Coming into his freshman season, there were monumental expectations for Branden Dawson. The centerpiece of his recruiting class, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound slashing guard from Gary, Ind., was heralded as one of head coach Tom Izzo’s prize players in the pursuit of future NCAA Tournament runs. And his first season certainly didn’t disappoint.
Highly touted freshman guard Aerial Powers will miss the 2012-13 women’s basketball season after tearing the Achilles tendon in her left heel.
As sparks flew, all the eyes in Breslin Center turned skyward Friday night at Midnight Madness as an Iron Man suit flew across the floor to help kick off the basketball season for both the men’s and women’s basketball teams.
There was buzz in the air at the Breslin Center as MSU Midnight Madness marked the official beginning of the college basketball season.
When Suzy Merchant looks to the Breslin Center floor during preseason practice, the MSU women’s basketball coach sees a familiar challenge: trying to remain among the top of the Big Ten without three starters from the previous year.
When MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo makes his grand entrance Friday night at Midnight Madness at Breslin Center, it might be his most menacing reveal yet.
Even as the words slipped out of his mouth, Tom Izzo knew the response they would elicit. “Our captains could be a little controversial as far as the media’s concerned,” he warned before revealing the names of the two players who would lead the Spartans in their quest to defend the Big Ten title. “It is Derrick Nix and Russell Byrd,” he said.
When Tom Izzo has stood in front of reporters for the MSU men’s basketball team’s media day in previous years, he knows he’s talked about the dream of having a team that can get out and run. The difference is with a stable of relentless athletes, Izzo said the goal finally can be a reality.
Being a part of one of head coach Tom Izzo’s top recruiting classes during his 18-year tenure, Denzel Valentine is no stranger to the spotlight.
For head coach Suzy Merchant and the MSU women’s basketball team, the bar for this season is very high as they are expecting to win the Big Ten and compete for a national title.
She’s already lost her captaincy and the ability to play in the first nine games of the season, but Kiana Johnson said the darkest days of her run-in with the NCAA haven’t happened yet.
If you were to ask people to make a list of the best items needed for the Izzone Campout, their answer might lead you to believe they were sleeping somewhere other than Munn field.
Friday marked the 17th annual Izzone Campout, an event held each year to get students ready for the upcoming basketball season and, for upperclassmen, secure a spot in the notorious cheering section; the Izzone.
Midnight Madness, the kickoff to the 2012-13 basketball season will take place beginning at 9:30 p.m. Oct. 12 at Breslin Center.
Cheers echoed across the IM Sports-West court from spectators as more than 60 people faced off against colleagues and friends on opposing teams. The teams included the Monday and Wednesday shifts pulling out a 38-32 victory against the Tuesday and Thursday shifts in the championship round.
Shawn Respert, Clinton Jones and four other Spartan legends were welcomed into the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday evening at Wharton Center.
No new information has been released in regards to the two MSU women’s basketball players who have been suspended for the first nine games of the 2012-13 season.
MSU freshman forward Kenny Kaminski will be out four to six months after undergoing successful surgery on his right shoulder on Sept. 7 to repair a torn labrum, according to a release by the MSU athletics department.
MSU women’s basketball head coach Suzy Merchant announced Friday that sophomore guard Kiana Johnson and redshirt freshman forward Akyah Taylor have been suspended for the first nine games of the upcoming season, after NCAA guidelines “related to the receipt of extra benefits” were violated, according to a release by the MSU athletics department. “Both Kiana and Akyah are good student-athletes that made a bad decision this summer,” Merchant said in a statement.
Two MSU women basketball players, Kiana Johnson and Akyah Taylor, are suspended for the first nine games of the upcoming season, according to the Associated Press. MSU officials said NCAA guidelines “related to receipt of extra benefits” were violated. Keep checking statenews.com and future print editions of The State News for more on this developing story.