Even as the words slipped out of his mouth, Tom Izzo knew the response they would elicit. “Our captains could be a little controversial as far as the media’s concerned,” he warned before revealing the names of the two players who would lead the Spartans in their quest to defend the Big Ten title. “It is Derrick Nix and Russell Byrd,” he said.
When Tom Izzo has stood in front of reporters for the MSU men’s basketball team’s media day in previous years, he knows he’s talked about the dream of having a team that can get out and run. The difference is with a stable of relentless athletes, Izzo said the goal finally can be a reality.
Being a part of one of head coach Tom Izzo’s top recruiting classes during his 18-year tenure, Denzel Valentine is no stranger to the spotlight.
Two years ago, Greg Wolfe described himself as “a little timid” freshman. Now that timid MSU hockey forward has evolved into a leader of the program, and that leadership role was made concrete today as head coach Tom Anastos named the junior captain of the Spartan squad.
Sometimes, all it takes is a little “Spartan heart” to give yourself the biggest weekend of your career.
It’s a week of change for the MSU football team (4-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten). As injuries pile on and players begin to bloom, head coach Mark Dantonio made some adjustments to his depth chart in preparation for Saturday’s homecoming game against Iowa (3-2, 1-0).
The search to replace graduated safety Trenton Robinson has been a revolving door in the defensive secondary, and this week the door has stopped with redshirt freshman R.J. Williamson, following a career-high nine tackles in the MSU football team’s (4-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) 31-27 victory over Indiana.
In the minds of many, this could be the game that defines the MSU women’s soccer team’s season. The Spartans (8-4-2 overall, 2-3-1 Big Ten) travel to Ann Arbor to take on No. 23 Michigan at 7 p.m. Wednesday at U-M Soccer Stadium.
Back in August when the Spartans were midway through fall camp, offensive coordinator Dan Roushar began to see growth in his starting quarterback. Following the team’s first scrimmage — in which junior quarterback Andrew Maxwell was 16-of-29 for 162 yards — Roushar met with the media and divulged Maxwell had not thrown an interception in about five or six practices.
The MSU men’s hockey team wasted no time making an impression this season. In fact, it took exactly ten seconds.
For head coach Suzy Merchant and the MSU women’s basketball team, the bar for this season is very high as they are expecting to win the Big Ten and compete for a national title.
She’s already lost her captaincy and the ability to play in the first nine games of the season, but Kiana Johnson said the darkest days of her run-in with the NCAA haven’t happened yet.
Returning to the football field doesn’t appear imminent for junior tight end Dion Sims.
Mark Dantonio didn’t have much to smile about following the MSU football team’s 31-27 victory over Indiana in Bloomington on Saturday. The Spartans (4-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) came into the game heavily favored to deliver another drubbing to the Hoosiers (2-3 overall, 0-2 Big Ten) after last year’s 55-3 blowout in Spartan Stadium.
If you were to ask people to make a list of the best items needed for the Izzone Campout, their answer might lead you to believe they were sleeping somewhere other than Munn field.
Is this really it? It’s the midpoint of the college football season, and this MSU team (4-2 overall, 1-1 Big Ten) still is as confounding and, maybe more appropriately, dumbfounding as it was when it opened the season.
Last Monday, the MSU field hockey team sat in its huddle after a 3-2 loss against Pacific feeling disappointed and angry. This Monday, the Spartans (8-6 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) will be fresh off of an excited and happy bus ride after dominating the state of Ohio.
After competing with fellow goaltender Drew Palmisano for a starting spot last season, junior Will Yanakeff might have assumed the competition would be lessened this year following Palmisano’s departure.
With the first season as head coach of his alma mater behind him, Tom Anastos is looking at Monday night’s game as an evaluation of the season lying ahead of them.
The MSU volleyball team started its weekend with a win, but it ended in heartbreak, as the Spartans finished their four-game road trip Saturday.