The MSU men's basketball team will open the season next week as one of the top 10 teams in the country. The Associated Press preseason poll, released Monday, has the Spartans ranked No.
Spartan basketball head coach Tom Izzo said he’s saddened University of Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker and the current 2002-03 U-M basketball squad will be punished. U-M penalized its basketball program Thursday because of a scandal involving former booster Ed Martin. “I’ve always been a believer that the coaches and the players should take the hit, not the school,” Izzo said.
Freshman guard Maurice Ager suffered a stress fracture in his right foot Wednesday night and will be out for four to six weeks. Ager won’t be needing surgery, but will wear a boot for the next couple of weeks. “I’m getting tired of stress fractures,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said.
Former Spartan star Marcus Taylor was cut from the Columbus Riverdragons of the National Basketball Developmental League on Wednesday.
After weeks filled with intense practice the men’s basketball team finally will suit up for its first exhibition game today at Breslin Center. The Magic Johnson All-Stars, are a full professional squad from Australia, that also brings to the table three players who have won a National Championship at MSU - Earvin “Magic” Johnson (1979), David Thomas and Mike Chappelle (1999). Little is known about the rest of the team due in part to its orientation overseas, and as a result the Spartans will take the court sans a specific game plan. “You have no scouting report or anything, you really don’t know much about them,” senior forward Adam Ballinger said.
Though this year’s incoming men’s basketball recruits have a difficult road ahead, the sophomore class has made the path a little smoother. Last year’s trio of Chris Hill, Alan Anderson and Kelvin Torbert exploded in their first full-length game this season, scoring 17, 11 and 10 points respectively to lead the Green team to a 78-52 win in the Green-White scrimmage Saturday at Breslin Center. “I really thought we got some good things out of it,” head coach Tom Izzo said.
After jetting from MSU following his sophomore season to taste the NBA’s glory, Marcus Taylor was released by the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. Taylor was selected by the Timberwolves with the 52nd overall pick in the draft.
After two weeks of practicing, the MSU men’s basketball team will have a chance to perform in a game situation Saturday at Breslin Center in the team’s Green and White game. It’s the first Green and White game in two years.
The men’s basketball team will be kicking off its season this Saturday at 4 p.m. with the Green-White Game. The game will provide the last chance for fans to sign the “Elite Banner” before it’s raised to the Breslin Center rafters.
Last season, the MSU men’s basketball team lacked enough healthy bodies for intense practices. The Spartans had just eight scholarship athletes on the roster and various injuries - including redshirt junior forward Adam Wolfe’s season-ending injury - forcing walk-ons and others to play minutes they had not earned. Head coach Tom Izzo said practices were played “safe.” This fall, the first three days of practices have been more to Izzo’s liking.
A jam-packed Breslin Center helped both the men’s and women’s basketball teams usher in the start of the 2002-03 season Friday night.Master of ceremonies Terry “Boom Boom” Braverman got the Midnight Mania crowd riled up, followed by the Spartan Marching Band leading the crowd in the school fight song.San Francisco 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci sent a message to his buddy - men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo - via video screen.“Tonight is the first step to another championship run, Izzo,” he said.
The men’s and women’s basketball teams will be unveiled to the general public during Midnight Mania tonight at Breslin Center.
The media got its first look at the 2002-03 MSU men’s basketball team Tuesday afternoon and the Spartans have high expectations for the upcoming season.The Spartans, which are coming off a 19-11 season and a first-round loss in the NCAA Tournament, are looking to bring their game back to a higher level.“We took a look at last year and the last three years to see where we need to go and how we’re going to get back to elite status,” Spartan basketball head coach Tom Izzo.“Looking back at last year, we didn’t have any expectations, we just wanted to survive.
Armed with sleeping bags, tents and pillows, about 350 MSU students gave up hours of their weekend in an effort to become members of the Izzone.The Student Alumni Foundation sponsored a campout for tickets in the largest student-operated spirit section in college basketball - the 953-member Izzone.“We got here at 6 a.m.,” English senior Andrea Sprague said.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the star who led MSU to a NCAA Championship in 1979, is about to live through another Magic moment.On Friday, his old coaches, teammates, friends and family will gather in Springfield, Mass., to hear Larry Bird, his greatest rival and friend, induct Johnson into the NBA Hall of Fame.The 6-foot-9 point guard revolutionized basketball and was the tallest point guard to ever play in the NBA.
MSU officials said they never questioned assistant basketball coach Mark Montgomery’s education because head coach Tom Izzo saw Montgomery’s graduation ceremony.
Former Spartan basketball star Mateen Cleaves will be signing autographs from 5-7 p.m. Friday at Eastwood Towne Center in Lansing Township. Cleaves, who is about to start his third NBA season, will meet and greet fans at the grand opening of the Sprint store, 2959 Preyde Blvd., in the new shopping center, located on Lake Lansing Road near U.S.
After one year on the West Coast, former Spartan star Mateen Cleaves is headed back to the Midwest in search of some playing time.Cleaves, a point guard, was traded from the Sacramento Kings to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday in exchange for second-year forward Jumaine Jones.
The MSU Board of Trustees will vote to approve a one-year contract extension for men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo at its meeting Friday.The extension would keep Izzo at the helm of the Spartan program until June 30, 2009.And although the board must vote to make the extension official, trustee David Porteous said the deal is as good as done.“He does a great job, and we’re fortunate at MSU to have Tom Izzo,” Porteous said.
After years of inconsistency between the NCAA and its football conferences, the NCAA record books will recognize players’ statistics in bowl games. Sean Straziscar, assistant director for statistics for the NCAA, said starting this year football’s record keeping methods will be the same as other sports. “Football was the only sport that we did not count postseason statistics up until now,” he said.