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I hope you are all enjoying your holiday weekend. This past week, I posted a handful of surveys in The Feed. There were a few pertaining to basketball, one on football, and one on the general level of fan engagement in the new world we live in. Some of our questions were looking back on […]
The Only Colors recently completed a series of articles analyzing the four-member recruiting class that Tom Izzo is bringing to the Breslin in 2026-27. We now shift our attention down Shaw Lane to Spartan Stadium. New Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald will have a 21-player haul for his first recruiting class, many of whom were recruited […]
When a program hires a new football coach, the first high school recruiting class – the class of 2026 in this case – is more a reflection of the previous staff. The new coach is often just trying to hold the group together and hang on to commitments. Here, the real value of the new […]
Happy Monday, TOC! Men’s Baseball will be the No. 12 seed in the 2026 Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament that starts Tuesday, May 19 in Omaha, Nebraska. They’ll open against No. 5 Purdue at 10AM EST on Tuesday in the double-elimination tournament. Men’s Golf will see two seniors, Caleb Bond and Ashton McCulloch, play in […]
MSU recently released some football schedule news with various night games and future opponents. This got us thinking at TOC about Batt’s fundraising and planned changes for Sparta. There was some recent conversations about Spartan Stadium and the surrounding areas so let’s take a closer look and we look forward to the open discussions that […]
We had another amazing voter turn-out this past week for the two survey questions I popped up in The Feed. Sorry, there is no sarcasm font when writing articles. Seriously, TOC Nation, please start paying attention to that part of the home page. I know it is the offseason, but we are still trying to […]
Like Carlos Medlock Jr., Ethan Taylor spent his senior season of high school at Link Academy. To better understand Taylor’s high school accomplishments and how they might translate to Michigan State, we thought it might be helpful to first take a quick look at Link Academy and where it fits into the high school basketball […]
Happy Monday, TOC! Men’s Tennis saw head coach Harry Jadun step aside after four years at head coach to pursue opportunties outside of coaching. Jadun led Michigan State to the #1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and would go on to win another championship in a great season. Assistant coach Mike Flowers has been […]
Happy Sunday, TOC Nation. And a happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas out there, especially Dorothy Izzo. This past week, I posted a couple of surveys in The Feed. I’ll take this opportunity to remind you all that moving forward, that is where weekly survey questions are going to be found, so please make […]
Next up on TOC’s 2026 recruits is power forward Julius Avent. Avent is a 4-star power forward and number 87 in 247 Sports’ composite rankings as he dropped three spots this past week. Avent seems like the perfect Izzo guy. He’s got a strong frame and plays physical. He’s 6-7 and 220 pounds with a […]
Hello TOC Nation. I wanted to drop a quick article to make sure everyone is aware of a few things. 1. In case you missed it last week, Lucas Holubar is no longer writing for TOC. We are looking for someone who can join the writing team in August to take over the “Film Room” […]
Happy Monday, TOC. Last week, we said goodbye to Lucas, who is getting ready to begin life as an MSU student and assistant coach on Pat Fitzgerald’s staff. Robbie took a deep dive on Jasiah Jervis while we graded the Anton Bonke commitment and considered the greatest Spartan comebacks of all time. Meanwhile, in MSU […]
I am admittedly stealing the idea for this article from Jeremy Reisman over on the Detroit Lions’ site. They do a great job over there with their Lions coverage, and imitation is the greatest form of flattery. On Friday night, the Detroit Pistons made history. Facing elimination in Game 6 of the opening round of […]
Earlier this week, I asked TOC Nation to grade the Anton Bonke transfer portal commitment. The results were quite definitive, with just a tick under 70% giving this move a B. Going into the offseason, it was common knowledge that Tom Izzo needed to grab a center from the portal to solidify the roster for […]
For all the bickering I did last month about Izzo and the transfer portal, you won’t hear me complaining about this incoming freshman class. You may have heard, but newcomer Jasiah Jervis has officially been bumped up to a 5-star in 247 Sports’ composite rankings and is one spot away from being a Top 25 […]
Nearly a year ago, as I wrapped up my first year as a college student, I sent an unprompted email to the TOC editors’ address. I included my resume, and a brief message that sounded a little bit like this: Growing up, I was the kid who didn’t just wear his favorite team’s gear but […]
This past weekend saw Matt Gulbin and Ryan Eckley get picked in the sixth round of the NFL Draft while several other Spartans signed undrafted free agent deals. We also began our preview series featuring new MSU hoopers, starting with Carlos Medlock Jr. and Anton Bonke. While all of this was going on, there were […]
The end of the 7th round is not the end of the scramble for players for the 32 NFL franchises. As soon as Mr. Irrelevant is picked at #257, another round of recruiting begins as general managers pick up the phones to invite hundreds of undrafted players to sign free agent contracts, basically offering them […]
After Lucas’ look at Carlos Medlock Jr. on Friday, we’re continuing our preview series of new basketball players with a look at the Spartans’ only transfer (at least so far) for 2026-27: Anton Bonke. Bonke’s background is pretty interesting. He was born in the Netherlands but moved with his mother to Port Vila, Vanuatu, when […]
On day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft, a pair of former Michigan State football players heard their names called as they were selected to join NFL franchises. With the 28th pick of the 6th round, #209 overall, center Matt Gulbin was drafted by the Washington Commanders. Two picks later, at #211, punter Ryan Eckley […]
As the off-season rolls along in the world of Michigan State Athletics (namely basketball, football, and ice hockey), here at TOC we will be kicking off a series individually previewing each of MSU Basketball’s incoming group of recruits. Head Coach Tom Izzo’s 32nd recruiting class of his Hall of Fame career will play no small […]
Yesterday, the Michigan State Men’s Basketball Team announced that Divine Ugochukwu was leaving the team and entering the transfer portal. At TOC, we were getting ready to write an article comparing the amount of portal defections among all the Big Ten schools as we expected to have a big zero next to our name. So […]
On3 broke the latest MSU Basketball news just a few minutes ago. It is still not on MSU’s social media or website, but the above post convinces me that this is legitimate news. From the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, Anton Bonke stands 7’2” tall and weighs 270 pounds. Obviously, he brings some tremendous […]
The transfer portal window for men’s basketball closed last night at 12:00 AM. Sometime before the clock struck midnight, MSU guard Divine Ugochukwu decided to drop his name into the portal, per a report on On3. Ugo played for MSU for one injury-shortened season after spending his freshman season with the Miami Hurricanes. In his […]
The 2026 NFL Draft is set to take place Thursday through Saturday, April 23-25, in Pittsburgh, PA. The event begins with Round 1 on Thursday, continues with Rounds 2 and 3 on Friday, and concludes with Rounds 4-7 on Saturday. This year, if you’re watching to see a Spartan get drafted, you’ll probably be waiting […]