the NCAA Tournament last season, the NCAA infractions committee deemed the penalty "meaningful," but not enough.
With the defections of assistant coach Mike Garland (Cleveland State) and associate head coach Brian Gregory (Dayton) for head-coaching jobs, MSU head coach Tom Izzo is in search of two replacements.Izzo said his challenge will be to replace two monumental parts of his staff and two close friends."Those two guys are 66 percent of my staff," he said.
MSU assistant coach Mike Garland is en route to Cleveland State to become the Vikings' new men's basketball head coach. The former assistant coach told senior Brian Westrick the news, as the two crossed paths in the Union on Tuesday morning. Garland's departure means MSU will have two vacancies to fill on its coaching staff next season.
After much speculation, MSU basketball associate head coach Brian Gregory accepted the head-coaching position at Dayton on Wednesday afternoon."I'm honored and excited to be named the head basketball coach at the University of Dayton," Gregory said at a press conference.
With closure on the Spartan basketball season, much optimism is already surrounding the 2003-04 campaign. The Spartans stumbled out of the gate, and by early January, the Spartans were the "biggest disappointment" of the season.
You can take the coach out of the Final Four, but you won't be able to take the Final Four out of the coach. MSU Sports Information Assistant Director Matt Larson confirmed Tuesday MSU head coach Tom Izzo will join anchors Greg Gumbel and Clark Kellogg in CBS studios for analysis of this weekend's national semifinal and championship games.
San Antonio - The motivation for the MSU men's basketball team this postseason was to make a name for itself instead of chasing the glory of seasons' past. Mission accomplished? "It was a good run, not many people gave us a chance to get this far," sophomore forward/guard Alan Anderson said.
In the second half of No. 7 seed MSU's 68-46 win over No. 2 seed Florida, sophomore forward/guard Alan Anderson dropped a pretty dime to freshman forward Erazem Lorbek for an easy deuce. As associate head coach Brian Gregory strolled by head coach Tom Izzo to call plays he asked, "Where did that come from?" Gregory was referring to Anderson's true point guard-type pass, however, he could have been talking about the entire team's performance.
MSU's recent success is no secret. It's chemistry. The Spartans seem visibly more comfortable now than they did all season.