Posts Tagged ‘Tom Izzo’

2-sport star Harris headed to Michigan State

Published by Source on June 28th, 2012

2014 basketball and football standout Drake Harris hopes to play both sports in college. On Wednesday, the rising junior announced that his college future will be at Michigan State. Harris picked State over Michigan and Notre Dame.

The 6’4″ Grand Rapids (MI) prospect is both a shooting guard and a wide receiver, but as of now is more highly-touted as a hoops recruit. Michigan State, probably the only “basketball school” in his final group, is getting a top-50 guard for Tom Izzo and a tall, athletic wideout for Mark Dantonio.

Being a success on both the hardwood and gridiron is a rarity in college athletics, but Harris has the talent to be a star on each team. Harris has said that Izzo is okay with him playing football and actually came to watch him on the field this past season at Grand Rapids Christian.

Harris took an unofficial visit to East Lansing last weekend that sealed the deal for him. He cited the close proximity to home, the family atmosphere and the promise of being able to play both sports as major reasons why he chose Sparty.

(more…)

1 Comment »
Posted in featured, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame
Tags: , , ,

2012 B1G/ACC Challenge Match-ups Announced

Published by Source on May 14th, 2012

The match-ups have been announced for next season’s B1G/ACC Challenge. There will be twelve games featuring all twenty-four teams in the two conferences. In what will be the 14th annual event, the B1G will attempt to win its 4th straight after losing the first 10.

ESPN’s preseason #1 Indiana Hoosiers will host the #11 North Carolina Tar Heels in one of the two headlining games of the event. The other features an up and coming #6 NC State Wolfpack team traveling to Ann Arbor to take on the #8 Michigan Wolverines in what may be an early season top-10 match-up if the preseason rankings hold. Both of those games will be on Tuesday, November 27. The following day, the headliner is surely the #5 Ohio State Buckeyes at the #15 Duke Blue Devils. Coach K’s squad will be looking for revenge after getting destroyed in Columbus this past season.

Here are all 12 match-ups:

(more…)

No Comments »
Posted in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Revisiting My Preseason Predictions

Published by Source on March 21st, 2012

With the regular season finished and postseason tournaments in full swing, it is time to take a look back at the predictions I posted the day before this college basketball season began. I went game-by-game to predict wins and losses, tallied them up and listed the teams from 1-12. Needless to say, I did not do that well.

The first thing that jumps out is that the B1G really beat up on each other in conference play, with a lot of teams at the top of the standings losing to teams at the bottom. No team dominated the season the way that I (and many others) expected Ohio State to do.

It was not all bad, though, as I was pretty spot on with my non-conference records. For most teams, I only missed 2 or 3 non-conference games (I missed 4 for Penn State, but was perfect for Minnesota and only missed 1 each for Michigan State, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin). Below, you will see a couple different lists. The first is the side-by-side of my predicted conference standings and the actual conference standings. Next, you will see a team-by-team breakdown of the records I predicted so that you can see how wrong/right I was. NOTE: I do not include conference tournament games, as those would have been impossible to predict before the season. NOTE 2: 3-way tie in actual B1G standings, but I listed the 3 teams in the order they were seeded in the conference tournament.

PREDICTED:                       ACTUAL:

1 – Ohio State                  T-1 – Michigan State

2 – Michigan                   T-1 – Michigan

3 – Wisconsin                 T-1 – Ohio State

(more…)

No Comments »
Posted in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Up First For Michigan State: Long Island Blackbirds (25-8)

Published by Source on March 13th, 2012

The Michigan State Spartans performed a complete turnaround this year after an incredibly disappointing 2010-11 season. After going from preseason #2 to barely on the bubble last year, the Spartans went from just on the outside of the top-25 preseason to Co-B1G champions, B1G Tournament champions and a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. The last time they won the B1G tournament was 2000, the same year as the Spartans’ second and most recent National Title. This year’s run starts with the NEC-champion LIU-Brooklyn Blackbirds. The game is Friday night at 9:20pm/8:20cst on TBS.

Who are they?

The Blackbirds are coming off their second straight NEC Tournament title, beating Robert Morris last Wednesday. They were also the regular season champions in each of the last two years and will be headed back to the NCAA Tournament. Last season, the Blackbirds were a 15-seed and lost to 2nd seed North Carolina in 102-87 in the opening round. Before that, LIU had not been to the Dance since 1997 – they are still in search of their first tournament win, losing their first game in each of their 4 appearances. The Blackbirds finished with a 25-6 record, with just one game (a loss to Penn State) against a power conference team. Their schedule included just one game against a team in the NCAA field – an early season loss at Iona. They dominated the NEC conference schedule, losing just twice (both on the road) and ran through the conference tournament with no problems at all.

(more…)

No Comments »
Posted in Michigan State
Tags: ,

The 2012 NCAA Bracket is out!

Published by Source on March 12th, 2012

Congrats to all 68 teams that were fortunate enough to have their name called tonight! Six teams from the B1G received spots in the field, as well as local Big East teams Marquette and Notre Dame. Below, you will find a breakdown of who is playing who, where they are playing, and what day the game is on.

UPDATE: Times/broadcasts have been added at the end of each game description.

Michigan State – The Spartans got the 4th 1-seed in this year’s field after beating the Ohio State Buckeyes in this afternoon’s conference title game. Tom Izzo leads his Michigan State squad into the NCAA Tournament for the 15th straight season and this is the 4th time that they have been a 1-seed in that span. This year, the Spartans sit atop the West Region and will face NEC Champion LIU-Brookyln in the first round (Columbis, OH). A first round win will result in a match-up with either Memphis or Saint Louis over the weekend. [9:20pm/8:20cst on TBS]

Ohio State – Despite losing in the conference title game, the Buckeyes were given a 2-seed in this year’s East Regional (Syracuse is the 1). They will face off with 15-seed MAAC winner Loyola (MD) in the first round and would face either 7-seed Gonzaga or 10-seed West Virginia after that. Those games will be played in Pittsburgh. This is the 6th NCAA berth in head coach Thad Matta’s 8 seasons in Columbus and the 3rd time the Buckeyes have been a 2-seed in that time. They were also a top seed twice, including last season. [9:50/8:50p on TNT]

(more…)

No Comments »
Posted in featured, Indiana, Marquette, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

B1G Announces Year-End Award winners

Published by Source on March 5th, 2012

The B1G Conference has released their year-end award winners and all-conference teams. There are two sets of winners, one chosen by the twelve B1G coaches and one chosen by a select group of media members. Congrats to all of the honorees!! You will find the full lists below:

COACHES:

All-B1G First Team: Jordan Taylor (Wisconsin), Robbie Hummel (Purdue), John Shurna (Northwestern), Draymond Green (Michigan State), Jared Sullinger (Ohio State)

All-B1G Second Team: Trey Burke (Michigan), Tim Frazier (Penn State), William Buford (Ohio State), DeShaun Thomas (Ohio State), Cody Zeller (Indiana)

All-B1G Third Team: Keith Appling (Michigan State), Brandon Paul (Illinois), Matt Gatens (Iowa), Tim Hardaway Jr. (Michigan), Drew Crawford (Northwestern)

All-B1G Freshman Team: Trey Burke (Michigan), Dave Sobolewski (Northwestern), Branden Dawson (Michigan State), Aaron White (Iowa), Cody Zeller (Indiana)

Honorable Mention: Meyers Leonard (Illinois), Christian Watford (Indiana), Aaron Craft (Ohio State), Jared Berggren & Ryan Evans (Wisconsin)

Player of the Year: Draymond Green (Michigan State)

Coach of the Year: Tom Izzo (Michigan State)

Freshman of the Year: Cody Zeller (Indiana)

Defensive Player of the Year: Aaron Craft (Ohio State)

Sixth Man of the Year: DJ Byrd (Purdue)

*media selections after the jump*

(more…)

No Comments »
Posted in featured, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Gary Harris finally ends his recruitment; “I’m Going Green”

Published by Source on November 9th, 2011

It has finally happened: Gary Harris, a 5-star senior from Hamilton Southeastern in Fishers, Indiana, has made his college decision. His family had announced a few days ago to expect an announcement this week, and even though Gary’s mother tweeted this afternoon that Gary would not choose today, the decision HAS been made. Gary Harris will play his college basketball for head coach Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans.

Michigan State has been one of Gary’s favorites, if not THE favorite, for the longest time of any of his final four schools. About a year ago, when Indiana got heavily involved in the recruitment, it was a surprise to some that Gary would even consider a school besides MSU. But after a long and well-protected recruiting process, Gary has stuck by the team who has lead for the longest.

(more…)

1 Comment »
Posted in featured, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue
Tags: , , , ,

Derek Willis changes visit plans

Published by Source on October 10th, 2011

2013 star big man Derek Willis will be very busy this coming weekend (Oct 14-15). Originally planning to visit Kentucky and Indiana, the Willis’ have changed their plans a bit.

The visit to Indiana on Saturday night for Hoosier Hysteria remains in the plans, but a Friday night visit to Kentucky for Big Blue Madness has been replaced with a trip to Louisville for a scrimmage. Then on Saturday before going to Bloomington, Willis and his father, Del, will head up to West Lafayette for a daytime Purdue visit.

Willis originally committed to Purdue, only to reopen his recruitment in August. Willis is a junior at Bullitt East High School in Mt. Washington, KY. Louisville and Kentucky were the early favorites as the two big hometown programs, and then Indiana jumped in soon after. It has been unclear how serious of an option Purdue still is for the 6-8 junior, but it is certainly interesting to see a visit being added this weekend.

Willis is considered a 4-star prospect by Rivals and is ranked #23 overall in his class.

No Comments »
Posted in Indiana, Purdue
Tags: , , , , , , ,

Gary Harris updates

Published by Source on October 4th, 2011

Gary Harris is one of the top uncommitted players in the class of 2012. His recruitment has been a long one, with “favorites” shifting from one school to the next on a weekly basis.

Harris set up three official visits to Purdue, Indiana and Michigan State, the schools thought to be his final three options. That visit to Purdue took place this past weekend, while the Indiana (Oct. 15) and Michigan State (Nov. 5) are still forthcoming.

Last week, it was reported that Kentucky had become a serious player in Harris’ recruitment. The news today is that the Hamilton Southeastern senior star will take an official visit to Lexington on the weekend of October 22nd, in between his visits to IU and MSU.

(more…)

No Comments »
Posted in featured, Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Louisville and Kentucky Visit Gary Harris

Published by Source on September 20th, 2011

By: Eric Gardner, Purdue contributor

Late Monday, the news came through the Twitter feeds and blogs that Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari had a surprise in-home visit with Indianapolis-native Gary Harris.  This definitely is surprising but not shocking.  One thing you can say about Kentucky is they have the ability to pull off a commitment at the last second and if you have been following the Gary Harris recruitment, you know that this is way late in the game.

In the past two weeks, Gary has had not only Kentucky but also Louisville stop by for an in-home visit.  The main players to this point have been Indiana, Purdue, and Michigan State but Gary has stated that there may be other schools that can still join in his list.  Those three main schools have all already set up official visits for the next two months.  It will be interesting to see if Louisville and/or Kentucky can score a visit, as well.  Not much has been made about the Louisville visit but from all inclinations it went okay.  Now that Kentucky got a chance to sit down with the Harris family we will just have to wait and see what comes of it in the next few weeks.

(more…)

No Comments »
Posted in Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,