Michigan
Michigan State basketball: Tom Izzo calls Tyson Walker groin injury ‘somewhat of an issue’
EAST LANSING — Tyson Walker rarely talks about his body. It’s neither in his nature to complain about being hurt, nor does he dial back his aggressive style of play if he isn’t feeling 100%.
The kind of feisty, scrappy player Tom Izzo loves.
Yet the equally gritty coach admits he doesn’t know what percent Michigan State basketball’s star guard has been playing at lately while continuing to push through a nagging groin injury that started bothering him in January.
In Sunday’s 60-57 home collapse against Ohio State, Walker didn’t take a shot for nearly 12 minutes at the outset and didn’t score until there were 55 seconds remaining in the first half. He finished with 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting in 33:01 of court time, going 3-for-10 and scoring seven of his points in the second half.
“Every time he goes down, he’s grabbing his groin. So I don’t know, I really don’t,” Izzo said after practice Wednesday. “There’s nothing I can do about it, so I just listen to the trainer and listen to him — can you play or not play? It’s definitely been somewhat of an issue.”
Walker has shrugged off questions about his health most of the season, whether it be about the shin splints he battled early in the season, an illness that kept him out for the first time as a Spartan in mid-November, or a hip injury he suffered in early December.
But he admitted Wednesday, with MSU (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten) off until Saturday night’s showdown at No. 3 Purdue, that “it is tough” to remain healthy through all of the wear and tear.
“Taking care of your body is definitely important,” said Walker, who leads the Spartans at 18.1 points and 32.4 minutes per game. “You gotta do everything you can to stay healthy, physically and mentally. And then still being able to work in games. … I just tell everybody pain is normal. You’re always gonna be in pain when you’re playing basketball, so you just gotta get through it.”
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Izzo revealed after MSU won at home over Michigan on Jan. 30 that Walker is battling “a little pulled groin.” Neither the coach nor the player have specified when the issue began.
But after scoring 21 points in a Jan. 18 home win over Minnesota, Walker has not played to the same level that earned him a spot on the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team.
Walker is shooting just 39% over his last 10 games, making just 31.8% from 3-point range. He is posting just 14.9 points a game in that stretch, compared to the 20 a game he was scoring in the Spartans’ 17 games before that in which the 6-foot-1, 185-pound fifth-year guard made 48.5% of his shots and 39.6% from outside the arc. He also saw his 35-game streak of scoring in double figures snapped during a Feb. 14 road win at Penn State when Walker scored just six points, his lowest total since the 2022-23 season-opener against Northern Arizona.
MSU is 6-4 in its last 10 and lost consecutive home games for the first time since January 2016. That includes losing a 12-point second-half lead against the Buckeyes after falling five days earlier at Breslin Center against Iowa, 78-71.
“We’re definitely frustrated we lose,” Walker said. “We know every game we’ve lost, we’ve been up or we’ve been right there. So it’s just trying to close out games. But giving up a layup in the beginning of the game is just as important as giving up a layup to lose the game. So we just gotta limit our mistakes.”
Still, Izzo said he’s not as worried about that offensive downturn so much as he is “disappointed with his defense” in recent weeks. Even though the quick-handed, fleet-footed Walker has averaged 2.1 steals per game over the last 10 games.
“He’ll make shots,” Izzo said. “I mean, you can’t get mad at a guy who’s a shooter for missing shots. … I’m not worried about that. I think it’s affected his defense, and that’s been concerning for me. We’re trying to talk to him about more, ‘You’ve gotta play both ends of the court. That’s what you do, that’s who you were.’ And I think he’s lost a little bit on that. And I think that triggers his offense.”
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Even with the ailment, Walker continues to be hounded and bodied up by opposing defenders as the Spartans’ primary scoring threat.
“He gets beat up, too,” Izzo said. “I’m sick of how he gets beat up if I was to tell you the truth and not getting some calls. But he’s gonna have to learn to deal with it, it’s just the way it is.”
It’s not like there haven’t been big games for Walker since Izzo revealed the ongoing groin problem. After Izzo brought up the issue, Walker scored 19 in a home win over Maryland and 20 in a loss at Minnesota, even though he left that game for a few minutes after reaggravating the injury. Walker also scored 19 in a win at U-M and 16 against the Hawkeyes before the OSU loss, but in those three games made just 17 of 46 shots (37%) and went 6-for-19 from 3-point range (31.6%).
“He’s had a couple of bad games in a row for him, but he had a lot of good games in a row, too. And there’s no reason he can’t get back to that,” Izzo said. “Contrary to what people think, I didn’t forget how to coach and he didn’t forget how to shoot. We just gotta do it on a better level.”
Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.
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The Michigan Department of Natural Resources opened applications through Feb. 1 for Michigan’s spring turkey season.
Officials say there are some changes to the 2026 season, such as the number of turkey management units, which are designated areas open to hunters.
“These regulation changes uphold the goals for the spring turkey hunting season: maximizing hunter opportunity while also maintaining satisfactory hunting experiences across the state,” said Adam Bump, DNR upland game bird specialist.
Here’s what to know about licenses for the upcoming turkey season. For more information on other regulations, visit the DNR’s website.
How much do the applications cost?
Turkey season applications cost $5 each and are available online on the DNR’s website, at any license agent or through the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app.
A map of license agents is available online.
Who is eligible to apply?
Hunters aged 17 and older during the hunting period are eligible to apply for a license as long as they have a hunter education certificate or an apprentice license.
Anyone between the ages of 10 and 16 can purchase a turkey youth license. Anyone age 9 and under can participate through a mentored hunting program to receive a license. Youth turkey licenses are valid for all three management units and season dates.
Where and when can I hunt?
In 2026, the DNR announced that it had reduced the turkey management unit from 14 to three — Upper Peninsula, northern Lower Peninsula and southern Lower Peninsula. The units also determine the type of license hunters can obtain and when they can hunt.
View a map of the turkey management units below:
A Hunt 0110 license is for the Upper Peninsula, with an April 18-May 31 hunting season. Hunt 0134 license is valid for the northern Lower Peninsula and is available from April 18 to May 1. The Hunt 0302 license is available for the southern Lower Peninsula from April 18 to May 1. A Hunt 0303 license is also available for the Southern Lower Peninsula (May 2-31).
These licenses have a limited number available.
Other licenses include Hunt 0234, which is for statewide (April 25-May 31), and Hunt 0301, which is for private land (April 18-May 31). Hunt 0234 is valid on private and public lands in the Upper Peninsula and the northern Lower Peninsula, but private only in the southern Lower Peninsula, as well as Fort Custer military lands, with permission.
How can I get a license?
Hunters who apply for a license are entered into a random drawing system. The drawing results are available on March 2.
The Hunt 0234 license (statewide) and Hunt 0301 license (private land) do not require people to enter a drawing. These licenses can be purchased beginning at 10 a.m. on March 16. Hunters can check their drawing results online or on the Michigan DNR Hunt Fish app.
“These changes will give hunters longer seasons and bigger units to hunt in,” said Bump.
Anyone who is not selected in the drawing can purchase a leftover license beginning at 10 a.m. on March 9. Anyone who did not enter the drawing can purchase a leftover license on March 16.
How many licenses are available?
There is a 6,000-license quota for Hunt 0110 (Upper Peninsula), an 18,000-license quota for Hunt 0134 (northern Lower Peninsula), a 6,000-license quota for Hunt 0302 (southern Lower Peninsula April season) and an 8,000-license quota for Hunt 0303 (southern Lower Peninsula May season).
Hunt 0234 (statewide) and Hunt 0301 (private land) licenses are unlimited.
Michigan football moved quickly to help fill its running back room on Thursday, adding the No. 1-ranked rusher in the 2024 recruiting class to the roster.
Taylor Tatum, who spent the last two seasons at Oklahoma, signed with the Wolverines for the 2026 season, The Ann Arbor News/MLive confirmed.
Tatum, listed at 5-foot-10 and 212 pounds, has three seasons of college eligibility remaining.
He appeared in 12 games for the Sooners, most of it during his true-freshman season in 2024. That first season, Tatum rushed for 278 yards and three touchdowns, highlighted by a five-carry, 69-yard game in Oklahoma’s season opener against Temple.
Tatum was hampered by injuries in 2025, appearing in just one game against South Carolina, where he rushed once for negative-1 yard.
A former four-star recruit, Tatum was considered the nation’s No. 1 running back in 2024 out of Longview High School in Texas, where he set the school record for career rushing touchdowns (53). He picked Oklahoma over Ohio State, Alabama, Oregon, USC, among others.
Tatum was also a member of the Oklahoma baseball team, though he didn’t appear in a game in 2025.
The signing comes just a day after Michigan’s leading rusher in 2025, Jordan Marshall, announced his return to the Wolverines. Since the transfer portal opened last Friday, reserve running backs Bryson Kuzdzal and Jasper Parker have entered. Parker has since signed to play at Arkansas next season.
Meanwhile, Michigan awaits a decision from its other star back, Justice Haynes, who’s left the door open to a return to college. A pair of freshmen backs, Savion Hiter and Jonathan Brown, also joined the team this week.
Tony Alford, Michigan’s running backs coach, was one of three assistants retained by new head coach Kyle Whittingham.
Kyle Whittingham says appeal of Michigan football job was obvious
New Michigan football coach Kyle Whittingham said the appeal of the job was obvious on Sunday, Dec. 28, in Orlando.
Michigan football is primed to win now, new coach Kyle Whittingham said this week on “The Dan Patrick Show.”
The Wolverines have made far too many headlines off the field, which is why Whittingham told Patrick the organization needs to simply get back to focusing on the reason they’re all together as a team − football.
“The place doesn’t need a rebuild, it needs a reboot of trust and getting rid of the drama and just get back to playing Michigan football without all the distractions,” Whittingham said. “It didn’t come from the players. The players were not involved. It was not some player issue – it was just the peripheral.
“Guys here have a great attitude, I met with everyone of them last week at the bowl site. Quality young men, care about academics, excited to be at Michigan, but they’ve dealt with a lot over the last few years.”
Whittingham, 66, takes over as the 22nd head coach in program history after a pair of scandals rocked the previous two men who held his job.
Jim Harbaugh led the Wolverines from 2015-23 − and left on top by winning a national championship − but also was found to have a lack of institutional control in his program by NCAA investigators after two separate NCAA violations occurred under his watch: impermissible recruiting and illegal sign-stealing.
More recently, Sherrone Moore was fired in scandal after he was found to have had a relationship with a subordinate and was subsequently arrested after he allegedly went to her house and threatened his own life − he was jailed for two nights and charged with felony home invasion, misdemeanor stalking and misdemeanor breaking and entering.
Patrick asked if there was any selling point Whittingham needed to hear specifically from Michigan. Whittingham said when he stepped away from Utah in mid-December there were only a handful of program’s he would have even entertained. He called Michigan “a special place.”
“Needed to hear that Michigan was what I thought it was,” he said. “Hey’re committed to winning here, we do have some challenges with entrance requirements, there is a little bit of a hurdle there, but talk about athletes, resources, tradition − it’s all here at Michigan.”
Whittingham also quipped about the irony of previously being a team that wore red (Utah) whose primary rival wore blue (BYU) to flipping that. It’s also not lost on him that his mentor, Urban Meyer, went 7-0 against Michigan in his tenure in Columbus − Whittingham joked at his opening press conference that Meyer’s name alone might be considered a “four-letter word” in Ann Arbor.
“Blue was our rival at Utah for years,” he said. “Now I’ve got to get used to saying, ‘Go Blue.’”
Whittingham is in the throes of one of the busiest times on the college football calendar. The transfer portal opened for a 15-day window Jan. 2-16, setting off a scramble to both retain players, scout the database and find appropriate fits for the team.
Whittingham has only known his roster and coaches for approximately 10 days – he said while down in Florida he was going to “lock himself” in a room at Schembechler Hall in Ann Arbor to watch film on the players on his roster. He has been able to keep Bryce Underwood, Andrew Marsh, Andrew Babalola, Blake Frazier, Evan Link, Jake Guarnera and Zeke Berry − the last two of whom had put their names in the transfer portal before indicating their return to U-M for 2026.
With money flowing, back-channeling frequent and poaching at an all-time high, Whittingham doesn’t see college football’s current model as something that will last as currently constructed for more than a handful of years.
“It is not sustainable, there’s no question about that,” Whittingham said. “Something’s gotta give. Within a 2- to 4-, 5-year window, you’re going to see a major overhaul of Division I football. I think it’s going to become more of a minor league NFL model. I think you’re gonna see a salary cap, collective bargaining, players as employees.
“I think all that’s coming because we cannot maintain this pace.”
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
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