New coach, same expectations. The MSU women’s basketball team was picked to finish second behind defending league champion Ohio State in the Big Ten preseason media poll, which was announced at Sunday’s Big Ten Media Day.
MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo and Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson deflected the preseason hype toward each other, but when the votes were in, the Spartans were the media’s preseason pick to win the Big Ten.
The MSU women’s basketball team has spent the last two seasons with makeshift point guards.
For the past year, freshman guards Chris Allen, Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers have been lumped together as one of the best recruiting classes MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo has brought to East Lansing.
Players, coaches and fans of the MSU women’s basketball team are ready to replace the bitter taste in their mouths, left from last season’s sudden coaching shake-up, with the sweet taste of victory under new leadership and a fresh start.
At this time last year the MSU men’s basketball team was in unfamiliar territory. With three stars gone to the NBA and only 30 percent of its offense returning, the Spartans were looking to find a leader and the preseason predictions were not high.
There were no ghoulish costumes, ceiling entrance, or camouflage on hand at Munn Ice Arena on Friday night — only 14 Spartan warriors entering their battlefield in anticipation for the official start of the college basketball season.
Growing up as a sports fan, I had a pretty fair idea that I wanted to become a sportswriter after I figured out that I didn’t possess a Reggie Miller-esqe jump shot. So, I opted to dream about joining the other side of the sports world, and thought I had a good gist of what it all involved.
There are loftier expectations on the MSU men’s basketball team this upcoming season with the addition of three incoming freshman.
The U.S. men's basketball final roster for the Pan American Games was announced Tuesday afternoon, and MSU senior Drew Neitzel, a 6-foot, 180-pound guard, made the cut along with 11 others players. The U.S.
MSU's Drew Neitzel came one step closer to making the final 12-man roster for the 2007 USA Basketball Pan-American Games men's basketball team Sunday.
Raymar Morgan scored 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting as the U.S. Basketball Under-19 World Championship Team defeated Mali, 118-56, in the opening game of the tournament Thursday in Novi Sad, Serbia. Morgan, who has earned a spot in the starting lineup, scored seven of his 11 points in the first half as Team USA opened the game with a 21-0 run.
MSU sophomore forward Raymar Morgan has helped the USA Basketball Under-19 World Championship Team jump out to a perfect 3-0 record in the Global Games. Morgan poured in 13 points and grabbed five rebounds as Team USA defeated Africa 102-51 in their opening contest.
With the month of June winding down, it is time for one of my favorite sporting events of the summer, the NBA draft.
Maurice Joseph, who would have been entering his junior season with the MSU men's basketball team, has announced his decision to transfer to the University of Vermont. The 6-foot-4 guard appeared in 31 games for the Spartans last season.
MSU senior guard Drew Neitzel has accepted an invitation to try out for the 2007 USA Basketball Pan American Games on July 12-14 at Haverford College (Pa.). Neitzel will compete against 29 other top collegiate players in the country for the chance to make the final 12-player roster. Of the 30 players partaking in the trials, 14 will be seniors in 2007-08, 11 will be juniors and five will be sophomores.
Up until last week, it was a foregone conclusion that consensus Top 10 basketball recruit Delvon Roe would choose North Carolina over MSU.
The Associated Press recently named MSU junior basketball guard Drew Neitzel as Honorable Mention All-America. Scoring 20 or more points in 17 games during the season, Neitzel averaged a team-best 18.1 points per game — good for fourth-highest in the Big Ten.
Now that the MSU basketball team's season has come to a close, it's time to hand out some awards. Most likely to say something that can't be printed in The State News without heavy editing — sophomore guard Travis Walton Walton is pretty tame when he's speaking at the podium during post-game press conferences, but if you're in earshot when the Spartans huddle up before taking the court, prepare for some fantastic sound bites.