With several NBA departures expected after the 2013-14 season, men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo has been scouring the country looking for players to be part of the next generation of Spartans. On Monday, Izzo secured another one.
For a moment, it seemed as though head coach Tom Izzo had pulled off an impressive Evel Knievel impersonation. Clad in stuntman gear, Izzo rode a cannon, hashtagged #IzzoCannon, into Breslin Center. He joined his wife and kids at the center of the court with a helmet under his arm.
There’s a story of two different Branden Dawsons. One is of a high-flying acrobat with the body of a running back, able to make plays near the basket reminiscent of NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. The other is of a timid guard/forward rising to the basket for a dunk, but instead settling for a soft layup in hopes his legs won’t collapse beneath his natural force on the dismount.
The MSU’s men’s basketball team is expected to be among the nation’s best teams for the 2013-14 season, but head coach Tom Izzo wants to keep expectations in perspective. The Spartans are opening up a new campaign and are anticipated to be among the top five teams in the country. They are even being touted as the No. 1 team in the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook Preseason Top 25, ahead of Kentucky, Louisville, Duke and Arizona, respectively.
The Spartans have their next young point guard. Making his announcement Thursday morning at Christian Sunrise Academy in Wichita, Kan., 2014 recruit LouRawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. said he will be attending MSU next fall.
Two down. Two to go? ?Former basketball star Morris Peterson became the second member of the lauded “Flintstones” clique to become inducted to the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday, joining childhood friend and teammate Mateen Cleaves (inducted in 2011).
It can be tough to consistently win with a target on your back, and MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo knows this well. “Expectations are definitely high this year, and they should be high,” Izzo said.
Moments after junior center Adreian Payne delayed his professional career late Sunday night for his senior season at MSU to chase a national championship, it drew flashbacks of 2010.
After weeks of speculation, MSU junior center Adreian Payne has made a decision to return to school for his senior season, according to Yahoo! Sports reporter Adrian Wojnarowski.
The music of the Big Dance came to a halt this weekend for the MSU men’s basketball team. Behind the hot-shooting hand of Duke guard Seth Curry, who finished with a game-high 29 points, the No. 2 seed Blue Devils (30-6) knocked off the No. 3 seed Spartans (27-9) with a 71-61 victory at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis — Sitting with his teammates at Breslin Center, watching the NCAA Tournament’s Selection Show for the first time as a college basketball player, Gary Harris saw the Spartans’ name pop up on the TV screen and began to cheer.
Check out five keys and five storylines for MSU to beat Duke and head to the NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight.
The names of the coaches in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament read like a who’s who in college basketball.
At 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, a full 2 1/2 hours before tickets officially went on sale, human development and family studies junior Faye Van Oostenburg staked out the Izzone office on the third floor of the Union for a chance to see the MSU men’s basketball team face Duke in Indianapolis tomorrow. “It’s (about) the experience,” Van Oostenburg said with a smile.
Tom Izzo didn’t board the bus until he posed for every picture, shook every hand and greeted every fan that wanted it.
With high-flying dunks and long-arching threes, the Spartans advanced to their fifth Sweet 16 appearance in six years behind the acrobatics of Adreian Payne and the precision of Gary Harris. An explosive first half from Harris followed by a dominant second half from Payne helped power the No.
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Tom Izzo had spent a good portion of the past four years doing everything he could to keep Derrick Nix on the floor, at times fighting his big man to do so.
As MSU prepares to play in the NCAA Tournament today at the Palace of Auburn Hills, look back at the team’s regular season in this timeline.
The squeaks of sneakers sprinting across MSU’s basketball practice court suddenly stopped as the 2009 Final Four banner billowed briskly against the wall Monday afternoon.