After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Mott Community College basketball star Rashi Johnson said he knew staying close to home was an important factor if he decided to transfer.That’s why the 6-foot-2 guard from Chicago picked MSU as his new home.“What really influenced my decision was the proximity, it’s a drive,” Johnson said.
Former MSU two-time All-American defensive back Brad Van Pelt will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame at the National Football Foundation’s 44th annual banquet in New York City next month. Van Pelt was on campus Monday to talk about his latest honor. “Besides (former MSU head coach) Duffy Daugherty sliding that piece of paper in front of me and the New York Giants giving me the phone call, this has got to be the most exciting moment for me in my sports career,” the Owosso native said. A reception honoring the 1973 second-round NFL draft pick will be held from 6 to 8 p.m.
In the first half of the Big Ten season, things didn’t always go so well for the Spartan volleyball team.
Thanksgiving weekend means one thing to most sports fans - football and lots of it. But for college hockey fans, the holiday signifies the return of the College Hockey Showcase, when CCHA powers MSU and Michigan duke it out with Western Collegiate Hockey Association forces Minnesota and Wisconsin. This year, it’s the WCHA teams’ turn to come to Michigan as No.
If MSU wants to move on to the Preseason NIT Finals, it will have to overcome a plethora of problems. For starters, MSU men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo said he isn’t sure how his No.
Last year’s game against Penn State still doesn’t sit well with MSU sophomore quarterback Jeff Smoker.
The MSU men’s and women’s cross country teams placed 18th and 11th, respectively, at the 2001 National Championships in Greenville, S.C., on Monday. MSU freshman Chris Toloff paced the Spartan harriers, placing 54th with a time of 30:33 in the 10K race.
For a team that didn’t know if they would be on the list, the expectations were high.The MSU men’s soccer team congregated at Trippers, 354 Frandor Ave.
Granted, it’s still early in the season, but Ryan Miller said the H-word hasn’t come up too much so far. Last season, the goaltender stormed through the regular season and set numerous team, conference and national records en route to winning the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s outstanding player. Now a junior, Miller is subject to the question that nags every underclassman who wins a major award... Can he do it again? “Some people were asking me before the season, before they saw what kind of team I have to play with,” Miller said last week.
The wins keep on coming for the MSU volleyball team. But this time, it’s personal. Junior middle blocker Angela Morley was named the National Volleyball Player of the Week on Monday for her 31 kills and .558 hitting percentage in MSU’s weekend upsets of No 9.
Senior quarterback Ryan Van Dyke announced Monday that he won’t pursue the possibility of being granted a medical redshirt to play next year. Van Dyke, who broke his jaw Oct.
Some players try to control their nerves by puking or taking naps before games. But all Damon Dowdell needed to shake his jitters in his first collegiate start was a love tap from Purdue defensive end Akin Ayodele.
TV cameras weren’t around to witness this one.And that was probably a good thing - the MSU men’s basketball team didn’t feed the net until the 15:54 mark of the first half.
West Lafayette, Ind. - One inexperienced quarterback and loads of mistakes left MSU one more week out of the bowl hunt. The Spartans (5-4 overall, 3-4 Big Ten) racked up six turnovers Saturday as they failed to clinch the sixth win needed to become bowl eligible for the second straight week.
Do players and coaches realize how much a bowl game can mean to a fan? I’m not sure. But I know, (dramatic pause) I owe my life to one. Let me explain. In 1965 the MSU football team was phenomenal.
Apparently new players and a fresh season don’t make much difference - at least not for MSU and Miami (Ohio).The fourth-ranked Spartans blanked Miami 3-0 on Friday and 2-0 on Saturday, extending their defensive dominance over the RedHawks (6-5-1 overall, 4-3-1 CCHA) to four straight games.MSU also shut out Miami twice last January - 1-0 and 5-0 - and the RedHawks haven’t scored against the Spartans in 292:07 minutes of hockey, dating to the first period of a 5-1 MSU win on March 11, 2000.All five games in the streak have been played at Munn Ice Arena.“I’m always surprised we get a shutout,” MSU head coach Ron Mason said.
The MSU wrestling team opened its season Saturday with the MSU Wrestling Open, where nine Spartans advanced to Sunday’s semifinals.
It’s the trip no volleyball team wants to make - traveling to No. 9 Ohio State and No. 13 Penn State on consecutive nights. Only three teams have ever survived the weekend with two wins.
The statistics didn’t look like those of a winning team.But with some unseemly numbers, the MSU women’s basketball teams beat Buffalo 50-42 and UCLA 67-63 to take first in the season-opening Spartan Chevrolet Classic on Friday and Saturday at Breslin Center.The team began the tournament at 8 p.m.
Ryan Miller seems to have turned the usually potent Miami (Ohio) RedHawks into his personal statistic-padding team.The junior goaltender recorded another shutout over the RedHawks - his fourth straight whitewash of Miami - in Saturday night’s 2-0 MSU win at Munn Ice Arena.The Spartans (8-2-1 overall, 7-2-1 CCHA) have now held Miami (6-5-1, 4-3-1) scoreless for 292:07 minutes of hockey, dating to March 11, 2000.Miami came into the series averaging 3.90 goals per game, but Miller made 28 saves Saturday for his 23rd career shutout.