As the Royal Oak Leprechauns fight for a playoff spot, a collective of former Catholic League stars have played integral roles in the team’s success this summer.

Some, like Aidan Schuck, a Detroit Catholic Central grad who just finished his freshman year at Oakland University, are done for the summer — in his case, his last game with the Leprechauns came last weekend — but have left their mark.

Schuck batted .337 this summer for the team, with 23 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. But he hit his stride as his time with the team wore on, and began to put together a hitting streak that eventually reached double-digits.

“I didn’t even have an idea the streak was going on until I think it was the 15th game,” Schuck said. “I was told by one of our interns who does the stats and he said you’re two away from the franchise record.”

It ended up as a 19-game hitting streak before it was snapped, and at one point included a span of five games where he had 13 base knocks. “You can tell when you’re doing well, seeing it well, but yeah, I had no idea there was a streak going on. It’s kinda harder once you know about it, because then self-consciously you’re trying to continue it.”

In his first year as a Golden Grizzly, Shamrock batted .279 with 10 RBIs in 18 games, but he believes he’ll be returning to OU as a better player after this summer. “I’d say I had a good year, but there were times where I struggled seeing spin,” he said. “I feel like this summer, I made a big jump and I was able to hit off-speed pitches and drive them the other way. Obviously, this was my freshman season of college and I saw new to seeing a lot of the pitching, but playing (as many games as I did this summer) against college pitching, , that’s the best way to get better, seeing arms like that every day. Overall, I developed as a hitter.”

From Brother Rice, Tristan Crane (Eastern Michigan) played 39 games for the team, batting .305 with a .378 on-base percentage and drove in 29 runs. Fellow Warrior Owen Turner (Yale) drove in 21 runs while stealing eight bags in 40 appearances.

The Leprechauns’ all-star representative this season, infielder Ryan Tyranski (Cincinnati), another one-time staple in the Brother Rice lineup, has been a fine example of the difference a year makes. He played 31 games in Royal Oak in 2024 and batted .262 with 12 RBIs and six stolen bases in 31 games. This summer, he’s hitting at a .296 clip in 54 games, has hit a pair of home runs (along with four triples), driven in 33 runs and swiped 19 bags.

On the mound, another Warriors’ alum, Wyatt Ruppenthal (Kalamazoo College), has been one of the Leprechauns’ best arms. In 14 appearances, the 6-foot-2 righty has sported a 3.58 ERA over 27 2/3 innings, striking out 29 with a solid 1.30 WHIP.

For some, it’s a chance to thrive while getting to know ex-rivals even better, and also forge new bonds.

“It’s awesome playing with all the Catholic League guys the whole summer,” Schuck said. “There’s time we’ve had debates in the dugout about who was better in high school. It’s fun getting to know those guys you somewhat knew (when) playing against them, but were never on the same team. Then they’ve got new guys who’ve come in towards the second half of the season, guys like Danny Cook from Pepperdine, a couple guys from Colorado, and it’s good getting to know those guys from all across the country as well as ones we already know.”

With just single-digit games remaining, the Leprechauns have a string of games at home coming up that includes Military Appreciation Night Sunday afternoon against the Kenosha Kingfish and Fan Appreciation Night on Tuesday evening against the Kalamazoo Growlers.

Tom Izzo has got his next point guard.

Metro Detroit prospect Carlos Medlock Jr. announced his commitment to Michigan State on Friday evening.

Formerly of Wayne Memorial High School, the four-star prospect Medlock currently plays for Link Academy in Branson, Mo.

He is the first commitment of the Spartans’ 2026 recruiting class, ranked the 10th-best point guard in his class and just outside the top 100 overall by the 247Sports Composite.

Izzo’s teams rely on a strong point guard to lead the way. Jeremy Fears Jr. will return as the starter this coming season as a core returner from last year’s Big Ten championship team.

En route to the Elite Eight, Fears averaged 7.2 points and 5.4 assists in 36 games. He has three years of remaining eligibility, and so does incoming Miami transfer Divine Ugochukwu.

Medlock appears the heir apparent somewhere down the line to run the Michigan State offense.

A fairly undersized guard at 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds, Medlock is the son of former Eastern Michigan star Carlos Medlock, who scored 1,574 points and 400 assists in an All-MAC career.

The younger Medlock received offers from a dozen Division I programs, including Michigan and Iowa. Michigan State was the earliest power conference school to offer him.

In Medlock, Izzo has his replacement when Fears either runs out of eligibility or decides to go pro, though in the meantime Medlock’s scoring ability may open up some options at shooting guard.

He’s been tearing up the Adidas-sponsored 3Stripes Select league. He’s explosive out of ball screens with a knack for finishing off balance.

Players of his size can struggle against bigger players in college, but so far those problems haven’t shown. He’s also got plenty of time to grow.

The most recent recruiting cycle yielded a modest two-man class for the Spartans in DMV freshmen small forwards Cam Ward and Jordan Scott. Both are expected to play this season.

Michigan State will follow up a 30-7 run to the Elite Eight with a team led by returners Fears, Coen Carr, Jaxon Kohler and Carson Cooper. The Spartans added key transfers in Ugochukwu and Samford journeyman Trey Fort in the offseason.

ANN ARBOR — When the dust settled on Michigan’s roster a year ago, coach Dusty May thought he and his staff assembled one of the premier frontcourts in college basketball.

Danny Wolf, a first-round draft pick, and Vlad Goldin, an All-Big Ten first-team selection, ended up proving May right.

As the Wolverines prepare for a new campaign with a different cast, May feels this season’s revamped frontcourt can be just as good, if not better, than any in the country.

“I do,” May said this month at the midway point of summer workouts. “I felt like that last year when we signed Danny and Vlad.”

That’s saying something, considering Wolf and Goldin played starring roles as they led Michigan to a 27-10 record, Big Ten tournament title and Sweet 16 appearance. On top of that, the two were finalists for awards that recognize the nation’s top power forward and center.

But May and the Wolverines put together a frontcourt mix that’s arguably more talented and deeper than a year ago, bringing in transfers Morez Johnson Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg and Aday Mara and returning Will Tschetter and Oscar Goodman. There’s also incoming freshman Malick Kordel, a 7-foot center from Germany.

“When you look at their skill sets, when you look at what they do well, their physical attributes, I do think all of them complement each other,” said May, noting Kordel wasn’t on campus for the first half of summer practice but is expected to join the team soon.

“We do think we have a lot of options. As the teams in the Final Four proved last year, you need great depth if you want to play late into March and, hopefully, April.”

Each of the frontcourt pieces has different strengths and can impact the game in different ways. As Lendeborg explained, Johnson is a “brute force inside who can do whatever you need” at the power forward and center positions, while the 7-foot-3 Mara is a “surprisingly good passer” and someone you can throw the ball up to anywhere.

Both Johnson and Mara are lob threats whereas Lendeborg described himself as more of an “under-the-rim player.” Johnson takes pride in his defense and being physical, something Lendeborg has noticed as he’s had a tough time bumping Johnson off his spots. Mara, whom Lendeborg called the “tallest person I’ve ever met in my life,” has ridiculous length that can frustrate and baffle others.

“We do layup drills, and I’m trying to take a layup. I’m thinking it’s a good layup. (Mara) comes out of nowhere, blocks it, and I’m like, ‘OK. How do I score on him?’” Lendeborg said. “Morez as well. He’s a super athlete. He’s my height (6-foot-9) jumping like 40 inches off the ground. It’s been crazy.”

Tschetter, who has worn different hats throughout his Michigan career, is a 3-point threat who can space the floor and slide up and down the lineup. He’s the glue guy that every team needs and does the little things — like boxing out, setting screens and constantly communicating — that make a big difference. Goodman, who joined the team midseason last year and redshirted, is another versatile piece that allows Michigan to play big or small. Kordel is a project who has long-term potential and upside.

Then there’s Lendeborg, the do-it-all forward who can play out on the perimeter, handle the ball under pressure and operate with bigger or smaller defenders on him. He can knock down outside shots and be a playmaker in ball screens like Wolf.

“We’ve got so many guys that are versatile and can do everything, and that’s going to help us out a lot,” Johnson said. “We’re very interchangeable.”

Added Lendeborg: “We’re diverse. We have a lot of assets.”

One key to making it work is the team’s unselfishness, something that Lendeborg, Mara and May all pointed to. Everyone in the frontcourt is a willing passer and shares the game.

Lendeborg, for example, hasn’t been shooting as much in summer workouts. He’s been more focused on figuring out how to get the ball to his teammates in their spots rather than figuring out his scoring spots.

“He (Lendeborg) enjoys passing the ball. When you have a guy that’s been as publicized as Yax, if they’re selfish, they’re about numbers, if they’re about themselves, it can present a number of challenges,” May said. “With Yaxel, he’s so team-oriented that it’s been a pretty smooth transition.”

Much like Goldin and Wolf, opportunity is what drew Johnson, Lendeborg and Mara to Michigan. And seeing how Goldin and Wolf were utilized in May’s system last season also caught the trio’s attention.

Mara decided to leave UCLA after two seasons. May noted like most big men, Mara likely wasn’t physically ready as a freshman. It wasn’t until the second half of his second year with the Bruins that Mara began to emerge and come into his own.

Seven of the nine times he scored in double figures last season came in the final 16 games, including a three-game stretch in late January where he scored 22 points in 21 minutes against Wisconsin followed by back-to-back 12-point, five-block outings against Washington and USC.

“After two years, I felt like they didn’t give me an opportunity to help the team,” said Mara, who averaged 6.4 points and four rebounds in 13.1 minutes off the bench as a sophomore.

“When I went into the transfer portal, I spoke with Coach (May) a couple of times. I really liked the way (Michigan was) playing. They were a good team and won the conference (tournament). Coach told me the way that they’re playing — a lot of ball screens, ball movement — and he knows how to use the bigs, so I was really excited to come here.”

Mara added he’s comfortable playing in the high and low post and at whatever pace May wants. Given his background as a European big, he’s used to running in transition and playing in pick-and-rolls.

Despite cracking the rotation as a freshman at Illinois, Johnson felt transferring “would be better for my game overall and its longevity.” As a rim runner and bruiser in the paint, Johnson did much of his damage around the rim and was one of the best in the Big Ten at cleaning up on the offensive glass.

Johnson believes he’ll get a chance to do more and show more at Michigan, whether that’s being in more dribble handoffs, driving if a defender closes out too hard or taking catch-and-shoot 3s (he didn’t attempt a single 3-pointer in 30 games at Illinois).

“Just adding more reads to my game, instead of having just one read,” said Johnson, who averaged seven points and 6.7 rebounds in 17.6 minutes per game and set a freshman record at Illinois by shooting 64.2% from the field.

“I connected with May and (assistant coach) Akeem (Miskdeen). They’re both player coaches. They’re hands-on. I love how they focus on player development, and I love how they let their bigs play.”

For Lendeborg, Michigan and the Big Ten offer a bigger stage. After shining in the American Athletic Conference with UAB the past two seasons, he’ll look to follow Wolf’s and Goldin’s footsteps, make the high-major jump and produce at a high level.

Lendeborg was projected to be a late first-round draft pick following a stellar season where he averaged 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists, earned All-AAC first-team honors and was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. He opted to withdraw from the draft and head to Michigan, where he’ll put the feedback he received from NBA teams into action — like showing more “aggressiveness” and getting better at initiating and playing through contact, he said — and be determined to prove himself against Power Four competition.

“Seeing what Danny Wolf and Vlad were doing, coming from basically the same level as me, was great,” Lendeborg said. “The role that Wolf played, too, was something that I wanted to be a part of.”

It’s all led to this for May and the Wolverines: A new season with some new faces, but a similar feeling.

“We’re going to be the best frontcourt in the game — Big Ten, NCAA, whatever it needs to be,” Lendeborg said. “I have high hopes for us, and I feel like we’re going to do the best we can to deliver.”

LAS VEGAS— Adding four new teams to the Big Ten brought plenty of rivalry games along with them last season, but one of the most heated may be that of Michigan and Michigan State.

In two of the past three seasons, the teams have come to blows with 2022’s tunnel fight and 2024’s postgame melee, and the animosity between the teams continues to take a year-round tone. There was March’s basketball dustup at Breslin Center. And just this week, a group of Michigan players at a golf outing were already mocking their peers in East Lansing, with the usual chirps of “little brother” accompanied by pretend belting.

It will be a charged environment when Michigan comes to Spartan Stadium on Oct. 25, one that may end in dustups that have become all the more common between the schools. But the Big Ten conference is prepared for the animosity that may show up, whether it’s with this rivalry or any others in the 18-team league.

“If you take a look at what’s going on in the Big Ten, there’s so many good teams, so many good rivalries,” said Bill Carollo, the Big Ten’s coordinator of football officials. “Our antennas are up on every single game.”

The preparation for any big conference rivalry game starts with Zoom calls between the conference, officials, coaches and athletic directors. They get all parties of influence on the same page.

“Because we think there was trouble last year, there’s a good chance there’s payback this year, right?” Carollo explained. “And these are kids, and I look at a lot of seniors and they don’t care, you know, whatever their next game might be. And they’re kids. They’re 18- to 20-year-old people that make mistakes.”

After meeting with the administrators and coaches, a 100-minute meeting prepares officials to deal with the extremes. Clearing the field, dealing with threats to the stadium and, of course, if teams start fighting.

“The reality is, I really focus on how we’re going to handle a situation where there’s bad blood between the teams or the coaches,” Carollo said. “And someone says something, you know, poster board information — ‘we’re going to kick their butts.’ Well, there might be a fight later that game, and the game’s over, and if it’s lopsided, we have problems. So we prepare for the worst and hope that things are under control.”

The Paul Bunyan Trophy has set up a long-term home at Schembechler Hall as of late, with the Wolverines winning the past three games, including last year’s 24-17 nailbiter at home. Michigan State’s last win in the rivalry came in 2021, when the Spartans won a bout between two undefeated, top-10 teams.

Lost locker room doomed Maryland

There’s a sign hanging outside of the Maryland football team’s locker room, coach Mike Locksley says, that sets the ground rules for what goes on behind its closed doors.

“You can leave your Louis belts, your car keys and your financial statements outside of this locker room, because when you enter those doors, we all pay the same price for success or failure.”

Locksley didn’t hold back Tuesday, admitting that, hand-up, he lost control of his locker room last season. As NIL money and the finances of college football create a divide between “haves and have nots,” as Locksley described, the rift between his players sabotaged his team from the inside.

Locksley learned a lesson.

“That valuable lesson is important for me even in the midst of this change, to continue to educate our players on the importance of what playing for something bigger than yourself is all about,” Locksley said.

Maryland finished last season at a paltry 4-8, 1-8 in Big Ten play. It was the worst record since his 2019 debut at 3-9, 1-8, coming on the heels of massive steps forward that landed the Terrapins three straight bowl games for the first time since 2006 to 2008.

Most preseason polls rank Maryland in the bottom couple of spots in the 18-team conference, not the echelon that Locksley wants to occupy. There’s pressure on his team to win, especially with new athletic director Jim Smith at the helm after a messy split with Damon Evans.

Locksley feels it is imperative to keep his locker room this season, but that falls on his entire team to keep faith in him, too.

“With the new day and age of how everything’s going, you gotta have a brotherhood in order to be one of the best teams in college football,” linebacker Daniel Wingate said. “So being able to keep it all together, and him emphasizing the message, it really is something that helps us to continue to work together.”

Maryland starts its season against Florida Atlantic. Its toughest games are Week 10 versus Indiana and Week 12 at Illinois.

Raiola applies dad’s lessons

Dylan Raiola could’ve played anywhere when he was rated one of the top two quarterbacks in the 2024 class. At one point, he committed to Ohio State. Then he decommited for Georgia. Before signing day, Raiola flipped again this time for … Nebraska?

Yeah, that decision stumped some people, though his dad, Dominic Raiola, was a Rimington winner there at the turn of the century before a 14-year NFL career with the Lions. His uncle Donovan Raiola is an offensive line coach on Matt Rhule’s staff. The Nebraska coach wooed Dylan with a pitch that might’ve seemed counterintuitive:

“When I recruited Dylan, I said, ‘Hey, come help me turn around Nebraska football, man; it’s going to be hard,’” coach Matt Rhule said. “And doing something hard is how we can become great.”

It worked, but everything Rhule told Dylan about the difficulty of the path ahead came true his freshman season. The Cornhuskers finished 7-6, 3-6 Big Ten, with a win in the Pinstripe Bowl capping an up-and-down season. At one point, the group was 5-1 with only an overtime loss to ranked Illinois. The college football world’s eyes were wide open. And then a four-game losing streak to Rutgers, Ohio State, UCLA and USC left Nebraska listless.

“I mean, that’s about as much adversity as it comes down to,” Dylan Raiola said. “You train, you prepare so hard in the offseason and in the week to get ready for a game and you lose. You know, that sucks to happen multiple times. It’s unfortunate, but it’s a growing opportunity.”

Dylan knew what he was getting into, and so did his family. After all, his dad was the starting center on 2008’s 0-16 Lions. He gave Dylan some advice.

“He just said stay true to yourself,” Dylan said. “There’s gonna be a lot of people saying different things, but all you have is your teammates, your family, and at the end of the day, my faith is what carries me through everything. So I’m gonna stand on that. And that’s kind of just my foundation.”

Raiola and Nebraska are one of the Big Ten’s more intriguing teams this season, with the growth of Raiola and other young contributors central to fielding a more competitive group. Nebraska is fresh off its first bowl game in eight years, its first win in nine. The Cornhuskers open with a game at Cincinnati, and the regular-season slate includes games against Michigan and Penn State.

“As much as I didn’t want hard things to happen at our program, the things that coach Rhule was telling me — they happened, and I’m still here now, right?” Dylan said. “And so our team’s ready. I’m excited. We have a bunch of great dudes ready to go play this year.”

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Former Michigan football staff member Connor Stalions, whose actions triggered an NCAA investigation into sign-stealing, says he knew almost every signal opponents used in seven games over two seasons.

Stalions shared those details Saturday on social media, responding to TCU coach Sonny Dykes telling On3 that his team changed some signs in advance of its win over the Wolverines in the 2022 College Football semifinals.

“We got some favorable matchups because of that and, yeah, there was some big plays in the game,” Dykes said in the On3 report.

Stalions bristled at the latest attempt to suggest Michigan won or lost games because of his sign-stealing role with the team.

“There were 7 games in my time at Michigan where I knew almost every signal the whole game: 2021 MSU, 2022 MSU, 2022 PSU, 2022 OSU, 2022 TCU, 2021 Georgia, and 2021 Wisconsin,” Stalions wrote in his post. “We lost 3 of those games because we didn’t tackle well, and Georgia was historically good. We won the four other games because we dominated the line of scrimmage & tackled well. Blocking, ball security, tackling, run fits & coverage tools.

“That’s football. This is not rocket science.”

Nearly a year ago, the NCAA alleged in a notice relating to Michigan’s sign-stealing investigation that current coach Sherrone Moore violated rules as an assistant under former coach Jim Harbaugh, who served a three-game suspension in exchange for the Big Ten dropping its own investigation into the allegations after the two ended up in court.

Moore also was accused of deleting text messages with Stalions, before they were recovered and provided to the NCAA. Moore has said he has and will continue to cooperate with the NCAA’s investigation.

Michigan is prepared to suspend Moore for two games during the coming season. The NCAA will decide if that self-imposed sanction is enough to address allegations that Moore failed to cooperate in an investigation that rocked college football during the 2023 championship season with Harbaugh on the sideline.

The school had a hearing with the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions last month. The governing body takes three months on average for contested cases to make a final decision.

The Wolverines open the season on Aug. 30 at home against New Mexico State and then go to Oklahoma, where Moore was an offensive lineman, on Sept. 6.

The NCAA does not have rules against stealing signs, but it does prohibit schools from sending scouts to the games of future opponents and using electronic equipment to record another team’s signals. Records from other Big Ten schools showed that Stalions bought tickets to games involving future opponents, sending people to digitally record teams when they signaled plays.

Stalions initially was placed on leave by Michigan and later resigned. He did not participate in the NCAA investigation.

The NCAA previously put Michigan on three years of probation, fined the school and implemented recruiting limits after reaching a negotiated resolution in a recruiting case and banned Harbaugh from coaching college football for four years.

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On the eve of the NBA draft, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander paraded through the streets of Oklahoma City, shirtless and with a Canadian flag wrapped around his waist. Joy finally infiltrated his cool and quiet demeanor. He swaggered about, embracing being The Man, leaning into his full superstar identity: champion, deadly scorer, regular season and Finals MVP, the latest player born outside the United States to stake a claim as the best hooper in the world.

Consider the scene a prologue to the NBA story of Cooper Flagg, the 18-year-old with sky-born ability who enters the league as the new great American hope in an era ruled by international stars.

It shouldn’t matter, yet it does. The NBA is still an American league, regardless of whether its alpha star hails from New York City or French Lick, Indiana; Athens, Greece, or Sombor, Serbia. Basketball globalization has helped make the sport more lucrative, epitomized by the news last week that a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers will be sold at a record-setting $10 billion valuation. Nevertheless, this nation’s roundball ego won’t allow the game to diversify without concern that our players are losing their edge.

It’s never simply amazing that the game has grown across so many borders that Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo have driven the bus for three of the past five champions. The discourse always includes criticism that America doesn’t have sufficient representation among the best of the best.

The depth of U.S. talent remains untouchable, which is why Team USA has won five straight Olympic gold medals. But the hierarchy is changing. It’s most noticeable at the MVP level, where the award has gone to foreign-born players the past seven years. An American hasn’t finished in the top three of MVP voting since Stephen Curry placed third in 2021.

On Wednesday night, when the Dallas Mavericks made the no-brainer decision to draft Flagg No. 1 overall, he stepped into the spotlight wearing a dark blue three-piece suit and a black tie. A goatee in training decorated his face. The hairy effort only added to his boyish charm.

Flagg, who won’t turn 19 until December, has experienced hype for the past four years. He keeps proving worthy of the attention. His reputation rose to a preposterous level last summer after he impressed during scrimmages with Team USA as it prepared for the Paris Olympics. Then he went to Duke, won national player of the year as a freshman and led the Blue Devils to the Final Four.

Now in the NBA, his development will mean much to the perception of American pro ballers. It’s an unfair burden, but there’s hope that he can offset the dearth of 25-and-under American players capable of dominating the league. Anthony Edwards has MVP talent. But the other candidates, including Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, have struggled with injuries and off-court troubles.

In every generation, there are only a handful of stars who can define an era. Because the Williamson generation has yet to step forward, aging stars such as LeBron James, Curry and Kevin Durant have lingered as the standard for too long. As a result, the 35-year-old James Harden is the youngest former American MVP in the league. Jaylen Brown, 28, is the only active American Finals MVP under 30. But despite being a four-time all-star and the first NBA player to sign a $300 million contract, Brown is not a top-shelf star.

Does Flagg have the game and magnetism to be the alpha star? He might, but he’s not the once-every-two-decades prospect that James and Victor Wembanyama were. His skill set is a notch below, but with his drive and competitiveness, Flagg still might rule the league.

During a media session after Dallas selected him, a reporter asked Flagg if he will try to win a championship as a rookie. It’s a feat that a No. 1 pick hasn’t accomplished since Magic Johnson did it 45 years ago. Yet Flagg refused to admit the thought was unrealistic.

“Of course,” he said. “Of course, yeah. My mindset has always been to be a winner. So I’m going to try to win as hard as I can everywhere I go. I’m looking forward to being successful and winning a lot of games, for sure.”

As a public figure, Flagg can be robotic and a little shy. But even in those moments, you notice hints of charisma. On the court, his personality shines. He has an intensity that complements his athleticism. He’s a highlight dunk or blocked shot waiting to happen. His game defies racial stereotypes, which will enhance his marketability.

The question about the kid from Newport, Maine, has never been whether he would be a significant player. The debate centers on how big a star can be. For the sake of basketball discourse in this country, he needs to be more than the safe pick.

After Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP, ESPN led a chorus of “What’s wrong with American basketball?” Most of the conversation veered into tropes about the soft and spoiled athletes.

“Most of these successful international guys either are influenced heavily by American basketball culture, played high school ball in America, some even went to college here,” Durant wrote on X in May. “This whole convo is trash, basketball is a universal language, some people have different dialect. Some states teach the game different than other states, who says there’s a perfect way to teach the game?’”

The basketball culture has its problems. But some of the criticism lacks depth. It’s irresponsible to scream crisis when 12 of the 15 players named to the 2025 all-NBA teams were Americans. But the three others – Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic and Antetokounmpo – are the best players in the league.

And Luka Doncic probably has a couple of MVP seasons in him.

And Wembanyama is something we’ve never seen.

That’s just five international superstars, but they’re enough to take every spot-on the all-NBA first team.

When the 2024-25 season began, a record-tying 125 players from other countries made the opening night rosters. That’s about a quarter of the league. But there’s so much talent among those players that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is formulating a USA-vs.-World format at the 2026 All-Star Game.

The U.S. could use some of Flagg’s fearlessness. When Edwards was asked last season about being the face of the NBA, he declared, “That’s what they got Wemby for.” If his honesty was refreshing, his resignation was shocking. Edwards wants to hoop without responsibility. But the NBA was built on legends who welcomed the task of carrying the league.

America needs to replenish its talent at the highest tier of NBA stardom. Flagg doesn’t back down from any challenge. An entire nation now hopes his game matches his mentality.

The Michigan State hockey team is returning a lot of key pieces from a Big Ten championship-winning squad. It’s about to get even stronger.

The Spartans’ recruiting class this year includes a number of top prospects, including fourth overall draft pick Cayden Lindstrom, projected second-rounder Eric Nilson and the CHL’s leading goal scorer two seasons ago in Anthony Romani. The class may even include Gavin McKenna, the projected top pick in next year’s draft, who Michigan State is firmly in the running to commit.

Among Michigan State’s underrated additions, though, is Ryker Lee. In a draft class of heavy hitters, Lee could make an immediate impact. The 18-year-old Illinois native is the reigning USHL Rookie of the Year. He’ll also be an NHL Draft pick next week, likely early in the second round.

Lee comes to Michigan State from the USHL’s Madison Capitols, where he played one season after four years at prep school Shattuck-St. Mary’s — the same program that developed Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini, among others, and the same one where Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale cut his teeth as a head coach.

Like many of the Spartans’ recruits, Lee pledged because he wanted to play for Nightingale and his staff.

“The main thing was the coaching staff and their belief in me as a player and how they want to develop guys,” Lee told The Detroit News. “And then obviously, Michigan State is a great school with all the athletics and being a Big Ten school. Good education, it’s not too far from home. My brother also goes there, so I think just a lot of things lined up for me going there.”

Lee arrives with a reputation as a strong playmaker and scorer who is rounding out a complete game. His coach at Shattuck, Tom Ward, compared him to a mix of Cole Eiserman and Celebrini in style, and mentioned there are shades of MSU Hobey Baker winner Isaac Howard in the mix, too.

But one of Lee’s most important attributes may be his patience, especially when joining such a loaded team. It’s part of the reason why so many things have “lined up” for Lee to begin with.

Take his senior year for example. Some hockey players are constantly trying to get to the next level in a sprint. Lee certainly had his opportunity to do so when Madison offered him a roster spot right out of training camp in 2023. But Lee credits much of his success in hockey to the values he learned at Shattuck — work ethic and patience — and he decided to return for his senior year.

That extra year paid off. Once a very undersized player for his age group, Lee hit a growth spurt that took him to his current 6-foot stature. His playmaking and scoring were honed with the disadvantage of being smaller than everyone else. Both areas grew more confidence as Lee could hang physically with anyone on the ice.

“He was going from the littlest guy to a regular-sized guy, which is great for him because he’s got a good game,” Ward told The News. “He’s a great kid, and it was just a matter of time. He had to be patient.”

“That was a question mark — I think for everybody — when he was younger,” Madison coach Andy Brandt told The News, “was just what was his size going to end up being? We all know now that he sprouted up near 6 feet tall, although slight. He’s a competitive hockey player that still wins battles. I think again, if you’re looking at the biggest improvement for him, it’s going to probably come off the ice in terms of developing some muscle mass.”

When he finally did get to Madison, Lee made an outsized impact. He led his team with 31 goals and 68 points, fourth-most in the USHL.

“When he has the talent that he has, he garners respect from his teammates right away because they see how talented he is,” Brandt said. “I think where Ryker separates himself is his work ethic along with his skill and what he can do. He’s the hardest worker. He’s one of the most communicative guys we had. He drove energy for our practices because he enjoyed being on the ice. He’s a special player in that regard.”

That’s pretty much the M.O. for a Nightingale recruit, but the Michigan State coach didn’t promise anything to win Lee over. In fact, it was the opposite that helped seal the deal.

Lee’s commitment came with no guarantees of ice time or role from Nightingale. Both have likely dipped with every commitment that joins his class. But in reality, that’s one of the other areas that attracted Lee to Michigan State.

“A lot of times, teams will try to recruit you and promise you things,” Lee said. “They don’t do that at Michigan State, and I like that. I think you gotta go in and you gotta earn everything.”

Lee’s track record suggests that won’t be a problem. He played for Shattuck and Madison programs that had other top players, and he fit in well. His personality helps him fit in with an established unit. His coaches suggest he isn’t one to come into a room and make demands or alienate himself, but he also isn’t a pushover begging to fit in. He exists comfortably within himself, and that benefits him joining a culture that’s well intact with a number of strong leaders in the mix.

“He knows he’s gotta go there and just shut up and do his job and earn respect from these guys,” Ward said. “But at the same time, he’s not going to back down. He’s not going to kowtow to these guys. … He’s going to go in there and earn a spot and earn ice time. And if guys aren’t ready to go compete with them, they should be ready because he’s a competitive little guy, and he likes the puck, and he wants to go get it.”

That mentality is important when joining a Michigan State team that has so many key returners driven by a distinct mission to make up for last postseason’s early exit. Lee understands what drives Michigan State’s locker room. He sees it as an opportunity for him to learn.

“I think it’s a good thing that we have a lot of guys coming back and older guys that can kind of show me the way and lead the way, and I can learn a lot from them as people,” Lee said. “But also, they’re great players. So it’s going to be fun to play with them and chase that goal of winning a national championship. I know that they’re going to come back with a bad taste in their mouth, and, yeah, I want to win, too.”

The post Legislation would give protections to Michigan college athletes seeking name, image, likeness deals appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

A local politician is pushing back against the NCAA’s latest rules regarding college athletes’ name, image and likeness rights.

State Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit, introduced House Bill 4643 to prevent colleges and athletic departments from blocking student-athletes from profiting off NIL.

“House Bill 4643 really specifies that no entity has the right to be able to prohibit a student-athlete from executing a contract involving their name, image and likeness,” Tate said.

The bill prohibits universities from upholding any limitations on an athlete’s NIL rights; from complying with investigations into agency agreements, NIL agreements, NIL compensation, or NIL activities; and from reporting any NIL information to an athletic association such as the NCAA.

House Bill 4643 also prohibits the NCAA and other athletic associations from punishing an athlete or university for issues related to NIL rights, or from requiring either party to report NIL information.

The bill comes in the wake of the June 6 approval of the House v. NCAA settlement by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken. The settlement allows college athletic programs to directly compensate athletes with revenue sharing beginning July 1. A sum of nearly $2.8 billion in damages will also be distributed to athletes who competed over the past decade. But a key change in the aftermath of the settlement is the creation of an NIL clearinghouse — NIL Go, run by Deloitte.

NIL Go requires athletes to report all deals worth more than $600. It was created by the College Sports Commission, a new group tasked with enforcing NCAA regulations.

The goal of establishing NIL Go is to limit the participation of NIL collectives in pay-to-play, which has become a growing problem in college athletics according to coaches and administrators. However, as Tate points out, limiting these NIL opportunities is an issue of state law.

“We’ve seen already up to this point with the settlement outcomes,” said Tate, himself a former Michigan State offensive lineman from 2000-03, “that there are conflicts with the Michigan statute that we do have on the books allowing student-athletes to take advantage of their name, image and likeness while they are at the university that they participate in as a student.”

That previous statute, Public Act 366 of 2020, paved the way for student-athletes to profit off NIL in the state of Michigan, as a number of other states also approved at a similar time when the NCAA’s rules on NIL rights changed. House Bill 4643 would reaffirm the state’s position while addressing ways in which athletes’ NIL rights might be limited.

Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National College Players Association, noted that the House settlement itself directly stated that the settlement’s outcomes do not overrule state law.

“That’s why it remains important for states to adopt NIL laws that grant college athletes and recruits robust freedoms and protections,” Huma said. “However, I’ve seen media reports about conferences attempting to pressure universities to agree to violate their own state NIL law if they conflict with NCAA and conference NIL restrictions. It’s my sincere hope that this is not true, as it would threaten college athletes’ rights and ultimately lead to new lawsuits.”

Limiting NIL deals is unfair to student-athletes in the eyes of some detractors, including Dr. Tom Dieters, a former MSU baseball player who is now president of NIL deal-cutter Charitable Gift America.

“If a school is to allow Deloitte to determine a student’s fair market value, it completely goes against capitalism,” Dieters said. “School administrators and coaches are very quick to negotiate their own seven-figure contracts without a third party determining their value, and students should have those exact same rights.”

The path forward may see friction between individual states and the NCAA as new NIL regulations go into effect. This bill may be the first step of many in Michigan’s pushback against NIL limitations.

“Speaking as a state legislator around legislation that was passed, that’s the law of the land, the law of our state,” Tate said. “I think that is something that we would continue to address too, if we see those explicit conflicts with the NCAA in particular, trying to essentially punish student-athletes for something that is their right here in the state of Michigan.”

It’s going to take a while longer for one of Michigan State basketball’s transfers to make his Spartan debut.

Kaleb Glenn, who transferred to Michigan State from Florida Atlantic in April, suffered a right knee injury and was expected to undergo season-ending surgery on Thursday, the program announced Wednesday.

The 6-foot-7 wing was injured during a non-contact team workout on Monday. He’s expected to redshirt this upcoming season and will retain two years of NCAA eligibility.

“I feel terrible for Kaleb and for his family but we will be with them throughout this process,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said in a statement. “It’s awful that this happened just a couple of weeks after he got here in East Lansing and was working out with the guys and getting to know them.”

Glenn came as a needed addition to the Spartans’ forward rotation, one that lost Frankie Fidler to graduation and Xavier Booker to the transfer portal. He was an AAU teammate of starting point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., which had both players excited about the prospects of a reunion. Glenn averaged 12.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in his sophomore season at FAU after playing his freshman season at Louisville.

“In just a short time with us since he committed, we have really enjoyed having him and his family as part of our program,” Izzo said. ”We’re going to do everything that we can to support him and get him back on the floor.”

Glenn’s injury creates a hole in Michigan State’s lineup long after the transfer portal has closed. If Michigan State is seeking internal solutions, it might lean heavily on its returners to make up the difference, particularly Jaxon Kohler and Coen Carr.

The Wolverines and coach Dusty May went the international route to add what’s likely the final piece of their 2025 recruiting class.

Malick Kordel, a 7-foot center from Germany, has signed with Michigan, the program announced in a social media post on Friday.

Kordel visited Ann Arbor during the 2024-25 season and attended Michigan’s rivalry game against Michigan State on Feb. 21 at Crisler Center. He reportedly visited Iowa and Xavier during the winter and also received interest from Butler and Villanova.

Kordel, 21, primarily played with the Frankfurt Skyliners’ junior squad that competes in the German ProB, a third-tier pro basketball league in Germany. At that level, he averaged 11.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots in 24.2 minutes per game. He went 71.7% from the field (104-for-145) across 22 games, but only made 51.3% of his free throws (41-for-80).

Kordel, who grew up playing handball and didn’t start playing basketball competitively until 2021, joins a group of incoming freshmen that includes McDonald’s All-American Trey McKenney, four-star recruits Winters Grady and Oscar Goodman (early enrollee), and three-star wing Patrick Liburd.

Coupled with Michigan’s four transfer additions — Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina), Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois), Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB) and Aday Mara (UCLA) — Kordel will be the ninth new face on the roster for the 2025-26 season.

Given how deep Michigan already is in the frontcourt with 7-footer Mara, Johnson, Lendeborg and Will Tschetter, minutes might be hard to come by for Kordel, a raw prospect who has upside but will need time to develop and adjust to the college game.

TRAVERSE CITY — There’s a lot riding on J Batt to be successful as Michigan State’s new athletic director. At the very least, a lot of money.

At its Friday meeting in Traverse City’s Kirkbride Hall, Michigan State’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve Batt’s six-year contract as athletic director, carrying an average of $2.1 million in base salary. The board also approved a $192 million athletic department budget that includes a $12 million loan to cover student-athlete revenue sharing, tasking Batt with making progress to balance the athletic department budget.

“Most athletics departments’ budgets are in the red to some degree,” MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz told The Detroit News, “and we’re very confident that this will be covered through some existing resource that we have in reserve, and most likely through fundraising efforts.”

Batt, 43, will be paid $1.85 million in his first year at Michigan State, with incremental raises each year up to $2.35 million his sixth year. in total, Batt’s contract totals $12.6 million and begins Tuesday, June 17, and runs through June 2031.

Guskiewicz himself makes $975,000 in base salary as MSU president, as well as $150,000 in deferred compensation each year. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel makes a base salary of $1.9 million, which rises to $2.4 million with deferred compensation. Western Michigan athletic director Dan Bartholomae makes $340,000 in base salary.

Batt has been an athletic administrator for more than 14 years, including stops at Maryland, East Carolina, Alabama and most recently Georgia Tech, where he ran the athletic department since 2022 until his June 2 hire by Michigan State. He’s a graduate of North Carolina, where he played soccer and overlapped with Guskiewicz. Batt comes as a well-regarded revenue generator and fundraiser. He is also a member of the House Settlement Implementation Committee, tasked with plotting out the new era of college athletics after the approval last week of the House v. NCAA settlement that approves revenue sharing with student athletes and removes scholarship limits for student athletes.

When he introduced Batt at a press conference June 4, Guskiewicz asserted that he told search firm TurnkeyZRG he wanted to hire a top athletic director nationally. Batt was at the top of the list, and Michigan State paid a hefty sum to bring him to East Lansing.

But Batt’s salary isn’t the only cost Michigan State paid to make a leadership change. The cost of Batt’s contract comes in addition to an estimated $1.3 million to buy out the remaining 16 months on the contract of former AD Alan Haller, who Guskiewicz terminated May 1 before embarking on a month-long search for a replacement. That search, conducted by TurnkeyZRG, cost the university $160,000. The university also has to pay Batt’s buyout to Georgia Tech, which is $2,002,380.95. If that is determined to be compensation and thus taxable, MSU will cover Batt’s tax obligations on that payout, as well.

And that’s just the start of Michigan State’s investment in Batt. After the House settlement last week approved revenue sharing for college athletes, Michigan State’s latest $192 million athletics budget for fiscal year 2026 allotted $20 million for revenue sharing, a budget also approved by a unanimous board vote. The athletic department is receiving an internal loan of more than $12 million to bridge the gap between a current deficit and the arrival of increased media rights and sponsorship revenue in 2027. The loan is expected to be paid back by the athletic department later.

Before he even officially begins his tenure as Michigan State’s athletic director, Batt already has a lot weighing on his ability to fundraise and generate revenue. Michigan State leadership is confident in his ability to deliver.

“We have a lot of faith in J,” MSU Board of Trustees chair Kelly Tebay told The News. “We’re super excited for him to start, and we’re hoping that over the course of the next few years, that he really strengthens the athletics department budget. I think that’s one thing when we brought him in was the amount of fundraising that he did at Georgia Tech was very impressive.”

It takes money to make money, but the investment is a steep expense for a university whose budget is already in a crunch thanks to continued federal cuts. Michigan State’s latest budget, approved unanimously, cut expenses 9% and raised tuition 4.5% in order to combat millions in lost revenue in the form of federal funding and grants. The cuts come as the state House passed a bill outlining millions of dollars in cuts to taxpayer money going toward Michigan universities, including a proposed $237.4 million cut for Michigan State

So where exactly does Michigan State expect its athletic department to draw the extra money from? Some of it will be generated by Batt himself through good old-fashioned fundraising, but some also will come from traditional revenue streams of TV deals and sponsorships. In July 2023, Big Ten member schools signed a seven-year, $7 billion media rights deal with Fox. Guskiewicz said there will be increased revenue from that deal.

“In order to have a top-tier athletics program — you heard J Batt say it, we are top 10, and we will be top 10 — we have to get creative around new sources of revenue,” Guskiewicz said. “And J is an expert in that. We also are fortunate to have a very good media deal that was secured for the Big Ten a few years ago. And we’re going to see increased revenue coming in from that over the next few years. And, again, there will be a new day with regard to fundraising for sport and athletics.”

“College athletics is changing aggressively,” Tebay said. “And I think we have to really stay on top of that in order to make sure our student athletes have the best possible experience at MSU.”

Batt has hit the ground running to make his mark in fundraising. Before Michigan State could even formally introduce him June 4, he was making calls to donors.

“We have a new athletics director who’s one of the nation’s very best in fundraising, and so we will soon be in the black,” Guskiewicz said. “I’m very confident in that, given that J Batt is committed to connecting with our donor base, which he’s already started doing over the past 10 days.”

Batt’s contract, signed by Guskiewicz on June 12, also includes a $5 million buyout for his first two contract years, lowered to $4 million in his third year, $3 million in his fourth year and $2 million in his fifth. If Batt leaves Michigan State in the final year of his contract, he owes no buyout.

Predecessor Alan Haller’s contract was laden with predetermined bonuses for regular-season and postseason success of his teams. Batt’s contract says he and Guskiewicz will outline performance goals annually, on or before June 20. Batt also will be reimbursed for his relocation to East Lansing.

Staff writer Tony Paul contributed

Michigan State has reached a key step in the NCAA’s investigation into violations the university self-reported.

According to the NCAA’s Division I infractions dashboard, Michigan State has received a notice of allegations for self-reported violations dating to August 2023. Only Level I and II violations are tracked by the dashboard.

NCAA enforcement deals with three levels of violations. Level III violations (“secondary” violations) are the lowest tier and are usually processed by enforcement staff itself, usually resulting in minimal penalties. Level I and II violations are more severe, submitted to the Committee on Infractions. Michigan State’s violations fall into the latter category, though The Detroit News is unable to confirm the exact level.

The Detroit News reached out to a Michigan State spokesperson for comment.

Michigan State president Kevin Guskiewicz told The Detroit News on April 2 that the university was under investigation for recruiting violations during the tenure of football coach Mel Tucker. The News has not verified whether that is the same violation referenced by the NCAA infractions dashboard, though the timelines match.

“We’re trying to make the case that this is a whole new coaching staff,” Guskiewicz told The News’ editorial board, referring to Jonathan Smith, who was named MSU’s head football coach Nov. 25, 2023.

Tucker became Michigan State’s 25th head football coach in February 2020, but left embroiled in scandal in September 2023 after rape survivor and activist Brenda Tracy filed a sexual harassment claim with Michigan State. The university terminated Tucker’s record-breaking 10-year, $95 million contract, saying that he violated a “moral turpitude.” Tucker is suing Michigan State in federal court for wrongful termination, while Tracy is suing Tucker in civil court for defamation.

The NCAA’s investigation into these self-reported violations began Aug. 29, 2023, as a result of Michigan State’s self-report. After more than a year of document requests and interviews, NCAA enforcement held a review board Nov. 6, 2024. Michigan State selected its initial resolution method — a written-record hearing — Dec. 13, 2024, before the NCAA approved this selection Jan. 23 following a meeting with Committee on Infractions chair Kay Norton.

Once given a notice of allegations, one of four resolutions can occur. If a school agrees with the investigation and accepts its findings and corresponding penalties, the case is closed via negotiated resolution. If a school agrees with the facts and level of violations but not classification or penalties, it can proceed via summary disposition. If a school disagrees with the investigation, it can request a hearing in front of the Committee on Infractions. Or, if there is “limited disagreement” between a school and NCAA enforcement, the case can proceed in a written record hearing.

Michigan State’s selection of a written record hearing means it accepted some of the NCAA investigation’s facts, violations or level of violation found. As part of this process, involved parties submit allegations, their level of agreement and remaining issues with written submissions to the Committee on Infractions. According to the NCAA website, the committee will focus on the contested portions of the case and decide violations and penalties on the written record. After deliberation of the written record, the committee will determine whether violations occurred and prescribe penalties.

Schools have 90 days to respond in writing to a notice of allegations, though extensions may be provided. According to the NCAA website, the notice of allegations is provided to institutional officials such as a school’s president, athletic director, compliance director and faculty athletics representative, as well as those “at risk for involvement in violations” including head coaches and other staffers.

Schools have the right to appeal decisions to the Infractions Appeals Committee. According to the NCAA, this committee affirms whether information in the record supports what the Committee on Infractions decided. In the case that the appeals committee decides that “no reasonable person” could have made the Committee on Infractions’ decision, then the appeals committee may set aside the previous decision.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Jenissa Conway drove in the first run with a double in the top of the sixth inning and Lauren Derkowski and Erin Hoehn combined on a three-hitter as the eighth-seeded Michigan Wolverines completed an improbable run to the Big Ten Tournament championship with a 2-0 victory over the second-seeded UCLA Bruins on Saturday.

The Wolverines (38-19) advanced to the title game with a 5-0 victory over the No. 1 seed Oregon Ducks in the quarterfinals and a 4-2 semifinal win over the tournament host and 12th-seeded Purdue Boilermakers. It was Michigan’s second straight Big Ten tourney title and its 12th overall.

Indiana Langford started the rally for Michigan when she singled off UCLA starter Addisen Fisher (16-2) and took second on an error by left fielder Rylee Slimp. Conway plated Langford when she doubled to center and Ella Stephenson added an insurance run with a two-out infield single after Conway took third on a groundout.

Derkowski (17-12) allowed three hits and two walks in five innings. Hoehn entered after Derkowski issued a walk to Jordan Woolery leading off the sixth. Hoehn retired all six batters she faced.

The Bruins advanced to the final after a 4-2 victory over third-seeded Nebraska in the semifinals.

Michigan won its only softball title in 2005. They were runners-up in 2015. The Wolverines have appeared in 12 Women’s College World Series in 30 previous NCAA Tournament appearances.

UCLA (49-10) was playing in its third straight conference tournament final in its first season in the Big Ten with the previous two coming while the Bruins were members of the Pac-12.

UCLA has won 13 NCAA softball championships — most recently in 2019 — as well as being runners-up seven times. The Bruins have advanced to the WCWS in 33 of 40 tournament appearances.

There’s always a benefit to familiarity with a coach, even if that familiarity is based on shared geography.

Hailing from the same place as his new coach, Treyvon Lewis — one of the stars of Ferndale High School’s most recent surge to state prominence in basketball — has committed to play for the Western Michigan Broncos men’s basketball squad coached by Dwayne Stephens, one of the stars of Ferndale’s last run.

Western Michigan announced the transfer portal move earlier this week.

“We are excited to add Trey to our program,” Stephens said in a news release. “He is a true two-way player who can defend and make shots at a high level. He’s from the state of Michigan, and we are ready for the immediate impact he will have on our program in all areas, both on and off the court.”

A Mr. Basketball finalist his senior year at Ferndale, the 6-foot-6 Lewis spent the first three seasons of his college career outside his home state, redshirting at Loyola Chicago in 2022-23, then playing in 10 games in his redshirt freshman season, before transferring to Purdue Fort Wayne last season.

He played in all 32 games for the Mastodons last year, averaging 4.7 point and 1.2 rebounds per connect, scoring in double figures in league road wins over Green Bay and Milwaukee.

A four-year varsity player for Ferndale in high school, Lewis led the Eagles to four straight district championships, and two straight final four appearances in Division 2 his final two years as a prep player. He was rated by 247Sports as the top recruit in Michigan as a senior, and a three-star recruit overall.

He was first-team Division 2 All-State as e senior, when he averaged 23 points per game, and finished fifth in the Mr. Basketball voting, behind eventual winner Chansey Willis Jr., a junior on last year’s Broncos squad, which went 12-20, 9-9 in the Mid-American Conference, losing in the first round of the conference tourney.

The Broncos have also signed transfers Jalen Griffith (Navarro College) and Hudson Ward (Penn State), adding to a recruiting class that included Sharod Barnes (Orchard Lake St. Mary’s), Brady Swartz (Grand Rapids Northview), Camden Thompson (Whitehall) and Carson Vis (Grand Rapids South Christian).

A day after Michigan State announced its plan to move on from Alan Haller, the outgoing athletic director released a statement on his impending departure Friday.

In the statement, Haller alluded to a rift between himself and people in “positions of significant influence” that caused his firing.

“Throughout my career, I have consistently spoken up when I believed something was not right—always guided by a commitment to protect students and uphold the best interests of the University. At times, those decisions have not aligned with individuals in positions of significant influence,” Haller wrote.

Haller’s statement was released through Blanchard & Walker, PLLC, based in Ann Arbor.

Haller, 54, has been Michigan State’s athletic director since September 2021. On Thursday, Michigan State announced his last day will be May 11.

Haller says he is “proud” of his record as an athletic director. That includes bringing on a number of the school’s current coaches, including football coach Jonathan Smith, women’s basketball coach Robyn Fralick and hockey coach Adam Nightingale.

“Although I am deeply saddened to be leaving the University, I am proud of my record and the lasting impact of my work,” Haller’s statement continued. “As I continue to process this decision, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Spartan community for their unwavering support.”

Haller, a Lansing native and J.W. Sexton High School graduate, ran track at Michigan State and played football for coach George Perles from 1988 to 1991 before a brief NFL career spent mostly playing special teams. He returned to East Lansing after his football career, joining Michigan State’s Department of Police and Public Safety for 13 years.

In 2010, Haller stepped into an associate athletic director role with the athletic department. Before that, he had served on the committee that hired Mark Dantonio to coach football in 2006. In 2015, he earned a promotion to senior associate athletic director and became chief of staff in 2017. In 2021, Haller succeeded Bill Beekman as athletic director as his predecessor stepped into a role in the MSU president’s office.

“Serving as Vice President and Director of Athletics at Michigan State University has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” Haller said. “For 32 years, I have been a Spartan — first as a student-athlete in track and football, then as a Police Officer, and later in various leadership roles within Spartan Athletics.

“To the student-athletes: THANK YOU for allowing me the privilege of serving as your athletic director. It has been an incredible journey — and yes, it has been FUN! Supporting your success has never been just a job; it was my responsibility and my joy to help create an environment where you could thrive and become the best version of yourselves.”

Haller navigated multiple scandals with Michigan State, including the fallout of the 2022 Michigan-Michigan State tunnel fight that saw seven Spartan football players face criminal charges. In his first year as athletic director, Haller signed former football coach Mel Tucker to a 10-year, $95 million extension that made him the highest paid Black coach in college football history. Michigan State did not have to pay the full contract after firing Tucker for cause amid a sexual misconduct scandal after rape survivor and activist Brenda Tracy accused him of sexual harassing her over the phone in April 2022.

Haller was also associate athletic director in 2014, when the first of more than 300 claims of sexual abuse against former gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar came to light. Michigan State paid a $500 million settlement, while Nasser was sentenced to life in prison.

Michigan State is currently under an NCAA investigation for recruiting violations during the Tucker era, The Detroit News reported April 2.

“I am deeply grateful to my colleagues who stood alongside me,” Haller continued. “Together, we navigated some of the most difficult challenges in our history and celebrated some of our most meaningful victories. Leading Spartan Athletics through both has been a highlight of my professional life. My parents taught me that our actions should always be motivated by love. Serving this University and this community has been, for me, an act of love. I remain a proud Spartan.”

Haller’s departure comes at a pivotal time in college athletics. A number of changes shaped Haller’s time at Michigan State, including the advent of the transfer portal, as well as name, image and likeness (NIL) rights for athletes.

With the ongoing House v. NCAA settlement putting into effect roster limits and the distribution of $20.5 million in revenue sharing, President Kevin Guskiewicz says the university is seeking a successor who “can best navigate the changing landscape of collegiate athletics while working closely with both internal and external stakeholders to move Michigan State forward as a leader among the Power Four institutions.”

The past three seasons have seen a downturn for Michigan State football with a combined 14-22 record, including a 5-7 (3-6 Big Ten) finish in Smith’s first season leading the Spartans. As the athletic department’s biggest sport, national competitiveness in that sport is a major priority.

One of the criticisms of Haller as an athletic director was Michigan State’s ineffectiveness in raising funds for NIL, an area that has affected recruiting in the school’s biggest sports of football and men’s basketball.

Tom Izzo, who will serve as co-interim athletic director alongside deputy athletic director Jennifer Smith, led the men’s basketball team to a 30-7 record, 17-3 conference record and a Big Ten championship before marching to the Elite Eight with a team driven by depth over star power.

Friday, Michigan State donor Jim Heos told WILX Channel 10 that while he liked Haller as an athletic director, he saw weakness in how Michigan State approached the modern college sports landscape under Haller’s guidance.

“I’m not surprised given the trajectory of the level of giving to the athletic department, Heos said. “All you gotta do is look at what’s going on with players that are coming via the transfer portal. It just seems like we can’t compete because we don’t have enough money.”

ANN ARBOR — Michigan’s Fred Richard and Paul Juda finished first and second in the all-around and Wolverines team total of 332.224 edged them past five-time defending champion Stanford (332.961) on Saturday to win their first NCAA men’s gymnastics title since 2014.

Juda, the individual champion on the parallel bars with a score of 14.200 and host Michigan’s last competitor of the day, scored a 13.966 on the vault to clinch the program’s seventh national title. The Wolverines finished second, 5.635 points behind Stanford, at the 2024 championships.

Oklahoma finished third with 327.891, ahead of Nebraska (326.222), Penn State (317.258) and Illinois was sixth with 316.293. Penn State and Oklahoma each hold a record 12 national titles.

Stanford’s Asher Hong took home the individual title in the floor exercise (14.600) and defended his crown with a score of 14.433 on the rings. Patrick Hoopes of Air Force scored a 14.833 to win the horse championship, Ohio State’s Kameron Nelson (14.633) won the vault title and Emre Dodanli claimed the high bar championship for Oklahoma with a score of (13.833).

Richard and Juda won bronze medals for Team USA at the Paris Olympics.