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MSU takes on the mighty Rutgers Scarlet Knights (just six years removed from their Quick Lane Bowl win, people forget that) on Saturday and we’ve got the first “3-2-1 Preview” of the season.
Source: The Only Colors
Michigan State University Athletics is deeply saddened to learn that two-sport Spartan great Tom Yewcic has passed away at the age of 88 (1932 – 2020).
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have touched every area of our life. It’s forced us all to evaluate not only our current place, but also our prospects for the future. Michigan State Athletics is not immune from those calculations. Sadly, as a University and an athletic department, we’ve reached a decision that MSU Athletics will no longer sponsor men’s and women’s swimming and diving as varsity sports following the conclusion of the 2020-21 season.
Michigan State women’s basketball player Mardrekia Cook knew her gut feeling was not good. Last February, Cook was practicing when she felt a sharp pain in her right leg and foot, and she immediately thought something was wrong – again.
Matt Charboneau and Tony Paul take a look at the Spartans heading into Saturday’s Big Ten opener against Rutgers in East Lansing at noon.
Spartan Football is back! For a while it didn’t look like that was going to be the case this year, but here we are preparing for a game week for the first time since the Pinstripe Bowl. The Spartans open this season at home with a game against Rutgers. All in all, probably the best way to ease into this odd year, the first under head coach Mel Tucker.
Source: The Only Colors
There’s a good chance the wideouts could be the strongest position group on MSU’s offense. The presumptive top-three of Reed, Nailor, and Mosley should be one of the better trios in the Big Ten. Reed is a proven weapon in the slot, Nailor is arguably the fastest player on the offense and Mosley is a big, physical outside target who performed well as a true freshman. Beyond those three, there isn’t much proven depth but a good amount of promising talent.
Source: Spartan Tailgate
The Spartans unveiled a revamped home uniform on Thursday, posting a picture of junior forward Thomas Kithier modeling his No. 15 white jersey and shorts. The front features the word “STATE” above the number while down the right side of the top and shorts there is a design of the letter ‘S’ that forms a stripe. The left side of the top has no design while the left side of the shorts features the Spartan logo.
🆕🆕🆕 pic.twitter.com/CXc4GU8jc7
— Michigan State Basketball (@MSU_Basketball) October 22, 2020
Source: Detroit News
Secchia was one of Michigan State’s most prominent athletics donors, donating millions to the university’s athletic department and developing close relationships with the team’s most prominent coaches over a span several decades. Spartans coach Tom Izzo said in a statement that Secchia and his wife, Joan, have been “incredible friends to me, Lupe and my family” and credited him with helping Michigan State grow into a national power.
Source: mlive.com
The Michigan State football team’s entrance to Spartan Stadium is a tradition. Players and coaches depart the Kellogg Center a couple hours before kickoff, cross the Red Cedar River and toss pennies on the Spartan Statue while surrounded by fans before heading into the north end zone of the stadium. That won’t happen on Saturday when Michigan State hosts Rutgers in the season opener.
Source: mlive.com
After playing musical chairs up front throughout the 2018 season, MSU was again forced to shuffle its line far too often last season. Seven different alignments started games for MSU last season due to injury and underperformance. Chris Kapilovic comes in as a highly-regarded offensive line coach, and last year at Colorado he proved he can make an impact in just one year.
Source: Spartan Tailgate
Michigan State has a reputation as a pipeline to the NBA. The Spartans have sent 21 players to the NBA since the turn of the century including six currently active. This offseason two of those active Spartans will hit the free agency market, Bryn Forbes from the San Antonio Spurs and Denzel Valentine from the Chicago Bulls.
Source: The Only Colors
“My coaching staff and myself will pick those captains weekly, and then we’ll announce them to the team,” Tucker said. “And then at the end of the season, the players will vote on captains. And then those will be the permanent captains for this particular season.”
Source: Detroit Free Press
Collins is, without question, one of the most important players on MSU’s roster. He gives Tucker and Co. something every new staff would love to inherit — a bona fide all-conference-caliber skill player to serve as an offensive cornerstone. Even better, he’s a running back, so it doesn’t take much effort or wizardry to force-feed him the ball, even with this unorthodox lead-up and shortened season. “Snap, turn around, hand it off to Collins,” is a game-plan that doesn’t require much time to master.
Source: Spartan Tailgate
Former Michigan State University Director of Athletics Merritt J. Norvell, Jr. has passed away. Norvell, who was MSU’s first Black Director of Athletics, was appointed to the position in July 1995 and served through the spring of 1999, a time when he oversaw three Hall of Fame head coaches in Tom Izzo, Ron Mason and Nick Saban.
Tucker said he would not release a depth chart at least early in the week, potentially longer. That is every coach’s dream — to have an opponent with no film to study. There isn’t even a spring-game tape to look at or TV footage of practices. Everything that has been disseminated by the program has carefully chosen and edited to hide much of what is actually happening on the field.
Source: Detroit Free Press