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With the NBA draft quickly approaching and college superstars throwing their hats into the big money ring, the focus on incoming recruiting classes has become a hot topic. Perennial Midwest powerhouse Michigan State has gotten its fair share of buzz about one incoming freshman in particular, Gary Harris.
(This is a collaboration between Ngozi Ekeledo and Paul M. Banks)
Meet Hooters girl Sarah Hinton, a Michigan State graduate who was a finalist for Miss Hooters 2012. She’s also the girlfriend of possible NFL Draft pick (a late round prospect) tight end Garrett Celek (his brother Brent Celek plays tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles).
Pics and video after the jump
NBA legend Magic Johnson sits down with CNN anchor Zoraida Sambolin to talk HIV, Trayvon Martin, Dodgers, the new Broadway show “Magic/Bird” and his relationship with Larry Bird.
The 2012 NBA Draft figures to consist of a deeper, more talented group of prospects that the 2011 class. Team needs HAVE been taken into consideration with this 2012 NBA mock draft and the order is based off the current NBA standings. Click on the players’ name for a complete, in-depth scouting report. Check out The Sports Bank’s NFL Mock Draft as well.
(By the way, The Sports Bank was graded as the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft on the web.)
Check out our ridiculously early 2013 NBA Mock Draft.
UPDATED: 4/9/12
If you are like me and already have a post-college basketball NCAA Tournament depression; fear not. The Sports Bank has already released our preseason Top 25 for the 2012-2013 season which you can check out by clicking here. Now it is time for an insanely early Bracketology, projecting what the 2013 NCAA Tournament field might look like.
Michigan State center Derrick Nix has been suspended indefinitely by head coach Tom Izzo following a drug arrest early this morning.
The State News, MSU’s student newspaper, reported that the junior was arrested at 12:20 a.m. Tuesday morning in East Lansing “on charges of operating a vehicle with the presence of drugs and marijuana possession,” the paper reported.
With the Kentucky Wildcats cutting down the nets last night, we can officially close the book on the 2011-2012 college basketball season. Hoop junkies like myself are already looking ahead to next season so allow me to present to you my way too early 2012-2013 preseason Top 25.
There are still several factors that could alter a teams roster between now and the start of next season. Some of the top players are still debating on whether or not to enter the NBA Draft, some teams will lose players to transfer, and five McDonald’s All-Americans remain undecided on their college decision including the top two recruits in the 2012 class; Shabazz Muhammad and Nerlens Noel.
So here is my preliminary preseason Top 25. I will updated these rankings once the NBA Draft early entries list is complete and Muhammaed and Noels make their college decision. Leave a comment below if you think a team is too high, too low, not getting enough respect, or if you notice an error in a projected roster. (Click here for my way too early preseason rankings from last season.)
Here are teams 16-25 in my 2012-2013 preseason college basketball Top 25 and other teams who just missed the cut.
As the first #1 seed to bow out of the NCAA tournament, the Michigan State Spartans can only look at all the improvements they made this season and see success.
The team finished with the number one SOS, 12 top-50 RPI wins, 16 top-100 RPI wins and 12 road/neutral wins in the nation’s top conference. They went from being unranked at the beginning of the season to earning a top seed in the post-season—if that’s not the true mark of improvement, then what is? [Read more...]
Michigan State has reached the sweet sixteen in 10 of the last 15 years. Tom Izzo is Mr. March as every player he’s recruited that has stayed in East Lansing all four years has reached at least one Final Four. Remember that whenever you fill out your brackets in future years.
The Big Ten is 9-2 in the tourney so far and comprises one fourth of the sweet sixteen. Purdue was inches away from possibly making it five teams, and 10-1. So remember that next New Year’s Day when the Big Ten gets destroyed by the SEC in bowl games. It’s the best college basketball conference this year, not the best college football conference. (That’s the SEC almost every year)
Challenging the B1G is the Big East and that brings us the Louisville Cardinals.
For sports fans, the time from the Super Bowl to Opening Day is one of the bleakest periods of the year. Football is over, baseball hasn’t started yet, hockey is for Canadians. We could watch the cobbled-together pro basketball season, but the lockout really turned us off.
Luckily there’s always the brilliance of the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, like a beacon lighting the way towards spring. Whether you’re putting together a bracket or four, or just reveling in the parity and excitement of the tourney, here are 30 great Twitter feeds to follow for March Madness.
