Wide receiver Agim Shabaj will not be returning to the MSU football team as he has been ruled academically ineligible for the 2005 season, said John Lewandowski, assistant athletics director and director of Sports Information. Shabaj, a high school teammate of junior quarterback Drew Stanton, played in 11 games and had 29 catches, with one touchdown last season.
The year-plus between December 2003 and spring 2005 for junior quarterback Drew Stanton has been well documented - serious knee injury, long rehabilitation process, and a shoulder injury during the 2004 season and then more rehab. After all those hurdles, Stanton seemed to hit a flat stretch with no obstacles. "They're both feeling real good," Stanton said of his injuries.
With less than three months until the season opening game against Kent State, the $64 million Spartan Stadium addition continues to take shape. "This isn't only to benefit the people who can afford the (suite and club level seating)," Associate Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Greg Ianni said.
A 20-year-old MSU student and football player was arraigned Wednesday on charges of drunken driving and unlawfully displaying a license, court officials said. Stephen Reaves, a sophomore who was backup quarterback for the MSU football team in fall 2004, was arraigned on the two misdemeanor charges. The maximum penalty is 93 days in jail and/or $500 per misdemeanor charge, Assistant City Attorney Tom Yeadon said. MSU Associate Athletics Director John Lewandowski would not detail what action will be taken. "Coach Smith will take appropriate disciplinary action - we are not going to air our dirty laundry in public," Lewandowski said. Reaves was previously charged with a minor in possession and a prohibited alcohol charge. Reaves is the fifth football player of the semester to appear in court. Last season, the Tampa, Fla., native played in five games, going 23-for-58 with 331 yards with two touchdowns.
When former MSU running back DeAndra Cobb was 9 years old, his mother signed him up for a local little league football team with encouragement from her brother, even though she knew little about football. "We signed him up, and they actually called him 'Turbo' and we have been running with him ever since," Cobb's mother, Terri Cobb-Harden, said. She had no idea that years later, she would watch her son be drafted into the NFL on national television and share in the excitement. Four Spartans were drafted in the sixth and seventh rounds of the NFL Draft on Sunday afternoon.
The MSU football team ended spring football with a scrimmage Friday, moving indoors to the Duffy Daugherty Football Building because of poor weather. The scrimmage concluded the Spartans' 15 practices during a four-week period, a spring session MSU head coach John L.
After two seasons of dropped passes and inconsistency at wide receiver under MSU head coach John L. Smith, the position that gave the Spartans trouble in the past looks to be one of their greatest strengths entering the 2005 season. With wide receivers Aaron Alexander, Kyle Brown, Agim Shabaj and Matt Trannon all entering their senior years of play and junior Jerramy Scott and sophomore Terry Love returning to the program as well, the Spartans might have one of the best lists of wide receivers in the Big Ten. Alexander said the group is coming together well, but there still is work to be done before the fall.
MSU football head coach John L. Smith said Tuesday he doesn't know where his nephew Alex Smith -?the potential No.1 pick in the 2005 NFL Draft on Saturday - will go. "I know where I'd like to see him go, but I have no clue where he's going to go," Smith said of the former Utah quarterback. John L.
Practice is just about over, and members of the MSU football team start gathering together. Instead of circling around MSU head coach John L.
Former MSU place-kicker Dave Rayner lined up for a 45-yard field goal at the Duffy Daugherty Building on Tuesday with no one rushing, yelling or attempting to block his kick. It was just him and the ball. This has been the scenario for Rayner during the past couple months, preparing for the 2005 NFL Draft. "I come in here kicking at least twice, sometimes three times a week," said Rayner, who is MSU's all-time leader in scoring, field goals and extra points.
MSU junior quarterback Drew Stanton has spent a lot of time this spring watching, not playing. But it is all part of the plan, and he knows it.
The MSU football team was back in the confines of Spartan Stadium on Saturday, running exactly 100 plays as part of its open spring practice in front of an estimated 4,500 fans. MSU head coach John L.
Last spring, chaos. This spring, peace. Last spring, three quarterbacks were vying for one starting role.
There are some new big men on campus this semester, and they are not wasting any time stepping into their positions on the MSU football team. Junior defensive tackle Bobby Jones, freshman offensive lineman Brendon Moss, freshman quarterback Domenic Natale and freshman defensive tackle Diego Oquendo have all joined the Spartans this semester and are participating in spring football, getting a jump on the new recruits coming in the fall. Jones, currently behind senior Domata Peko on the depth chart at defensive tackle, said it has been a difficult move, both on the field and in the classroom. "It's a big adjustment trying to make it as I go through spring ball here and this semester," Jones said. He also has switched positions from defensive end, a position he has played his whole life, to defensive tackle. "I'm gonna play where they put me as long as I can get on the field," the 6-foot-4, 296-pound Jones said. MSU head coach John L.
For the past four months it seems Matt Trannon only was dreaming about basketball as his team headed to the Final Four. The junior forward left his football pads behind and worked his way into MSU head coach Tom Izzo's rotation. But when Trannon went to sleep at night, it was a football he grabbed to tuck in next to him in bed. "I've been doing it since high school -just something I do," he said. Although he was mostly on the hardwood during the winter, he constantly checked in with his football coaches and spent his spare time in the weight room. It was a short break for the two-sport athlete from Flint in preparation for his senior football season. After playing in the Final Four in St.
After two years of starting at the strong safety position, Eric Smith has leaped into a new position this spring - bandit. The senior, who recorded 115 tackles last season, second on the team, will look to strengthen a linebacking corps that will be hurting from the loss of last year's team captain Ronald Stanley. Smith said it's a bit more challenging shifting to a new position that's a combination of linebacker and defensive back. "As a safety, you had to know pretty much everything," he said. "They talked to me a little bit before spring ball, saying they wanted to look at me moving to the bandit," Smith said of the coaching staff.
The MSU football team will take the field for its fourth spring practice of the year today, but the Spartans said they realize they are probably sitting second fiddle to the basketball program. Both the men's and women's basketball teams have advanced to the Final Four, and the MSU football team is among the ballers' biggest supporters. "Everybody's watching," senior defensive back Eric Smith said.
The MSU football team will head into spring practice starting Friday with a new attitude and a sense of accountability to one another, MSU head coach John L.
MSU football head coach John L. Smith hired Texas-El Paso defensive coordinator Tim Hundley to fill the assistant coaching position, but Hundley reversed his decision to come to MSU due to family reasons. Hundley was scheduled to arrive in East Lansing on today but now Smith must find another replacement in time for spring football. Hundley's original decision was based on a larger salary, but UTEP head coach Mike Price convinced him to reconsider.
MSU football head coach John L. Smith named former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive line coach Lucious Selmon as his defensive line coach Saturday.