" title="Spartans Weblog">Spartans Weblog

So exactly how excited should I be about this year’s football recruiting class?
Links:

Mark Dantonio Introduces 2009 Recruiting Class
From official MSU site.
MSU recruits: Meet the class of 2009
Photos.
Impact players: Baker, Caper, Fowler, Norman, Sims
Edwin Baker is Emmitt Smith, but with LaDainian Tomlinson’s speed!
High school football stars talk about recruiting process
Baker on “Why not U-M?”:  “They’re arrogant.”
Spartans’ [...]

This is technically a football commitment, which I don’t typically cover.  But Dion Sims clearly wants to be a Division 1 college basketball player:
In the end, the difference was the joint effort of Coaches Dantonio and Izzo, and their willingness to work with the Sims family to allow Dion his dream of attempting to play [...]

Rankings Upate

AP: #7
Coaches: #10
Sagarin: #10
Kenpom: #23
RPI: #4
Bracketology: #3 seed

The RPI is really digging us at this point.  I assume that’s a function of (1) nine of our fifteen opponents having double digit wins and (2) only six of the 15 games having been played at home.  That win in the second round of the Old [...]

Suton’s absence could help Spartans in long run
Not helping our NCAA Tournament seed.
Alcorn State facing constant battles as Division I have-not
Tearjerker.  (Hat tip: Fighting With a Vim.)
Two local recruits closing in on their college decisions
Dion Sims is down to MSU, Ohio State, and Miami.  Dantonio and Izzo say he can play both sports.  Assume he’d [...]

We’re still waiting for the release of the full Michigan State basketball schedule.  Reportedly, the Big Ten is mandating that all 11 schools wait until all the BTN schedule details are in place. UMHoops has a source who says it’s going to be a while before that happens (although the Columbus Dispatch says Ohio State [...]

Drew Neitzel has signed with the Artlund Dragons of Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga (I’m a casual international soccer fan–which I know sounds like any oxymoron.  Anyway, I love saying the word “Bundesliga.”  Bundesliga.  Bundesliga.  Bundesliga.)  Apparently, the move was made to ensure some guaranteed money and playing time in a competitive league, as European teams tend [...]