To say Miami (Ohio) has struggled to score in recent contests against MSU is quite an understatement - the RedHawks’ last four games against MSU have been exhibitions of complete offensive futility. Never before, in 60 years of MSU hockey, had the Spartans shut out the same opponent four times in a row until thwarting Miami the past two years.
Most of the talk in MSU’s locker room this week centered around the team’s impending series against Miami (Ohio). But a close second in conversation material has been Olympic hockey, which started its medal round Wednesday.Many Spartan players are rooting for a United States versus Canada matchup, which won’t happen until Sunday’s gold or bronze medal games - if at all.
MSU recruit Corey Potter, upon returning from Siberia, both verified and discredited the mental image most Americans have about the frosty central Russian region. “It was really cold, but it wasn’t that bad,” said Potter, who signed a National Letter of Intent with MSU in November.
The Spartan men’s basketball team begins a crucial five-day span tonight, when it hosts Minnesota. MSU (15-10 overall, 6-6 Big Ten) plays three games against the Big Ten’s best - beginning with surprising fifth-place Minnesota (14-9, 7-5) at 7 p.m. Spartan head coach Tom Izzo said the upcoming week will play a major role in determining MSU’s NCAA Tournament fate. “It’s no question that this week will pretty much determine our NCAA Tournament future,” Izzo said.
College basketball players aren’t normally adored by hometown fans when they’re 13 years old.But Rick Rickert is an exception.
The MSU women’s track and field team has acquired new help in the throwing department. Amy Wabaunsee, a physical education teacher at Lansing’s Immaculate Heart of Mary-Saint Casimir, was hired by women’s head coach Angela Goodman earlier this season to coach the throwers. Wabaunsee’s employment was made public Tuesday and Goodman said her addition to the team has been positive thus far.
In the next few weeks, hockey recruit Shane Hynes plans to decide where to continue his career - with the two finalists being Cornell and Denver. The bad news for the Spartans is they were originally the third team on Hynes’ short list of schools, but he crossed them off when 23-year MSU head coach Ron Mason announced he was stepping down after this season to become athletics director. “I didn’t want to go into a school where they weren’t going to have a coach until the summer and the new coach had never even seen me play,” Hynes said.
The last time the MSU women’s basketball team faced Iowa, only the Hawkeyes showed up. The Spartans (15-10 overall, 5-9 Big Ten) dropped the game to the Hawkeyes (15-9, 8-6) 75-55 on Jan.
The men’s basketball team has revenge on its mind. With Minnesota (14-9 overall, 7-5 Big Ten) and Indiana (17-8, 9-3) coming to Breslin Center this week, MSU has plenty of motivation.
Spartan men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo has asked a lot of things from his freshman this season - more than ever before. But in addition to big minutes, freshman swingman Alan Anderson has been asked to be a little bit of everything for MSU (15-10 overall, 6-6 Big Ten). “The kid’s going to be a better player for it in the next three years, but I’m not sure we’ve asked more of a freshman,” Izzo said.
The MSU women’s hockey club is seeking to join Wayne State as the only universities in Michigan to have a women’s varsity ice hockey teams. MSU has 11 women’s varsity sports, and each is budgeted a certain amount of money each year. From July 1, 2000 to June 30, the women’s basketball team had revenues amounting to $109,296 and expenses totaling $1,374,930. During the same year all other women’s teams brought in $416,968 compared to expenses totaling $4,769,835. The hockey club team first applied for varsity status in 1996.
Recruit stays with TideThe Spartan football team lost out on a prized community college linebacker. Derrick Pope, a 6-foot-1, 218-pound linebacker from Garden City Community College in Kansas chose to stay with Alabama on Monday. Pope verbally committed to Alabama in July, before reconsidering following NCAA sanctions against the university. Alabama was placed under a five-year probation, which includes a two-year bowl ban for repeated violations.
Colton Fretter, 19, is standing firm in his decision to play hockey for MSU next season. The high-scoring forward from Harrow, Ontario, signed a National Letter of Intent with the university back in November after choosing the Spartans over Bowling Green, Miami (Ohio) and other suitors. But November was a much different time in Spartan hockey.
West Lafayette, Ind. - Purdue’s love for the three-point basket was clear Saturday night, but Valentine’s Day had long passed. “It killed us tonight,” Boilermaker forward Rodney Smith said.
Even in defeat, the MSU women’s basketball team’s defense was shining, as it has all season.The Spartans (15-10 overall, 5-9 Big Ten) lost 62-59 in overtime to Penn State (17-9, 9-4) on Thursday.
The Olympics provide athletes with a chance to shine on the global stage with a myriad of nations covering the Winter Games.
The No. 1 community college linebacker in America may come to MSU, and his decision could come as early as today. Rivals.com has Derrick Pope, a 6-foot-1, 218-pound linebacker from Garden City Community College in Kansas, the top Juco linebacker in the nation. Sunday, Pope listed MSU, Arkansas and Florida as his finalists.
West Lafayette, Ind. - For the first time all season, the Spartan men’s basketball team came from behind at halftime to steal a win.
Led by several record-setting events, the MSU gymnastics team outscored Rutgers University 195.735-to-191.350 Saturday. The Spartans’ score was the fourth highest in school history. MSU took first place in all four events.
Detroit - Fifth-ranked MSU finally broke its season-long, head-to-head stalemate against Michigan and claimed a 3-1 victory in front of 20,058 fans at Joe Louis Arena on Saturday. The Spartans (21-6-5 overall, 15-5-4 CCHA) raced to a 2-1 lead in a wild opening five minutes, and then clamped down on the No.