Ballin' With The Bulldogs: The Dale Connover Story

[jksander]

Hey, jksanders, just thought...maybe you can go to the lower left of the Commissioner's screen and remove the retiring coach and then create a new coach and assign him to the team where the retiring coach was. That isn't possible during the middle of a season (where my associations presently are), but maybe it becomes available on the head coach hiring date...or possibly some other date.

Okay, I think you're right, that looks like the way to do it ... alas my save was just past the hiring phase. I think this has to be done during that one week before coach hiring is processed, so I will test this next season and report back. Thanks for your help, PointGuard!

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Date    Rank  Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
11/14   #1    (n) Valparaiso         W 78-64        1-0              S. Berkowitz (20 pts 19 reb 10 ast) K. Frederick (18 pts 11 reb 3 stl)
11/16   #1    (n) Missouri           W 86-61        2-0              C. Katterhenry (35 pts 8 reb 4 ast) S. Berkowitz (13 pts 17 reb 10 blk)
11/18   #1    (n) #8 Stanford        W 83-76        3-0              S. Berkowitz (18 pts 19 reb 5 blk) C. Katterhenry (19 pts 6 reb 1 ast)
11/20   #1    (n) #10 San Diego St.  W 72-58        4-0              C. Katterhenry (21 pts 2 reb 4 ast) K. Frederick (10 pts 12 reb 4 ast)
11/23   #1    @ #19 Virginia         L 71-87        4-1              S. Berkowitz (13 pts 12 reb 8 ast) A. Troesche (15 pts 14 reb 3 stl)
11/26   #1    Brigham Young          W 94-72        5-1              A. Troesche (24 pts 9 reb 4 ast) C. Katterhenry (17 pts 4 reb 5 ast)

Six games into the season we’ve lost our first game (on the road at Virginia) but are still a solid 5-1 and #2 in the nation. Saipele Berkowitz already has a pair of triple doubles for the season, and the rest of the team is gelling well give or take a few small interpersonal speed-bumps. Big news so far is that the Big Ten is popping off! Currently it’s us at #2, Maryland at #3, Michigan at #5, Purdue at #14, Penn State at #19 and Indiana at #24, with twelve teams in the top 100 NET (and six inside the top 50!)

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Date    Rank  Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
11/30   #2    @ #1 Villanova         W 82-79        6-1              C. Katterhenry (25 pts 6 reb 6 ast) A. Troesche (20 pts 8 reb 2 ast)
12/3    #2    Gonzaga                W 72-37        7-1              S. Berkowitz (6 pts 24 reb 9 ast) C. Katterhenry (24 pts 4 reb 5 ast)
12/7    #1    Arizona                W 65-56        8-1              A. Troesche (15 pts 6 reb 2 stl) C. Katterhenry (16 pts 7 ast 1 blk)
12/10   #1    Florida                W 84-65        9-1              J. Fox (32 pts 2 reb 4 ast) S. Berkowitz (8 pts 16 reb 6 ast 6 blk)
12/14   #1    Duke                   W 74-43        10-1             S. Berkowitz (20 pts 16 reb 7 ast) A. Troesche (12 pts 5 reb 2 ast)
12/21   #1    Clemson                W 82-65        11-1             C. Katterhenry (35 pts 7 reb) S. Berkowitz (12 pts 18 reb 12 ast)
12/30   #1    Indiana                W 85-63        12-1 (1-0)       A. Troesche (24 pts 7 reb 8 ast) C. Katterhenry (26 pts 6 reb 3 ast)
1/2     #1    @ Illinois             W 65-54        13-1 (2-0)       S. Berkowitz (17 pts 16 reb 10 ast) A. Troesche (17 pts 7 reb 2 ast)
1/6     #1    #2 Maryland            W 88-78        14-1 (3-0)       C. Katterhenry (33 pts 7 reb 3 ast) A. Troesche (26 pts 10 reb 3 ast)
1/11    #1    @ #14 Purdue           W 71-61        15-1 (4-0)       A. Troesche (21 pts 7 reb 3 stl) C. Katterhenry (23 pts 1 reb 1 ast)

Three weeks into the Big Ten season we’re off to a 4-0 start, we’ve beaten Maryland in our first of two games this season, and we’re starting to get an idea of who is truly solid, who might be better than expected, and who’s been pretending. Nebraska is part of the better than expected crowd, now ranked #16 and holding a 14-3 (6-1) record. Maryland and Michigan are as good as we’d expected, though Michigan had a rougher run of things in the pre-conference season. Meanwhile #18 Purdue (12-4, 1-4) looks like their early rise into the top 5 early in the season was a fluke -- in conference play they’ve been less than stunning. We’ll see how things shake out over the next month and a half of team on team body blows.

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Date    Rank  Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
1/16    #1    @ Ohio State           W 122-90       16-1 (5-0)       A. Troesche (49 pts 7 reb 2 stl) C. Katterhenry (29 pts 4 reb 6 ast) 
1/18    #1    #19 Michigan           W 83-78        17-1 (6-0)       C. Katterhenry (36 pts 6 reb 3 ast) S. Berkowitz (13 pts 21 reb 7 ast)
1/20    #1    @ Indiana              W 90-71        18-1 (7-0)       A. Troesche (14 pts 10 reb 2 ast) C. Katterhenry (20 pts 10 reb 4 ast)
1/25    #1    @ Wisconsin            W 82-60        19-1 (8-0)       K. Frederick (23 pts 8 reb 2 ast) C. Katterhenry (24 pts 7 reb 2 ast)
1/27    #1    Iowa                   W 83-63        20-1 (9-0)       C. Katterhenry (30 pts 8 reb) S. Berkowitz (11 pts 17 reb 9 ast 9 blk)
1/30    #1    @ Penn State           L 62-67        20-2 (9-1)       K. Frederick (18 pts 10 reb 3 blk) C. Katterhenry (17 pts 4 reb 4 ast)
2/1     #1    Rutgers                W 69-48        21-2 (10-1)      S. Berkowitz (16 pts 14 reb 5 ast) A. Troesche (22 pts 13 reb 1 ast)

There’s a reason no Big Ten team has gone undefeated in the conference since Bob Knight’s Indiana team did so in 1976. It was never a matter of if we’d drop a game, but rather a matter of when we’d drop one. We’re still on track to meeting our goals for the season. Saipele Berkowitz has officially become our program’s all-time leading rebounder (1,201) and with 650 assists he’s alone in second, 102 assists shy of the all-time record. With 12 games likely before the postseason, he’ll need to average 8.5 assists per game to reach the record. He is also at 930 career points, 7th all time. He is unlikely to rise further on the list unless he stays for his senior year, but he will easily break 1,000 points.

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Date    Rank  Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
2/6     #1    @ #21 Nebraska         L 68-82        21-3 (10-2)      C. Katterhenry (21 pts 3 reb 2 ast) S. Berkowitz (13 pts 9 reb 7 ast)
2/8     #1    Minnesota              W 82-65        22-3 (11-2)      K. Frederick (23 pts 7 reb 3 stl) S. Berkowitz (7 pts 26 reb 10 ast)
2/10    #1    @ #2 Maryland          W 77-69        23-3 (12-2)      S. Berkowitz (16 pts 20 reb 7 blk) A. Troesche (25 pts 8 reb 1 ast)
2/15    #1    @ Iowa                 L 58-65        23-4 (12-3)      C. Katterhenry (23 pts 6 reb) K. Frederick (10 pts 12 reb 5 stl)
2/17    #1    Northwestern           W 98-82        24-4 (13-3)      S. Berkowitz (13 pts 13 reb 12 ast) A. Troesche (26 pts 8 reb 2 ast)
2/20    #1    Penn State             W 83-46        25-4 (14-3)      S. Berkowitz (12 pts 16 reb 11 ast) K. Frederick (16 pts 4 reb 5 ast)
2/22    #1    Illinois               L 80-86        25-5 (14-4)      A. Troesche (23 pts 8 reb 2 ast) C. Katterhenry (21 pts 3 reb 6 ast)
3/1     #1    @ Rutgers              W 81-65        26-5 (15-4)      S. Berkowitz (21 pts 11 reb 5 ast) 6 blk) C. Katterhenry (22 pts 8 reb)
3/3     #1    Wisconsin              W 89-60        27-5 (16-4)      K. Frederick (26 pts 6 reb 2 stl) C. Katterhenry (27 pts 4 reb 6 ast)

Berkowitz put up his 10th career triple double against Northwestern on the 17th as we maintained a half game lead on Nebraska and Maryland. We have a tiebreaker against Maryland, but Nebraska holds one on us since they beat us in our only regular season matchup. So we definitely did not want to finish in a tie with them. He got his 11th triple double three nights later as we beat the hell out of Penn State on our court, and then he was held to three points and three assists when he fouled out after 11 minutes as we lost to Illinois on our court in one of our more embarassing collapses of the last few years. We went into the final week of the conference season with two games left and trailing Maryland by a game, while ahead of Nebraska by the same margin. Whether we finish first, second or third will depend on how we handle Rutgers (17-12, 8-10) on the road and Wisconsin (12-15, 6-12) on our court. And as it stood, we won out but so did Maryland, so we finished yet again in second place headed into the conference tournament. Northwestern earned the 4th seed and final double-bye by winning the tiebreakers over (5) Michigan, which finished 19-12 (12-8) on the season.

The win at Rutgers was the 400th of my career!

Heading into the Big Ten Tournament, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Ohio State would need to win the entire tournament to get a postseason bid, as all four have records that are ineligible. Penn State (16-15, 6-14) would need to win it all to be in the NCAA tournament, though they could go to a sub-level tournament with at least a single win since their NET rankking is 71st overall despite their conference performance. Purdue is currently outside the bubble looking in at 20-11 (9-11) on the season as is Illinois (16-13, 9-11), while Rutgers (17-14, 8-12) is not even on the bubble at all, though their 75th ranked NET suggests they’ll at least get a postseason bid. The rest of us with winning conference records are all considered safe regardless of tourney performance.

Saipele Berkowitz is the likely winner of the Norton Award, while Calvin Katterhenery is right up there and certain to get 1st Team All American status. Alan Troesche fell in the final cut to 2nd Team All American. Berkowitz wants to play his senior season, so he’ll be sticking around for one more season, but Katterhenry and Troesche are leaving early for the NBA. By this time next season, if it already wasn’t certain, Saipele Berkowitz will be the greatest player ever to have played at Michigan State! I may never see another one like him, and that’s just fine.
 
Big Ten Tournament

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Date    Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
3/9     (10) Iowa              W 86-63        28-5             S. Berkowitz (18 pts 14 reb 6 ast) A, Troesche (17 pts 4 reb 5 ast)
3/10    (3) Nebraska           W 56-48        29-5             A. Troesche (10 pts 12 reb 3 stl) S. Berkowitz (9 pts 17 reb 6 ast 7 blk)
3/11    (5) Michigan           W 82-69        30-5             S. Berkowitz (22 pts 21 reb 7 ast 6 blk) C. Katterhenry (26 pts 6 reb 3 ast)

Saipele Berkowitz wasn’t going to be denied his second Big Ten Tourney Title in a row, putting up one of his best overall performances of the season as we dismantled Michigan down the stretch. The Wolverines put up a great fight in the tournament, blasting Penn State by 18, sliding past Northwestern by three on Friday and then upending Maryland on Saturday by a deuce at the buzzer to avoid overtime. But they just weren’t up to our level, and we head into the NCAA Tournament in prime postiion to defend our title from the pole position.

Big Ten Teams in the NCAA Tournament:

Buffalo: (1) Michigan State
Columbus: (1) Maryland
Columbus: (4) Nebraska
Austin: (10) Northwestern
Oakland: (5) Michigan
Oakland: (8) Indiana

Purdue (20-12) is headed for the NIT, while Illinois (17-14) is going to the CBI Tournament. Rutgers will play in the lowest level CBT Tournament. Penn State’s 17-16 final record left them on the outside this time, giving them no chance to follow up last year’s stunning Sweet Sixteen run by blitzing some minor tournament.

NCAA Tournament

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Date    Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
3/16    (16) Charleston So.    W 89-64        31-5             S. Berkowitz (21 pts 23 reb 7 ast) A. Troesche (22 pts 12 reb 5 ast 1 stl)
3/18    (9) Georgetown         W 65-52        32-5             A. Troesche (12 pts 11 reb 2 stl) K. Frederick (12 pts 6 reb 3 stl)
3/23    (5) Notre Dame         W 97-75        33-5             A. Troesche (36 pts 1 reb 2 ast) S. Berkowitz (13 pts 18 reb 11 ast)
3/25    (2) Stanford           W 83-72        34-5             C. Katterhenry (26 pts 4 reb 3 ast) S. Berkowitz (13 pts 18 reb 9 ast 5 blk)
4/1     (2) Villanova          W 71-64        35-5             S. Berkowitz (29 pts 15 reb 5 blk) A. Troesch (11 pts 3 reb 2 ast 4 stl)
4/3     (5) Michigan           L 68-75        35-6             S. Berkowitz (10 pts 10 reb 6 reb 7 blk) J. Fox (21 pts 3 reb 1 ast)

We won our opening game easily over Charleston Southern, while Maryland also blasted (16) Stony Brook by a similar 84-57 margin. Nebraska handled their own against (13) Dartmouth, sending the Big Green packing 76-66. The Big Ten rolled on Friday too, with Northwestern upending (7) UC Santa Barbara 92-79, Michigan holding off (12) Brigham Young 84-74, and at the end of the night (8) Indiana blew out the (9) Nevada Wolfpack 87-65. Perfection! Troesche led us to victory in a tighter defensive battle against Georgetown, sending us to the second weekend for the third year in a row. But Maryland collapsed in an offensive shootout against (9) Louisville, falling 87-92, while Nebraska handled their business against (5) Tennessee to advance 67-55, heading to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2028 (they have never gone further). Not a bad turnaround at all for a team that was 12-21 last year! Northwestern kept things rolling, upending (2) Missouri 76-59, but Indiana fell against (1) West Virginia 68-79. Michigan won their game against (13) Quinnipiac -- barely -- 68-62, after nearly blowing it, but they’re still moving on as well. Four for six, not too shabby for our conference!

Illinois was the only team to advance deep from the Big Ten in the lesser tournaments, beating Jacksonville State 74-50 to advance to the CBI Tournament Semifinals.

In the Sweet Sixteen we blew Notre Dame out of the water behind a 36-point performance by Troesche and another triple double by Berkowitz (the 11th of his career). Nebraska was not so lucky -- the Cornhuskers were stumped by (9) Louisville, losing 63-80 after a hell of a run. Northwesterm, meanwhile, lost a shootout against (3) UCLA, falling 91-99 in regulation against the Bruins in a true heartbreaker for the Wildcats. They thought for sure they had the team this year to give the 2029 Final Four Northwestern team a run for its money, but it wasn’t to be this year. Michigan played late in the day and stunned (1) West Virginia with an 82-66 beatdown.

In the Elite Eight we beat Stanford in a rematch of our Preseason NIT Semifinal seven point win, beating them this time by 11 behind 26 points from Katterhenry and another mammoth defensive performance by Berkowitz, sending us to the Final Four in back to back seasons! Michigan meanwhile won yet another upset, beating (2) Oregon 74-71 in a real slugfest! Yet again we’re getting two Big Ten programs in the Final Four, which should do nicely for our conference prestige.

Illinois lost in the CBT Tournament Semifinals to Miami (FL)’s Hurricanes 67-77.

In the National Semifinals, we took on (2) Villanova while (5) Michigan battled (5) Connecticut. And for the second year in a row we had a Big Ten National Championship Game, as we beat Villanova 71-64 before Michigan crushed the Huskies 88-72! And in our third meeting of the season, after a 32-32 first half and a solid second half defensive performance by Berkowitz, we stumbled down the stretch -- Troesch and Frederick were each held to single figures scoring as the Wolverines added fuel to our heated rivalry by beating us 75-68! Unbelievable. The Wolverines won their second title in school history, their first in nearly fifty years. They’re right behind us in the recruiting race this year so I expect we’ll be having more of these battles in the future.

Team Leaders
Scoring: Calvin Katterhenry (21.8 ppg) Alan Troesche (17.1 ppg) Saipele Berkowitz (11.6 ppg) Keith Frederick (11.3 ppg)
Rebounding: Saipele Berkowitz (15.2 rpg) Alan Troesche (7.6 rpg) Keith Frederick (7.1 rpg)
Assists: Saipele Berkowitz (7.1 apg) Jesse Fox (4.2 apg) Calvin Katterhenry (3.5 apg) Keith Frederick (2.1 apg
Steals: Keith Frederick (2.5 spg) Alan Troesche (1.4 spg) Saipele Berkowitz (0.9 spg)
Blocks: Saipele Berkowitz (4.3 bpg) Keith Frederick (1.5 bpg) Alan Troesche (0.8 bpg)

Graduating Players
Jesse Fox (4.0 GPA) 6.9 ppg 1.9 rpg 2.9 apg 0.6 spg 0.2 bpg (136 games, 95 starts)
John Masic (4.0 GPA) 0.5 ppg 0.3 rpg 0.3 apg 0.1 bpg (60 games)
Vid Villegas (2.7 GPA) 6.6 ppg 2.0 rpg 2.5 apg 0.9 spg 0.2 bpg (132 games, 63 starts)

Leaving Early
Calvin Katterhenry (3.2 GPA) 21.8 ppg 4.5 rpg 3.5 apg 0.8 spg 0.5 bpg (35 starts)
Alan Troesche (3.1 GPA) 17.1 ppg 7.6 rpg 2.0 apg 1.4 spg 0.8 bpg (35 starts)

Awards
Norton Award: Saipele Berkowitz
National Player of the Year: Saipele Berkowitz
National Defensive Player of the Year: Saipele Berkowitz
National Coach of the Year: Dale Connover
1st Team All American: Saipele Berkowitz
1st Team All American: Calvin Katterhenry
1st Team All American: Alan Troesche
Big Ten Player of the Year: Saipele Berkowitz
Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: Saipele Berkowitz
Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Calvin Katterhenry
1st Team All Big Ten: Saipele Berkowitz
1st Team All Big Ten: Calvin Katterhenry
1st Team All Big Ten: Alan Troesche
2nd Team All Big Ten: Keith Frederick

Maryland’s William Riddick won Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Commmitted Recruits -- Final List
6’6” SF Ryland Vanhoosier (HS Senior, Visalia CA) 3.2 GPA (#5 Ntl, #2 Reg) 24.2 ppg 9.8 rpg 3.8 apg 3.4 spg 1.8 apg
6’8” SG Earl Eschmeyer (HS Senior, Oliver Springs TN) 3.0 GPA (#7 Ntl, #3 Reg) 26.1 ppg 4.8 rpg 3.2 apg 4.1 spg 0.9 bpg
6’8” C Eryon Walcutt (HS Senior, South Bend IN) 3.0 GPA (#9 Ntl, #1 Reg) 22.5 ppg 13.2 rpg 2.8 apg 1.4 spg 6.0 bpg
6’7” PF Steve Edwards (HS Senior, Colfax WI) 3.0 GPA (#101 Ntl, #17 Reg) 15.5 ppg 8.9 rpg 3.7 apg 1.9 spg 1.9 bpg
6’1” SG Greyne Mamoepa (HS Senior, Nigeria) 2.6 GPA (#117 Ntl, #8 Reg) 13.3 ppg 3.9 rpg 3.6 apg 2.3 spg 2.5 bpg

We should have the #2 class in the nation yet again (Villanova had seven spots to fill and they look like they’ve restocked admirably and therefore earned the top spot). Jon Fox, at 58, agreed to another one year extension, bringing his salary to $219,637 / year through next season. I’m grooming Justin Smith to take over as Associate Head Coach when Fox does choose to move on or retire, but for right now I like that he’s there as a second mentor for the young assistant. The board has also granted my request for major improvements to our practice and workout facilities, which should boost us back to the top tier nationally as we fight to return to our third title game in a row next season.

[jksander]

SEASON SIXTEEN
2037-38

Coach Information
Name: Dale Connover
Age / Record: 51 (409-147, .736)
National Titles: 2 (2031, 2036)
Contract: $1,485,000 / 2 years
Reputation: 97% (+1)
National Title Appearances: 4 (2029, 2031, 2036-2037)
Final Fours: 6 (2025-2026, 2029, 2031, 2036-2037)
Elite Eights: 8 (2025-2027, 2029, 2031, 2033, 2036-2037)
Sweet Sixteens: 10 (2024-2027, 2029, 2031, 2033, 2035-2037)
Big Ten Titles: 2 (2031, 2033)
Big Ten Tourney Titles: 3 (2031, 2036-2037)
SEC Titles: 1 (2025)
SEC Tourney Titles: 2 (2025, 2026)
National Coach of the Year: 2 (2036-2037)
Big Ten Coach of the Year: 1 (2031)
SEC Coach of the Year: 2 (2025-2026)

School Information
School: Michigan State Spartans
Location: East Lansing MI
Conference: Big Ten
Arena: Jack Breslin Student Events Center (14,797 Cap)
Budget: $555,660 ($305,387 Assistants / $250,273 Recruiting)
Facilities: A
Academics: B (SAT Min: 940)
School Prestige: 99% (+3)
Conf. Prestige: 85% (+1)

Top 5 Recruit Classes
1. Villanova
2. Michigan State
3. West Virginia
4. Michigan
5. UCLA

Top 5 Big Ten Recruit Classes
2. Michigan State
4. Michigan
12. Indiana
19. Maryland
25. Wisconsin

Scouting Reports
International Gold ($100,000)
National Gold ($80,000)

Summer Travel
Indy Elite Camp ($4,100)
Chicago Prep Revue ($3,700)

Players Transfering
George Duquesne has decided to transfer in hopes of earning playing time he wasn’t ready to get here. I totally get it -- we redshirted him in hopes he’d improve enough to play moderate minutes, but our team was too deep last year. He might have earned his way to 10-12 minutes a game this year, but he’d rather start for a mid-major. Totally reasonable, and we wish him luck. Seeing as our starting five is pretty well set and we don’t have any specific bench needs in the transfer market, I’m going to keep his scholarship to use during the recruiting phase and skip the transfer window entirely this year.

NBA Draft
3. Calvin Katterhenry
6. Alan Troesche

Norton Nominees
Saipele Berkowitz - 1st Team All American
Ryland Vanhoosier - 1st Team All American
Earl Eschmeyer - 1st Team All American

Michigan’s point guard John Davis (Freshman) is also a first team All American, as is Villanova senior point guard Clarence Fall. Other Big Ten players on the Norton Watch include Wisconsin PF Ryan Marsh (Senior), Minnesota power forward Marcus Brown (Junior), Wisconsin small forward Cyris Miller (Senior), Minnesota shooting guard Stephen Robinson (Junior) and Purdue small forward Jarvis Grant (Junior). Looks like Wisconsin and Minnesota will both bear some watching this year!

Recruits
6’8” SF Gui Hsaio (HS Senior, China) 2.4 GPA (#11 Ntl, #1 Reg) 21.6 ppg 7.8 rpg 2.9 apg 3.4 spg 1.5 apg
6’10” C Keith King (HS Senior, Bangor MI) 2.9 GPA (#54 Ntl, #8 Reg) 17.2 ppg 16.5 rpg 0.4 bpg
6’2” PG Bohdan Moravec (HS Senior, Czech Republic) 2.3 GPA (#75 Ntl, #5 Reg) 16.8 ppg 3.4 rpg 4.8 apg 1.7 spg 0.5 bpg
6’6” SF Kyle Thomas (HS Senior, Iron Mountain MI) 2.7 GPA (#90 Ntl, #16 Reg) 19.9 ppg 4.7 rpg 1.7 apg 1.6 spg 0.7 bpg

We’re not going to be in the top ten nationally this year for sure, but with one blue chip player and three four stars coming in we should be in the running for a top Big Ten class again, though Maryland, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio State look like they are also in the running. Michigan so far only has one commit, a four star player, because they only have one scholarship available. So if they lose a lot of depth to the NBA at the end of the year they’ll likely have to rebuild through transfers -- so as far as the rivalry goes I think we’re right on track to regain our position as the best team in the state.

Schedule
11/16 - @ Virginia Tech
11/19 - Florida State
11/23 - Murray State
11/26 - @ Butler
11/30 - @ Providence
12/7 - @ Utah
12/14 - @ Nevada
12/16 - (n) NC Wilmington - Las Vegas Winter Jam
12/21 - Western Kentucky

We’ll then open the Big Ten season against Wisconsin on the road on the 26th.

We’re ranked #1 again to start the season. Among the rest of the Big Ten, Michigan is ranked #3, Maryland is ranked #20 and Purdue is ranked #22. I’m also hearing a lot about second-year Wisconsin coach Tyrone Lemeke’s team, which is supposedly a lot more sharp defensively than in years past -- the Badgers were 14-18 in Lemeke’s first season, but that was the team’s best finish since going 19-14 in 2032. They haven’t made the NCAA tournament since 2027, so I’ll believe they’re back when they’re actually back. But the rumors are hard to igore. We’ll definitely be ready for them when we face them in that conference opener.

Roster
PG - Marcus Rivera (6’0” 193 lbs Sr) West Caldwell NJ (James Caldwell HS) 3.6 GPA (4.0/4.0) 1.1 ppg 0.5 rpg
SG - Earl Eschmeyer (6’8” 198 lbs Fr) Oliver Springs TN (Oliver Springs HS) 3.0 GPA (4.5/5.0)
SF - Ryland Vanhoosier (6’6” 226 lbs Fr) Visalia CA (Golden West HS) 3.2 GPA (5.0/5.0)
PF - Saipele Berkowitz (6’8” 234 lbs Sr) Israel (International HS) 3.3 GPA (5.0/5.0) 11.6 ppg 15.2 rpg 7.1 apg 1.3 spg 4.3 bpg
C - Eryon Walcutt (6’8” 266 lbs Fr) South Bend IN (Riley HS) 3.0 GPA (4.0/5.0)

6 - Jaraan Dillon (6’6” 203 lbs Fr RS) Dearborn MI (E.B. Ford HS) 3.1 GPA (3.0/4.0)
7 - Brandin Green (6’8” 229 lbs Fr RS) Beech Grove IN (Beech Grove HS) 3.3 GPA (2.0/4.0)
8 - Beau Morris (6’2” 177 lbs Sr) Palmyra VA (Fluvanna County HS) 2.7 GPA (2.5/4.0) 1.1 ppg 0.4 rpg 0.2 apg
9 - Frank Keep (6’7” 227 lbs Jr RS) Markesan WI (Markesan HS) 2.8 GPA (3.0/3.0) 4.4 ppg 3.4 rpg 1.1 apg 0.7 spg
10 - Keith Frederick (6’10” 259 lbs Jr) Harrisburg AR (Harrisburg HS) 3.6 GPA (3.5.3.5) 11.3 ppg 7.1 rpg 2.1 apg 2.5 spg 1.5 bpg

RS - Steve Edwards (6’7” 221 lbs Fr) Colfax WI (Colfax HS) 3.0 GPA (2.0/4.0)
RS - Greyne Mamoepa (6’1” 186 lbs Fr) Nigeria (International HS) 2.6 GPA (2.0/4.0)

Beyond Berkowitz, this is a whole new starting lineup to go with a bench which (outside of back-up center Keith Frederick, does not have a lot of playing experience. We’ll be playing a lot on the road prior to the Big Ten slate, but our AD has booked us a schedule that, at least in the preseason rankings, is full of teams outside the top 25. I’m hoping we’re not setting ourselves up for a fall when we hit Big Ten competition.

[jksander]

Code: Select all

Date    Rank  Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
11/16   #1    @ Virginia Tech        W 87-66        1-0              R. Vanhoosier (28 pts 14 reb 3 ast) E. Eschmeyer (22 pts 2 reb 4 ast)
11/19   #1    Florida State          W 69-67        2-0              E. Walcutt (13 pts 10 reb 4 stl) S. Berkowitz (8 pts 10 reb 8 ast)
11/23   #1    Murray State           W 88-49        3-0              R. Vanhoosier (28 pts 13 reb 5 ast) E. Eschmeyer (17 pts 10 reb 2 ast)
11/26   #1    @ Butler               W 81-66        4-0              S. Berkowitz (17 pts 12 reb 6 ast) R. Vanhoosier (16 pts 14 reb 1 stl)
11/30   #2    @ Providence           W 88-60        5-0              S. Berkowitz (17 pts 14 reb 11 ast) E. Eschmeyer (16 pts 5 reb 4 ast)
12/7    #1    @ #25 Utah             W 84-72        6-0              E. Eschmeyer (22 pts 5 reb 1 blk) E. Walcutt (18 pts 8 reb 3 ast 2 blk)
12/14   #1    @ Nevada               W 83-66        7-0              S. Berkowitz (20 pts 14 reb 10 ast) R. Vanhoosier (14 pts 8 reb 2 stl)
12/16   #1    (n) NC Wilmington      W 79-53        8-0              E. Walcutt (23 pts 10 reb 2 ast) S. Berkowitz (7 pts 13 reb 14 ast)
12/17   #1    (n) Temple             W 94-70        9-0              S. Berkowitz (12 pts 18 reb 11 ast) E. Eschmeyer (23 pts 5 reb 2 ast)
12/18   #1    (n) #23 Texas          W 84-68        10-0             E. Walcutt (22 pts 7 reb 2 ast 2 blk) S. Berkowitz (14 pts 15 reb 8 ast)
12/21   #1    Western Kentucky       W 86-62        11-0             S. Berkowitz (18 pts 21 reb 7 ast) R. Vanhoosier (20 pts 13 reb 5 ast)

Heading into the Big Ten season we’re undefeated and #18 Michigan (9-2) is the only other ranked team, though Wisconsin (8-2) is ranked 11th in the NET. The rest of the conference looks good based on win-loss and not so great based on NET, with only five other teams in the top 100 of NET, with Indiana, Ohio State and Rutgers deep in the 200s. Nationally #13 USC (11-0, #23 NET) is the only other undefeated team.

Berkowitz is now in 6th place on our all time scoring list with 1,205 points. He is unlikely to enter the top three without a boost in scoring output, though it’s not improbable -- he should easily pass Cameron Armstead to enter the top five though. With 1,529 rebounds he’s more than 300 boards above the second best player on the list. He has also shattered Jeremy Brown’s assists record of 752 -- at this point he has 828 assists and could break 1,000 which is absolutely insane. He also could break past 500 blocks -- right now he has 406, more than double his nearest rival. By the end of the year he should own the national record for most assists, rebounds and blocks for his career.

Code: Select all

Date    Rank  Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
12/26   #1    @ Wisconsin            L 57-68        11-1 (0-1)       E. Walcutt (9 pts 10 reb 3 stl) S. Berkowitz (8 pts 9 reb 10 ast 5 blk)
12/28   #1    Rutgers                W 80-32        12-1 (1-1)       S. Berkowitz (12 pts 28 reb 8 ast 6 blk) R. Vanhoosier (13 pts 8 reb)
12/30   #1    Ohio State             W 72-55        13-1 (2-1)       S. Berkowitz (17 pts 21 reb 8 ast) E. Walcott (12 pts 10 reb 2 ast)
1/2     #1    @ Indiana              W 81-64        14-1 (3-1)       M. Rivera (14 pts 4 reb 6 ast) R. Vanhoosier (11 pts 8 reb 5 ast)
1/4     #1    @ Iowa                 W 87-46        15-1 (4-1)       E. Eschmeyer (20 pts 7 reb 4 ast) R. Vanhoosier (13 pts 7 reb 2 ast)
1/9     #1    Penn State             W 90-73        16-1 (5-1)       S. Berkowitz (21 pts 10 reb 8 ast) R. Vanhoosier (19 pts 9 reb 6 ast)
1/13    #1    @ Purdue               W 88-80        17-1 (6-1)       R. Vanhoosier (23 pts 4 reb 4 ast) S. Berkowitz (12 pts 13 reb 6 ast)
1/16    #1    Indiana                W 78-67        18-1 (7-1)       S. Berkowitz (15 pts 14 reb 5 ast) R. Vanhoosier (18 pts 9 reb 4 ast)
1/20    #1    Maryland               W 64-47        19-1 (8-1)       R. Vanhoosier (15 pts 10 reb 4 ast) E. Walcutt (14 pts 5 ast 5 stl)
1/25    #1    @ Michigan             W 86-61        20-1 (9-1)       E. Eschmeyer (21 pts 4 reb 2 ast) S. Berkowitz (11 pts 12 reb 8 ast)
1/27    #1    @ Ohio State           W 65-46        21-1 (10-1)      E. Eschmeyer (22 pts 1 reb 1 ast) S. Berkowitz (8 pts 17 reb 6 ast)

It seems crazy that by losing our first Big Ten game of the year we already could have lost the chance at finishing first, but Wisconsin’s been on a tear ever since. Because we don’t play them at home this year, we now need the Badgers to drop two games at least, while we must avoid dropping another ourselves. And since then neither of us has lost, so they head into February ranked 7th in the nation with an 18-2 (10-0) record while we are still ranked #1 with our 21-1 (10-1) record. So it may be possible that our very first loss of the conference season cost us a shot at the regular season title -- only the next nine games (ten games for Wisconsin) will tell.

Incidentally, Michigan looks like last year may have been their peak performance level. They’re currently 12-8 (3-6) midway through the season, they just fell out of the top 25 a week ago, and their NET ranking (79th) suggests that if they don’t end their downward slide they may wind up missing out on the NCAA Tournament the year after winning it all. But with eleven games left on their Big Ten schedule plus the Big Ten Tournament, there’s plenty of room left to boost that resume.

[jksander]

Code: Select all

Date    Rank  Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
2/1     #1    Northwestern           W 90-69        22-2 (11-1)      S. Berkowitz (15 pts 13 reb 8 ast) E. Eschmeyer (22 pts 1 reb 2 ast)
2/3     #1    @ Illinois             W 69-52        23-2 (12-1)      R. Vanhoosier (22 pts 7 reb 3 ast) S. Berkowitz (11 pts 18 reb 9 ast)
2/6     #1    Minnesota              W 72-52        24-2 (13-1)      R. Vanhoosier (17 pts 6 reb 2 ast) M. Rivera (15 pts 4 reb 3 ast 1 stl)
2/10    #1    @ Nebraska             W 91-73        25-2 (14-1)      R. Vanhoosier (28 pts 4 reb 2 ast) E. Eschmeyer (24 pts 6 reb 2 ast)
2/13    #1    @ Maryland             L 70-76        25-3 (14-2)      R. Vanhoosier (18 pts 13 reb 4 ast) E. Walcott (24 pts 7 reb 4 stl)
2/17    #1    Iowa                   W 86-61        26-3 (15-2)      S. Berkowitz (17 pts 17 reb 7 ast) E. Eschmeyer (18 pts 3 reb 5 ast)
2/24    #1    Illinois               W 108-58       27-3 (16-2)      E. Eschmeyer (27 pts 5 reb 6 ast) S. Berkowitz (12 pts 10 reb 6 ast)
3/1     #1    @ Northwestern         W 97-93        28-3 (17-2)      R. Vanhoosier (21 pts 9 reb 3 ast) E. Eschmeyer (20 pts 3 reb 2 blk)
3/3     #1    Michigan               W 98-70        29-3 (18-2)      E. Eschmeyer (27 pts 3 reb 1 ast) S. Berkowitz (15 pts 19 reb 8 ast)

We finished in a tie for first place with Wisconsin for a share of the Big Ten regular season title, but we’ll play in the conference tourney from the second seed since they own the tiebreaker. We were both five games ahead of Nebraska (18-11, 13-7) and Maryland (18-11, 12-8) earned the fourth seed and the final double bye. Michigan (17-14, 8-12, 89 NET) is in real trouble -- unless they win the Big Ten tourney from the 9-seed they stand very little chance of making the postseason at all, let alone the NCAA Tournament. This has, in fact, been an INCREDIBLY weak Big Ten season. We and Wisconsin are the only locks at this point, while Maryland and Nebraska look like 10-seeds, though they’re at risk if they pick up bad losses in the Big Ten Tourney. Penn State (17-12, 10-10) is one of the second four out in the most recent bubble watch, so they need multiple wins to feel safe. Northwestern, ranked 14th on the bubble, needs to win the whole thing. Same goes for Minnesota. Those are the only seven Big Ten programs with ANY shot at the postseason in my opinion.

Ryland Vanhoosier and Eryon Walcott are leaving early for the NBA. Both Saipele Berkowitz and Vanhoosier look to be 1st Team All American finalists, while Berkowitz is the heavy favorite to repeat as National Player of the Year and as the Norton winner.

Big Ten Tournament

Code: Select all

Date    Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
3/9     (10) Illinois          W 82-55        30-3             E. Walcutt (20 pts 9 reb 2 ast 3 stl) R. Vanhoosier (17 pts 8 reb 1 ast 1 stl)
3/10    (3) Nebraska           W 80-57        31-3             R. Vanhoosier (20 pts 12 reb 3 ast) E. Eschmeyer (18 pts 1 reb 1 ast)
3/11    (1) Wisconsin          W 76-61        32-3             E. Walcutt (22 pts 15 reb 3 ast 3 stl) R. Vanhoosier (14 pts 9 reb 1 blk)

It was great to be able to cut down the nets again in Chicago for the third consecutive season, and it was even better to do it in the rematch against Wisconsin. They should, like us, be a top seed in the tournament, so is it too much to ask for another Big Ten Final Four or National Title rematch?

Big Ten Teams in the NCAA Tournament:

Dayton: (12) Nebraska -- plays into the Cleveland regional
Greensboro: (13) Maryland
Boise: (1) Michigan State
Boise: (2) Wisconsin

Turns out it’ll have to be a potential Elite Eight matchup if we face Wisconsin again, with them slipping to the 2-seed line after losing to us in the Big Ten Tournament. Penn State got invited to the NIT, while Minnesota and Northwestern found their way into the CBI Tournament. Penn State got through their first NIT game by beating Northern Arizona 92-84 and Northwestern won their first game by beating Fairleigh Dickenson 76-53. But Minnesota fell 61-64 against Western Illinois, and Nebraska lost their play-in game to Jackson State badly, 60-77. Penn State then lost to Virginia 73-86 as we focused on doing damage in the NCAA Tournament.

NCAA Tournament

Code: Select all

Date    Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
3/17    (16) Presbyterian      W 81-62        33-3             R. Vanhoosier (22 pts 14 reb 3 ast) S. Berkowitz (10 pts 16 reb 10 ast)
3/19    (9) South Alabama      W 73-53        34-3             R. Vanhoosier (21 pts 9 reb 2 ast) S. Berkowitz (13 pts 16 reb 6 ast)
3/24    (5) NC State           W 65-59        35-3             R. Vanhoosier (24 pts 11 reb 2 stl) E. Eschmeyer (19 pts 7 reb 1 blk)
3/26    (2) Wisconsin          W 74-60        36-3             E. Walcutt (20 pts) R. Vanhoosier (13 pts 13 reb) S. Berkowitz (10 pts 15 reb)
4/1     (4) Mississippi St.    W 73-58        37-3             R. Vanhoosier (20 pts 12 reb 4 ast) E. Eschmeyer (15 pts 3 reb 4 ast)
4/3     (2) Dayton             W 88-68        38-3             E. Walcutt (25 pts) E. Eschmeyer (23 pts 4 reb) R. Vanhoosier (9 pts 16 reb)

Maryland opened the NCAA Tournament on Thursday by stunning (4) Pittsburgh in a blowout 106-87 upset! We won easily enough over the Blue Hose by a 81-62 margin behind another Berkowitz triple double, and Wisconsin won by a similar margin over (15) Morgan State 81-61. Maryland hit a brick wall in the second round against (5) Syracuse, however, falling hard 62-75. We kept our Sweet Sixteen streak going by beating up on South Alabama by 20 points, while Wisconin handled a tougher fight from (10) Mississippi, putting them down 61-50 in a solid defensive matchup.

Northwestern won against Western Illinois 79-63 on the 21st to advance to the CBI Tournament Semifinals.

In the Sweet Sixteen we won a defensive squeaker over a tough NC State squad, coming out ahead 65-59, while Wisconsin stumped (6) Cal-Irvine by a 78-68 margin -- setting us on a collision course for a rubber match in the Elite Eight! We held tough in our third game against the upstart Badgers, preventing them from making their first Final Four appearance since 2015 by beating them 74-60 in an all-around team effort -- and now we’re heading back to the National Semifinals for the third year running!

Northwestern lost to the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles 65-73, knocking them out of the CBI Tournament.

In the Final Four we handed (4) Mississippi State their 12th loss, beating them by 15 to send us back to the Championship Game for the third year in a row. This year we’d face (2) Dayton, the Flyers having parlayed a 33-6 record into the deepest run in school history. But they were no match for us, as we built a 43-40 halftime lead and then watched the Flyers come back to ground, beating them soundly 88-68 to take our second title in three seasons, as well as the third of my career!
 
Team Leaders
Scoring: Ryland Vanhoosier (16.9 ppg) Earl Eschmeyer (16.3 ppg) Eryon Walcutt (13.6 ppg) Saipele Berkowitz (10.7 ppg)
Rebounding: Saipele Berkowitz (14.0 rpg) Ryland Vanhoosier (8.8 rpg) Eryon Walcutt (7.6 rpg)
Assists: Saipele Berkowitz (7.6 apg) Marcus Rivera (3.9 apg) Ryland Vanhoosier (2.8 apg)
Steals: Eryon Walcutt (1.7 spg) Ryland Vanhoosier (1.6 spg) Jaraan Dillon (1.1 spg)
Blocks: Saipele Berkowitz (3.4 bpg) Eryon Walcutt (1.6 bpg) Jaraan Dillon (0.7 bpg)

Graduating Players
Beau Morris (2.8 GPA) 3.7 ppg 0.9 rpg 0.9 apg 0.1 spg 0.1 bpg (57 games)
Marcus Rivera (3.8 GPA) 13.0 ppg 3.3 rpg 2.8 apg 1.6 spg 0.4 bpg (106 games, 94 starts)
Saipele Berkowitz (3.4 GPA) 10.6 ppg 13.6 rpg 7.3 apg 3.6 bpg 0.6 spg

Berkowitz finishes with 1,438 points 1,846 rebounds, 989 assists, 87 steals and 487 blocks for his career. Absolutely STUNNING numbers. And he’ll graduate with two championship rings!

Leaving Early
Ryland Vanhoosier (3.2 GPA) 16.9 ppg 8.8 rpg 2.8 apg 1.6 spg 0.6 bpg (34 starts)
Eryon Walcutt (3.0 GPA) 13.6 ppg 7.6 rpg 1.7 apg 1.7 spg 1.6 bpg (34 starts)

Awards
Norton Award: Saipele Berkowitz
NCAA Tournament Most Valuable Player: Ryland Vanhooiser
National Player of the Year: Saipele Berkowitz
National Defensive Player of the Year: Saipele Berkowitz
National Coach of the Year: Dale Connover -- Threepeat!!!
1st Team All American: Saipele Berkowitz
1st Team All American: Ryland Vanhoosier
Big Ten Player of the Year: Saipele Berkowitz
Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year: Saipele Berkowitz
1st Team All Big Ten: Ryland Vanhoosier
1st Team All Big Ten: Saipele Berkowitz
1st Team All Big Ten: Eryon Walcutt

Wisconsin’s Tyrone Lemeke won Big Ten Coach of the Year

[u]Commmitted Recruits -- Final List[/u]
6’8” SF Gui Hsaio (HS Senior, China) 2.4 GPA (#11 Ntl, #1 Reg) 21.6 ppg 7.8 rpg 2.9 apg 3.4 spg 1.5 apg
6’10” C Keith King (HS Senior, Bangor MI) 2.9 GPA (#54 Ntl, #8 Reg) 17.2 ppg 16.5 rpg 0.4 bpg
6’2” PG Bohdan Moravec (HS Senior, Czech Republic) 2.3 GPA (#75 Ntl, #5 Reg) 16.8 ppg 3.4 rpg 4.8 apg 1.7 spg 0.5 bpg
6’6” SF Kyle Thomas (HS Senior, Iron Mountain MI) 2.7 GPA (#90 Ntl, #16 Reg) 19.9 ppg 4.7 rpg 1.7 apg 1.6 spg 0.7 bpg
6’7” SF Dalron Cantrell (HS Senior, Collinsville IL) 2.9 GPA (#143 Ntl, #29 Reg) 13.6 ppg 5.9 rpg 4.7 apg 2.5 spg 1.8 bpg
6’5” PG Bryan Dare (HS Senior, Herrin IL) 3.8 GPA (#187 Ntl, #38 Reg) 16.1 ppg 4.2 rpg 5.8 apg 3.0 spg 1.9 bpg

It’s hard not to think about how far there is to fall now that I’ve done the near-impossible, winning two of three titles over the last three years while graduating the greatest player in Michigan State history. The school just offered me a five year extension worth $1,559,000 per year so I will at least be sticking around to coach until I’m close to 60, but is there anything I can really do to burnish my legacy that I already haven’t done? Or will I wind up like Tim Davis out in Arizona, struggling to put up 20-win seasons and first-round NCAA exits well into my 60s?

Enough navel-gazing, I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing and see if we can keep dominating a changing NCAA landscape. We’re heading into my ninth season as Michigan State head coach, and during the previous eight season we’ve won three titles. Here’s to winning more in the coming seasons! We’ve decided not to offer Jon Fox an extension of his coaching contract -- he’s asking for $226,000 per year which would be enough to be a head coach salary at a top mid-major. He’ll stay on to coach this season and then let’s see if he’s ready to be a head coach as he nears the end of his career. If not, we’ll consider bringing him back, but after more than a decade and a half as the top assistant here at Michigan State I think we owe him at least the chance to explore options before deciding to just retire here. Justin Smith is entering his fourth year on our staff and I’m grooming him to eventually move up, but he won’t be ready to step up to Associate Head Coach yet. He still has three years left on his initial contract.

The Athletic Department has decided to boost our budget to $583,443 per year, making ours the best-funded program in college basketball!

Huge news out of Big Ten Headquarters … Notre Dame and Butler have joined the Big Ten, as Maryland and Rutgers have opted to move to the ACC to be better aligned for travel and competitive purposes! This ought to make our conference race very interesting next fall, and should definitely increase Big Ten recruiting competition in the midwest.

[jksander]

SEASON SEVENTEEN
2038-39

Coach Information
Name: Dale Connover
Age / Record: 52 (447-149, .750)
National Titles: 3 (2031, 2036, 2038)
:Contract $1,559,000 / 6 years
Reputation: 97%
National Title Appearances: 5 (2029, 2031, 2036-2038)
Final Fours: 7 (2025-2026, 2029, 2031, 2036-2038)
Elite Eights: 9 (2025-2027, 2029, 2031, 2033, 2036-2038)
Sweet Sixteens: 11 (2024-2027, 2029, 2031, 2033, 2035-2038)
Big Ten Titles: 3 (2031, 2033, 2038)
Big Ten Tourney Titles: 4 (2031, 2036-2038)
SEC Titles: 1 (2025)
SEC Tourney Titles: 2 (2025, 2026)
National Coach of the Year: 3 (2036-2038)
Big Ten Coach of the Year: 1 (2031)
SEC Coach of the Year: 2 (2025-2026)

School Information
School: Michigan State Spartans
Location: East Lansing MI
Conference: Big Ten
Arena: Jack Breslin Student Events Center (14,797 Cap)
Budget: $583,443 ($305,387 Assistants / $278,056 Recruiting)
Facilities: A
Academics: B (SAT Min: 940)
School Prestige: 100% (+1)
Conf. Prestige: 81% (-4)

Top 5 Recruit Classes
1. Creighton
2. Kansas
3. Virginia
4. Villanova
5. Cincinnati

Top 5 Big Ten Recruit Classes
6. Michigan State
17. Nebraska
21. Notre Dame
23. Illinois
37. Wisconsin

Scouting Reports
International Gold ($100,000)
National Gold ($80,000)

Summer Travel
Indy Elite Camp ($4,100)
Chicago Prep Revue ($3,700)

Players Transfering
Nobody leaves a National Championship team, and that didn’t change this year. All our players will be back as we try to repeat as champions in the newly re-aligned Big Ten and nationally!

NBA Draft
5. Ryland Vanhoosier
9. Eryon Walcutt

Saipele Berkowitz stunned the basketball world by deciding to forego the NBA, instead signing a contract with the WSSN Broadcasting Network to become a professional broadcaster! He graduated with a 3.4 GPA but was perfect in all his journalism and communications courses, so to me this wasn’t a huge shock -- had he wanted to be in the NBA he could have left years ago. Instead he’ll go down as one of the greatest all-around collegiate players and have a real career regardless of how the ball bounces. I told him if he ever decides he’d like to try his hand at coaching, my door’s always open.

Norton Nominees
Earl Eschmeyer -- 2nd Team Preseason All American

Recruits
6’6” 214 lbs PF Danny Arnold (HS Senior, Ishpeming MI) 3.4 GPA (#11 Ntl, #2 Reg) 21.1 ppg 9.7 rpg 2.6 apg 2.7 spg 6.1 bpg
6’7” 217 lbs PF Sam Feeley (HS Senior, Alma MI) 3.1 GPA (#64 Ntl, #10 Reg) 18.9 ppg 7.3 rpg 2.0 apg 2.6 spg 2.0 bpg

It’s an all-Michigan class so far (take that, all you folks who think I spurn in-state players for flashy one-and-dones!) We’re aiming for a lot of solid international recruits for the late-season push if anyone leaves early.

Schedule
11/15 - Nevada
11/18 - Akron
11/21 - (n) Washington St. - WS Midwest Invitational
11/25 - @ #1 Creighton
11/29 - @ Cincinnati
12/2 - @ #20 Dayton
12/6 - #17 Maryland
12/13 - @ Georgia
12/20 - @ Houston

We’re ranked #2 in the nation pre-season, the only ranked Big Ten team. We open the Big Ten slate against Illinois on the road December 30th. As for the new Big Ten teams we’ll face for the first time in conference action, we only get Butler once (Janaury 27th here at home) but we’ll play Notre Dame twice -- at home on February 1st and on the road March 1st. For fans of the Michigan rivalry, we get them twice as well -- on the road on January 13th and at home February 17th.

Roster
PG - Bohdan Moravec (6’2” 180 lbs Fr) Czech Republic (International HS) 2.3 GPA (3.5/4.5)
SG - Earl Eschmeyer (6’8” 198 lbs So) Culver Springs TN (Culver Springs HS) 3.6 GPA (5.0/5.0) 16.3 ppg 3.9 rpg 2.2 apg 0.3 spg 0.6 bpg
SF - Gui Hsaio (6’8” 234 lbs Fr) China (International HS) 2.4 GPA (4.5/5.0)
PF - Jaraan Dillon (6’6” 203 lbs So RS) Dearborn MI (E.B. Ford HS) 3.7 GPA (3.0/4.0) 6.3 ppg 3.5 rpg 1.2 apg 1.1 spg 0.7 bpg
C - Keith Frederick (6’10’ 259 lbs Sr) Harrisburg AR (Harrisburg HS) 3.6 GPA (3.5/3.5) 4.0 ppg 2.0 rpg 0.7 apg 0.4 spg 0.3 bpg

6 - Steve Edwards (6’7” 221 lbs Fr RS) Colfax WI (Colfax HS) 3.6 GPA (2.0/4.0)
7 - Brandin Green (6’8” 229 lbs So RS) Beech Grove IN (Beech Grove HS) 3.7 GPA (1.5/4.0) 0.5 ppg 0.6 rpg 0.3 apg 0.1 spg 0.1 bpg
8 - Frank Keep (6’7” 227 lbs Sr RS) Markesan WI (Markesan HS) 2.8 GPA (3.0/3.0) 0.9 ppg 0.7 rpg 0.3 apg 0.1 spg
9 - Greyne Mamoepa (6’1” 186 lbs Fr RS) Nigeria (International HS) 3.4 GPA (2.0/4.0)
10 - Keith King (6’10” 246 lbs Fr) Bangor MI (Bangor HS) 2.9 GPA (3.5/5.0)
11 - Bryan Dare (6’5” 191 lbs Fr) Herrin IL (Herrin HS) 3.8 GPA (1.5/4.0)

RS - Kyle Thomas (6’6” 196 lbs Fr RS) Iron Mountain MI (Iron Mountain HS) 2.7 GPA (1.0/3.0)
RS - Dalron Cantrell (6’7” 206 lbs Fr) Collinsville IL (Collinsville HS) 2.9 GPA (1.5/3.5)

[jksander]

We open the season on a 13-game winning streak dating back to February 13, 2038 when we lost 70-76 at Maryland. We haven’t lost a home game since February 22, 2037, but that streak stands only at 14 games since that loss to Illinois 80-86, since we’ve played a lot more neutral court and road games during the regular season.

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Date    Rank  Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
11/15   #2    Nevada                 W 87-67        1-0              E. Eschmeyer (30 pts 6 reb 6 ast) G. Hsaio (15 pts 10 reb 2 stl)
11/18   #2    Akron                  W 82-56        2-0              G. Hsaio (15 pts 10 reb 4 ast 6 stl) E. Eschmeyer (18 pts 1 ast 2 stl)
11/21   #7    (n) Washington St.     W 91-74        3-0              E. Eschmeyer (35 pts 2 reb 2 ast) G. Hsaio (18 pts 8 reb 4 ast 2 stl)
11/22   #7    (n) AL Birmingham      L 72-84        3-1              G. Hsaio (21 pts 5 reb 3 ast 2 stl) E. Eschmeyer (19 pts 5 reb 3 ast)
11/25   #7    @ #6 Creighton         L 68-85        3-2              K. Frederick (13 pts 13 reb) G. Hsaio (18 pts 12 reb 2 ast 1 stl)
11/29   #9    @ Cincinnati           W 72-65        4-2              E. Eschmeyer (31 pts 2 reb 4 ast) S. Moravec (7 pts 6 reb 10 ast)
12/2    #9    @ Dayton               L 59-72        4-3              K. Frederick (11 pts 11 reb 3 stl 2 blk) G. Hsaio (11 pts 7 reb 3 ast)
12/6    #12   #23 Maryland           W 101-82       5-3              E. Eschmeyer (41 pts 6 reb 6 ast) K. Frederick (17 pts 6 reb 4 stl)
12/13   #15   @ #24 Georgia          L 66-84        5-4              E. Eschmeyer (26 pts 3 reb 2 ast) K. Frederick (17 pts 5 reb 3 blk)   
12/20   #18   @ Houston              W 81-74        6-4              E. Eschmeyer (27 pts 2 reb 2 ast) K. Frederick (14 pts 13 reb 3 stl)

It’s important to temper expectations in that one, we played a brutal road schedule in the pre-conference season, and two, we’re an extremely young team this year, with only two seniors on the roster. Keith Frederick has been a strong leader as a senior, but it’s been sophomore Earl Eschmeyer leading the way on offense and Gui Hsaio, our blue-chip Chinese freshmen forward, leading the way on defense. Our ceiling is going to depend on how quickly our young nucleus gels -- finishing in the top four of the Big Ten would be a solid result, allowing us the double bye in the conference tourney and a shot at a favored seed in the NCAA tournament. Expectations outside the program are for us to make a fourth consecutive Final Four trip, and I think the talent is there but not the experience. The next two months will reveal a lot about how likely that prospect is.

Heading into the Big Ten season, #18 Wisconsin has the best record at 10-1, while Nebraska is 9-1 and #16 Purdue is 9-2 (alongside unranked Ohio State, also at 9-2). Illinois is 6-3, while we and Indiana are 6-4. Only Wisconsin, Purdue and our team are inside the top 50 of the NET though. Newcomer Butler is 5-5 and a dismal 192nd in the NET, while Notre Dame is 3-6 but 113th in the NET after a tougher non-conference slate. Neither team looks likely to be dangerous this year, but we all know pre-conference records can be deceiving.

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Date    Rank  Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
12/30   #20   @ Illinois             W 84-73        7-4 (1-0)        E. Eschmeyer (32 pts 4 reb 1 ast) B. Moravec (14 pts 2 reb 6 ast)
1/2     #19   #20 Wisconsin          W 90-83        8-4 (2-0)        E. Eschmeyer (19 pts 3 reb 3 ast) G. Hsaio (12 pts 7 reb 4 ast)
1/6     #19   @ Penn State           L 71-87        8-5 (2-1)        E. Eschmeyer (22 pts 3 reb 1 stl) S. Edwards (15 pts 7 reb)
1/11    #22   Indiana                W 81-64        9-5 (3-1)        G. Hsaio (13 pts 11 reb 4 ast) B. Moravec (18 pts 7 ast 2 blk)
1/13    #22   @ Michigan             W 77-62        10-5 (4-1)       E. Eschmeyer (23 pts 6 reb 1 ast 1 stl) G. Hsaio (14 pts 7 reb 4 ast)
1/18    #20   #13 Purdue             W 78-71        11-5 (5-1)       K. King (17 pts 8 reb 1 ast) G. Hsaio (12 pts 8 reb 3 ast 2 stl)
1/20    #20   @ Iowa                 W 75-56        12-5 (6-1)       G. Hsaio (19 pts 6 reb 2 ast 1 stl) K. Frederick (14 pts 7 reb 2 ast)
1/25    #17   @ Nebraska             W 85-83 (OT)   13-5 (7-1)       E. Eschmeyer (31 pts 9 reb 1 blk) G. Hsaio (18 pts 9 reb 3 ast 2 stl)
1/27    #17   Butler                 W 85-68        14-5 (8-1)       G. Hsaio (17 pts 11 reb 2 ast 2 stl) E. Eschmeyer (17 pts 5 reb 3 ast)

We have the toughest part of our schedule upcoming -- nine games in 22 days -- but so far we’ve done a great job for such a young team, positioning ourselves right in the heart of the Big Ten race. Due to the lopsided scheduling, Minnesota (13-8, 10-1) leads the pack, with #9 Purdue (18-3, 9-1) half a game back and us, at #16 with a 14-5 (8-1) record in third place by a single game. Penn State, in fourth, owns a tie-breaker against us since we don’t have a home game against them this year to avenge our early January loss. They’re currently 10-8 (7-2) with a rapidly improving NET ranking, and #22 Wisconsin’s right behind in fifth with a 16-4 (6-3) record. The conference in general, however, is quite weak outside the top five -- only we, Purdue and Wisconsin are inside the NET top 50, and Minnesota (#76 MET) does not have much room to drop in the rankings without jeopardizing a postseason shot, since their 3-7 pre-conference record weighs like a millstone around their necks. The Quad 3 and Quad 4 games can do a lot of damage late in the season if teams slip up.

Earl Eschmeyer made the cut in the Norton race but he’s not likely to finish in the running by March. In this update he came in right in the middle of the top thirty. So there’s a lot of questions waiting about whether he’ll come back for a third season or risk going pro and potentially settling for being a second rounder. If no one leaves or transfers we’re going to have no open scholarships next year, so if someone DOES choose to leave early I will likely keep their spots open for the next year’s recruiting for balance purposes.

Our home win streak now stands at 21 games, dating back to February 22, 2037.

[jksander]

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Date    Rank  Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
2/1     #16   Notre Dame             W 85-66        15-5 (9-1)       E. Eschmeyer (24 pts 6 reb 1 ast) G. Hsaio (17 pts 6 reb 3 ast 3 stl)
2/3     #16   @ Indiana              W 69-47        16-5 (10-1)      B. Moravec (18 pts 4 reb 4 ast) E. Eschmeyer (12 pts 6 reb 6 ast)
2/6     #14   Northwestern           W 60-40        17-5 (11-1)      K. Frederick (15 pts 4 reb 4 stl) J. Dillon (7 pts 14 reb 2 ast 1 blk)
2/10    #14   @ Minnesota            W 94-65        18-5 (12-1)      G. Hsaio (20 pts 6 reb 5 ast 3 stl) E. Eschmeyer (21 pts 7 reb 3 ast)
2/13    #12   @ Ohio State           W 81-69        19-5 (13-1)      E. Eschmeyer (31 pts 3 reb 1 ast) G. Hsaio (13 pts 4 reb 1 ast)
2/17    #12   Michigan               W 89-79        20-5 (14-1)      E. Eschmeyer (30 pts 5 reb 1 blk) J. Dillon (18 pts 7 reb 2 ast)

Bubble Watch: If the tournament was run today our conference wouldn’t be getting much respect. Our 12-game winning streak has us currently leading the Big Ten by two whole games, rising to the final #2 seed spot in the most recent brackets. Purdue looks like a borderline 3/4-seed, while Wisconsin has slid out of the top 25 to what looks like a 9-seed. Nebraska is flirting with 10-seed territory, but Minnesota (14-11, 11-4) and Penn State (12-12, 9-6) are looking unlikely to make the postseason. Both teams have NET rankings in the mid-80s, which at this point might even disqualify them from the NIT without quality wins. Michigan, at 12-12 (7-8), has the 111th best NET ranking, meaning without a radical turnaround the Wolverines will miss the postseason entirely for the second year in a row since beating us in the title game in 2036.

[jksander]

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Date    Rank  Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
2/20    #8    Nebraska               W 91-83        21-5 (15-1)      E. Eschmeyer (24 pts 8 reb 3 ast) K. Frederick (21 pts 8 reb 4 stl)
2/22    #8    @ Wisconsin            L 64-72        21-6 (15-2)      E. Eschmeyer (19 pts 4 reb 1 blk) G. Hsaio (12 pts 12 reb 2 ast 1 stl)
2/24    #8    Illinois               W 87-80        22-6 (16-2)      E. Eschmeyer (28 pts 1 reb) S. Edwards (19 pts 3 reb 5 ast 2 stl 1 blk)
3/1     #6    @ Notre Dame           W 88-73        23-6 (17-2)      E. Eschmeyer (26 pts 2 reb 2 ast 1 blk) G. Hsaio (17 pts 7 reb 3 ast)
3/3     #6    Minnesota              W 84-66        24-6 (18-2)      E. Eschmeyer (27 pts 4 reb 1 ast) G. Hsaio (21 pts 14 reb 4 ast 3 stl)

Earl Eschmeyer did everything he could to try and make the next Norton cut, scoring 114 points in our last five games, playing a huge part in our ability to hold off our competition and win the Big Ten by three games over Minnesota. But it wasn’t enough to move up to All American levels. He and Gui Hsao have both decided to declare for the NBA draft. We are going to end our recruiting season and save the two open scholarships for next year, as we will have a Sophomore and Junior-heavy roster with no graduating seniors. This has been a down year for recruiting in the conference and yet we are still likely to finish with the #2 in-conference class behind Purdue, and no one in the conference has a top 10 class. It’s quite possible the entire Big Ten will finish below 20th nationally in recruiting. So there’s room to focus on hitting the ground hard next year, allowing us to best balance out our roster.

Bubble Watch: We’re likely going to finish with either a 2 or 3 seed, while Purdue still looks like a solid 4-seed. Wisconsin has made strides and moved up to a potential 6-seed, something they can secure with a win or two in the conference tourney (they earned the last double-bye in the Big Ten Tourney, behind us, Minnesota and Purdue.) Nebraska (22-8, 13-7) now looks like they’ll end up on the 9 or 10 line, while Minnesota (18-12, 15-5) now is considered “safe” as an 11-seed, though they’re still going to want to secure that by winning the conference tourney and removing all doubt. Penn State, finishing 10-10 in the conference, now has a losing record and has to win the entire thing to have any shot at the postseason. Michigan, however, is now 16-13 after finishing 11-9 in-conference, and their #81 NET ranking has them ranked 18th on the “bubble” list. They need to likely make the Big Ten Conference Finals to feel like they have an NCAA Tourney shot, but I suspect they’re safely in the NIT if they don’t. That’s more than they could have said three weeks ago.

[jksander]

Big Ten Tournament

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Date    Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
3/9     (8) Illinois           W 84-65        25-6             E. Eschmeyer (26 pts 4 reb 4 ast 1 stl) G. Hsaio (16 pts 5 reb 4 ast)
3/10    (5) Nebraska           L 66-79        25-7             E. Eschmeyer (29 pts 6 reb 2 ast) G. Hsaio (5 pts 11 reb 2 ast 2 stl 3 blk)

Michigan beat (11) Indiana 81-69 to advance on Thursday, while (10) Notre Dame also advanced, knocking off Penn State 80-71 to add some drama to the Friday matchups. The Wolverines then promptly lost against (3) Purdue 83-74, though the Irish held tough against (2) Minnesota 81-77, potentially knocking the Gophers back onto the bubble. Then in the Saturday semifinals chaos reigned. First we lost by 13 to Nebraska, and then Notre Dame improved to 13-19 on the season by stunning Purdue in a 73-59 defensive statement, giving the selection committee all kinds of headaches coming into the finals. And Notre Dame then stunned Nebraska in a high-scoring offensive finale, outscoring the Huskers 45-41 in the second half to win 87-83 to win the Big Ten Tournament with a 14-19 record and a sub-200 NET ranking. Clearly they had to be getting a 16-seed play-in, but this kind of thing has no precident in a major conference tournament! It just goes to show how “down” this conference was below the top five or six teams.

Big Ten Teams in the NCAA Tournament:

Dayton: (16) Notre Dame -- plays in to Oakland region
Boston: (7) Nebraska
St. Louis: (6) Wisconsin
San Antonio: (3) Michigan State
Oakland: (5) Purdue

Notre Dame getting in as a 16-seed cost both Minnesota and Michigan their shots at the NCAA Tournament. Crazily enough they have to play each other in the NIT First Round … talk about brutal! Illinois (16-15, 9-11, 136 NET) wound up in the CBI Tournament, surprisng pretty much everyone including Illinois.

On Monday the 13th, Illinois quietly lost to MD Baltimore County 66-73, bringing their season to an end. The next day Notre Dame blew out the (16) Coppin State Eagles 63-44, in a mismatch set up by the fact that the Eagles finished the regular season with an 8-24 record after winning three straight to take the MEAC Tournament Title. This truly WAS the year for chaos. Meanwhile, Minnesota brought Michigan’s season to a merciful end with an 81-70 defeat, advancing to the NIT Second round which will take place on Thursday surrounded by NCAA Tournament games.
 
NCAA Tournament

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Date    Opponent               Score          W/L Record       Leaders
3/17    (14) High Point        W 91-62        26-7             E. Eschmeyer (30 pts 6 reb 3 ast) G. Hsaio (17 pts 11 reb 8 ast 4 stl)
3/19    (6) Old Dominion       W 92-85        27-7             E. Eschmeyer (33 pts 7 reb) B. Moravec (9 pts 13 ast) G. Hsaio (21 pts 14 reb)
3/24    (2) Creighton          W 88-86        28-7             G. Hsaio (32 pts 6 reb 2 ast 3 stl) E. Eschmeyer (20 pts 5 reb 1 ast)
3/26    (13) Delaware          W 70-58        29-7             E. Eschmeyer (25 pts 1 reb 1 ast) K. Frederick (17 pts 10 reb 3 stl)
4/1     (4) Maryland           W 79-76        30-7             G. Hsaio (19 pts 12 reb 5 ast) K. Frederick (16 pts 12 reb 2 ast 1 stl)
4/3     (1) Arizona            L 81-93        30-8             G. Hsaio (18 pts 8 reb 1 ast) E. Eschmeyer (20 pts 7 reb)

Nebraska handled (10) TX San Antonio nicely with a strong second half offensive performance to win 90-77, while Wisconsin fell to (11) Nevada after a sloppy defensive effort by the usually adept Badgers, losing 76-81. IUPUI meanwhile brought Minnesota’s season to an anonymous finish, beating the Gophers 73-68. On Friday, we brought our title defense to a quick start, blowing away the High Point Panthers 91-62, advancing easily. Notre Dame then continued their stunning string of performances, coming back from down 25-34 at the half to nearly put their game in overtime before (1) Kansas State managed to stumble their way to a 58-56 victory and sweet relief. Purdue then went on to beat (12) Prairie View 71-60 to secure their spot in the weekend games. Nebraska took on (2) Kansas in a Saturday evening matchup, losing a shootout by a slim 88-94 margin in overtime (they were outscored 18-12 in the overtime period). That was a harbinger of what was to come in our next game, which turned into a shootout of even stronger proportions, though we were able to hold the Monarchs’ comeback attempt off to win 92-85. Purdue was not so lucky, falling to former Big Ten opponent (4) Maryland 67-81 to miss out on the Sweet Sixteen. We officially remain the only Big Ten team left in contention.

Our run nearly came to an end against Creighton in the Sweet Sixteen as we played to a disastrous halftime deficit of 29-53 against the Blue Jays. But we came roaring back in the second half behind Hsaio’s hot hand -- he scored 24 points in the second half, taking us on his shoulders and blitzing to an 88-86 victory IN REGULATION! Unbelievable! The Elite Eight game against the upstart Blue Hens wasn’t nearly as insane, but we came out determined to make it back to the Final Four and did just that, shutting them down 36-22 in the second half to put their upset hopes to bed 70-58 as we head to our fourth Final Four in a row!

We rematched against (4) Maryland in the National Semifinals, having beaten them in a shootout back in December on our court, but this one was much more evenly matched. Maryland led at the half 40-37, but we shut them down in the second half, blocking their potential tying shot at the buzzer to win 79-76 and advancing to our fourth National Finals in a row, hoping to become the first team since Arizona to win repeat titles. Of cousrse our road led to a matchup AGAINST Arizona and legendary head coach Tim Davis, the only active coach with more titles (5) than I have (3). Trust me, the hype was epic! He has just 20 more wins than I do, and I have a 4-2 record against him since coming to Michigan State … but he’s 1-0 against me in National Title Games, having beaten my Georgia Bulldogs for the 2029 title.

So yeah, I wanted to win this one for a lot of reasons. Unfortunately the Wildcats had the much deeper team when it mattered, and we were eating their dust the entire game. We kept things close, trailing 43-49 at the half and running with them consistently in the second, but it wasn’t enough for us to be able to win a shootout. We’d lose this one 81-93 and go home thinking of how close we’d been, but also how very far we’ve brought this program to where winning a third title in four years was even a possibility.

I expect next year to be a significant rebuild, as we’re losing a lot of veteran leadership. We’ll have a scrappy young team, however, and the sky’s the limit if they come in and work hard. I certainly don’t think it’s out of the question for us to be right back in here battling again next March!

Team Leaders
Scoring: Earl Eschmeyer (23.3 ppg) Gui Hsaio (13.8 ppg) Keith Frederick (9.9 ppg) Bohdan Moravec (7.7 ppg)
Rebounding: Keith Frederick (8.2 rpg) Gui Hsaio (7.1 rpg) Jaraan Dillon (6.7 rpg) Earl Eschmeyer (4.5 rpg)
Assists: Bohdan Moravec (7.4 apg) Gui Hsaio (2.6 apg) Keith Frederick (2.0 apg) Earl Eschmeyer (2.0 apg)
Steals: Keith Frederick (2.3 spg) Gui Hsaio (2.1 spg)
Blocks: Keith Frederick (2.0 bpg) Jaraan Dillon (1.4 bpg)

Graduating Players
Frank Keep (3.0 GPA) 7.8 ppg 2.9 rpg 1.2 apg 0.7 spg (106 games, 31 starts)
Keith Frederick (3.6 GPA) 9.4 ppg 6.4 rpg 1.5 apg 1.6 spg 1.2 bpg (132 games, 98 starts)

Leaving Early
Gui Hsaio (2.4 GPA) 13.8 ppg 7.1 rpg 2.6 apg 2.1 spg 0.4 bpg (32 starts)
Earl Eschmeyer (3.9 GPA) 19.7 ppg 4.2 rpg 2.1 apg 0.3 spg 0.6 bpg (66 starts)

Eschmeyer finishes with 1,298 career points in his two seasons with us. He is by far the most prolific scorer I’ve coached here over such a short period. Hsaio, meanwhile, never really gelled with the whole “school” thing and it was not a surprise that he saw this opportunity as more of a “get into the NBA” thing and not “earn my degree.” He’s said that if he doesn’t get into the NBA he’ll almost certainly go play back in China where he’s more comfortable. I will say he was fun to coach, though … watching him crash the glass during the Big Ten season it was like he was an artist out there. Hopefully his career works out.

Awards
Big Ten Coach of the Year: Dale Connover
1st Team All Big Ten: Earl Eschmeyer
1st Team All Big Ten: Gui Hsaio
2nd Team All Conference: Keith Frederick

Tim Davis won National Coach of the Year.

Commmitted Recruits -- Final List
6’6” 214 lbs PF Danny Arnold (HS Senior, Ishpeming MI) 3.4 GPA (#11 Ntl, #2 Reg) 21.1 ppg 9.7 rpg 2.6 apg 2.7 spg 6.1 bpg
6’7” 217 lbs PF Sam Feeley (HS Senior, Alma MI) 3.1 GPA (#64 Ntl, #10 Reg) 18.9 ppg 7.3 rpg 2.0 apg 2.6 spg 2.0 bpg

Our third assistant, Corey Davis, announced his retirement following this season. Jon Fox’s contract expired and he chose not to go out for any of the open head coaching positions, so it appears he may retire as well, if he’s not just taking a year to consider his options. I’ve gone ahead and promoted Justin Smith to my Associate Head Coach position, giving him a raise to $120,750 per year with a third year added to his contract. We’ve hired new coaches to fill our recruiting and scouting roles, allowing Smith to have full control over our practice and ddevelopment, as well as learning x’s and o’s coaching development as my right-hand man.

Antonio Telly (54, formerly Saint Marys’ top assistant for three seasons following a 14-year run as South Dakota State’s second assistant) comes in rated as a four star scout, and though he’d love to eventually coach himself, he needs to build his experience at a school like ours if he is ever going to show he can do this job as the leader of a program. He’ll earn $74,500 per year for four seasons as our second assistant at which point he hopes to get his chance to be head coach for a smaller school somewhere.

Michael Barnes (55, formerly UTEP’s #2 assistant for the last two years and their #3 assistant for the 11 seasons before that) is one of the best recruiters in the country, but he was doing it for a team that simply did not have the prestige to compete in the NCAA’s top division (they only had one winning season during his time with the Miners, a 17-16 campaign that ended with a loss in the CBI Tournament’s first round.) He signed a deal with us worth $37,500 / year for the next five seasons.

[jksander]

SEASON EIGHTEEN
2039-40

Coach Information
Name: Dale Connover
Age / Record: 53 (477-157, .752)
National Titles: 3 (2031, 2036, 2038)
Contract: $1,559,000 / 5 years
Reputation: 97%
National Title Appearances: 6 (2029, 2031, 2036-2039)
Final Fours: 8 (2025-2026, 2029, 2031, 2036-2039)
Elite Eights: 10 (2025-2027, 2029, 2031, 2033, 2036-2039)
Sweet Sixteens: 12 (2024-2027, 2029, 2031, 2033, 2035-2039)
Big Ten Titles: 4 (2031, 2033, 2038-2039)
Big Ten Tourney Titles: 4 (2031, 2036-2038)
SEC Titles: 1 (2025)
SEC Tourney Titles: 2 (2025, 2026)
National Coach of the Year: 3 (2036-2038)
Big Ten Coach of the Year: 2 (2031, 2039)
SEC Coach of the Year: 2 (2025-2026)

School Information
School: Michigan State Spartans
Location: East Lansing MI
Conference: Big Ten
Arena: Jack Breslin Student Events Center (14,797 Cap)
Budget: $583,443 ($232,750 Assistants / $350,693 Recruiting)
Facilities: A-
Academics: B (SAT Min: 940)
School Prestige: 99% (-1)
Conf. Prestige: 80% (-1)

Top 5 Recruit Classes
1. VA Commonwealth
2. Arizona
3. Syracuse
4. Florida
5. Kansas State

Top 5 Big Ten Recruit Classes
13. Purdue
17. Michigan State
29. Minnesota
38. Ohio State
39. Michigan

Scouting Reports
International Gold ($100,000)
National Gold ($80,000)

Summer Travel
Indy Elite Camp ($4,100)
Chicago Prep Revue ($3,700)

Players Transfering
This year is going to be a bit rougher than expected prior to the announcement that Steve Edwards, Keith King and Bryan Dare have all decided to transfer out. They were all projected backups, but they leave our program decidedly weak at point guard and the forward positions. I was hoping to avoid the transfer portal this year but now it’s either find a couple players there or keep my walk-ons for the first time in years and commit to this being a full-on total rebuild season.

I wound up finding a couple transfer players I think will make a good fit:

- 6’2” PG Josh Davali (Junior, Northwestern) -- He’s played in 60 games, starting in 30 last season for the Wildcats, and he’s averaged 7.4 points 2.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. He’s a solid 2.5 star player and he’ll fill a role for us this year. I don’t know that he’ll get the minutes he wants, but if playing for a winner counts for anything he should be able to be a part of that.

- 6’3” SG Philipp Walker (Junior, Utah) -- He’s played in 45 games over two seasons, starting in 14 while averaging 5.9 points 1.4 rebounds 1.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game. But he lost a lot of minutes last year and grew disenchanted. He wants to start and I think he fits into our rotation nicely as a four star recruit. But he’s going to have to work hard. If he wasn’t happy with being underused on last year’s 25-10 Utah squad that made the Sweet Sixteen, he’s going to hate getting benched if he slacks off here. He’s playing with guys who have been to the Championship, and the upperclassmen have done it more than once and won one. So no one around here puts up with players who won’t pull their weight.

I have the ten player rotation I want, so I’m going to save the three remaining scholarships and build for the future in the main recruiting period. With one starter and one backup to cover PG and SG, with six forwards to cover the forward and center positions, I think it’s safe to say everyone will at least get their chance to play and prove themselves. How deep we go will depend on their work ethic and attention to coaching detail. I will, however, be trying to find a legitimate center for our program for next year so we won’t be playing so often out of preferred position.

NBA Draft
6. Earl Eschmeyer
12. Gui Hsaio

Norton Nominees
Danny Arnold - 2nd Team Preseason All American

Recruits
6’0” 201 lbs SG Andrew Green (HS Senior, Munster IN) 3.1 GPA (#25 Ntl #4 Reg) 23.8 ppg 4.6 rpg 1.9 apg 2.3 spg 0.8 apg
6’2” 205 lbs PG Rodney Bey (HS Senior, Venice FL) 2.8 GPA (#39 Ntl #12 Reg) 21.6 ppg 5.2 rpg 5.1 apg 3.7 spg 0.6 bpg
6’9” 278 lbs C Karel Plesnicar (HS Senior, Slovenia) 2.4 GPA (#58 Ntl #5 Reg) 16.1 ppg 12.6 rpg 1.9 apg 3.8 spg 5.3 bpg

Our scouts have Andrew Green on the low-end of a five star rating, while Bey and Plesnicar are mid-level four star recruits. According to WSSN our class is currently ranked 3rd in the Big Ten behind Indiana and Michigan by a wide margin. Those two schools have classes which should flirt with top five status nationally, while ours currently is just on the edge of top ten status. Clemson currently has a five-player class including three five star players, giving them an overall class rating that is 50 points higher than their nearest competition (Florida).

Schedule
11/14 - (n) Oral Roberts - Preseason NIT
11/21 - Cincinnati
11/24 - #2 Arizona
11/28 - @ #1 Maryland
12/1 - #7 Villanova
12/5 - #24 Gonzaga
12/8 - #16 Xavier
12/12 - @ #4 Duke
12/19 - #9 Kansas

We are preseason ranked #3 in the country and will be playing an absolutely brutal schedule. In the Big Ten only #23 Purdue is preseason ranked. We’ll open the Big Ten slate on the road at Nebraska. We only get Michigan once, at home on January 16th.

Roster
PG - Bohdan Moravec (6’2” 180 lbs So) Czech Republic (International HS) 2.3 GPA (3.5/4.5) 7.7 ppg 2.7 rpg 7.4 apg 0.2 spg 0.2 bpg
SG - Philipp Walker (6’3” 178 lbs Jr) Winston OR (Douglas HS) 3.2 GPA (4.0/4.5) Transferred from Utah
SF - Jaraan Dillon (6’6” 203 lbs Jr RS) Dearborn MI (E.B. Ford HS) 3.9 GPA (3.5/4.0) 6.3 ppg 6.7 rpg 1.4 apg 0.5 spg 1.4 bpg
PF - Danny Arnold (6’6” 214 lbs Fr) Ishpeming MI (Westwood HS) 3.4 GPA (5.0/5.0)
C - Sam Feeley (6’7” 217 lbs Fr) Alma MI (Alma HS) 3.1 GPA (3.5/4.5)

6 - Kyle Thomas (6’6” 196 lbs Fr RS) Iron Mountain MI (Iron Mountain HS) 3.3 GPA (1.5/4.0)
7 - Brandin Green (6’8” 229 lbs Jr RS) Beech Grove IN (Beech Grove HS) 3.8 GPA (2.0/4.0) 1.2 ppg 0.8 rpg 0.4 apg 0.2 spg 0.1 bpg
8 - Greyne Mamoepa (6’1” 186 lbs So RS) Nigeria (International HS) 3.4 GPA (2.5/4.0) 4.7 ppg 1.3 rpg 1.8 apg 0.2 spg 0.1 bpg
9 - Josh Davali (6’2” 201 lbs Jr) Circleville OH (Logan Elm HS) 4.0 GPA (2.5/4.0) Tranfered from Northwestern
10 - Dalron Cantrell (6’7” 206 lbs Fr RS) Collinsville IL (Collinsville HS) 3.2 GPA (2.0/4.0)

Our home win streak is now at 27 games, though if we manage to extend it this year it will mean we’ve beaten incredible teams. We’ll face three teams in the preseason top 10 as well as two additional home games against teams in the preseson top 25. At least the fans are going to get their money worth! We’re preseason ranked #3 based mostly (I feel) on our team prestige and the presence of Michigan High School All Star recruit Danny Arnold in the lineup. But we’ll be putting this VERY young team through the ringer in the pre-Big Ten season. Here’s hoping it doesn’t break them.