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Pistons need guard help in NBA draft
With the month of June winding down, it is time for one of my favorite sporting events of the summer, the NBA draft.
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It's official: MoJo to transfer to Vermont
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.
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Neitzel to participate in Pan-Am tryouts
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.
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MSU lands top recruit
Up until last week, it was a foregone conclusion that consensus Top 10 basketball recruit Delvon Roe would choose North Carolina over MSU.
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Neitzel scores AP honorable mention
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.
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Spartans could be 13 deep next season, Joseph may transfer
The locker room is empty. The equipment is packed away. The players are on hiatus for two weeks — "13 1/2 more days than last year," head coach Tom Izzo said. The season is over for the MSU men's basketball team — a grueling campaign that saw the Spartans go from preseason doormat to a few minutes away from a Sweet 16 berth. "The biggest problem now is where do we go?" Izzo said Wednesday at his year-end press conference.
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Forget conference awards, here's the superlatives you really need to know
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.
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Tourney time a holiday for hoops reporter
State News basketball reporter Tom Keller covered MSU's postseason run last week in Winston-Salem, N.C., and was reminded why this is his favorite — and most fattening — time of year. If you don't like the NCAA Tournament, I'm not sure we can be friends.
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Incoming class, returnees set bar high for future
Winston-Salem, N.C. — Come this time next year, MSU could very well be hoisting a conference championship banner to the Breslin Center rafters and enjoying a No.
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Izzo: 'We gave them a hell of a game'
Winston-Salem, N.C. — It was supposed to be over by now, but there were eight minutes left to play and ninth-seeded MSU was leading top-seeded North Carolina by a point.
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Hannon and Neitzel couldn't be any more different, but together, duo leads team
Winston-Salem, N.C. — We knew that for MSU to win in the NCAA Tournament, someone other than junior guard Drew Neitzel would have to step up. But if you were the one who guessed that someone would be walk-on junior forward Jake Hannon, put the paper down, go buy a lottery ticket, then come back and finish reading.
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Round 2 next
Winston-Salem, N.C. — The familiarity between Marquette and MSU led many to believe Thursday night's first-round matchup would be tightly contested.
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A closer look at Drew Neitzel's down screens
You can probably remember a hundred times this season when junior guard Drew Neitzel water-bugged his way around the court to open himself up for a shot.
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It's game time
You know about Tom Izzo and Tom Crean. They're best friends. They built MSU to be the program it is today.
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Tales of the 1,300 tapes
Ever wish you could watch film of every 3-pointer Drew Neitzel has ever made off the dribble out of a timeout in a road game? Kevin Pauga can make it happen. Pauga, the video coordinator for the MSU men's basketball team, manages a film scouting system that puts Blockbuster to shame.
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WEB EXTRA: A closer look at the East Regional teams
So you know about MSU. What about the other 15 teams in the East Regional? Here's a quick rundown of the participants. March 15 and 17, Winston-Salem, N.C. No.
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Izzo, Crean put friendship aside
It couldn't have been scripted much better. MSU vs. Marquette. Tom Izzo vs. Tom Crean. Teacher vs.
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Spartans make early Big Ten exits
Chicago — Since MSU's loss to Wisconsin in Friday's quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, Badgers star Alando Tucker has been lambasted in many MSU circles as a classless, heartless thug.
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Men's team earns No. 9 seed
Let out a long sigh of relief: MSU is in the Big Dance. The ninth-seeded Spartans will face eighth-seeded Marquette (Wis.) on Thursday in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
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Harris leads desperate Wolverines
Ann Arbor — Earlier this week, the MSU men's basketball team admitted some concern that Michigan would have an added urgency for Tuesday's game because the stakes were higher for the Wolverines.