Michigan

Michigan State football gets its own cross-state transfer in ex-U-M LB Semaj Bridgeman

Published

2 years ago

May 17, 2024

Michigan State football gets its own cross-state transfer in ex-U-M LB Semaj Bridgeman

As if the instability of the NCAA’s transfer portal era hasn’t already overtaken college sports, particularly football, Friday night it reached a new level.

Michigan State football and Michigan made a virtual trade.

Shortly after losing starting safety Jaden Mangham to the rival Wolverines, the Spartans picked up a commitment from U-M transfer linebacker Semaj Bridgeman.

The 6-foot-2, 246-pound native of Philadelphia has all four years of eligibilty remaining after taking a redshirt during the Wolverines’ College Football Playoff championship season last fall. Bridgeman was a four-star recruit and the nation’s No. 300 overall player and No. 23 linebacker in the 2023 class, according to 247 Sports’ composite ratings.

OFFSEASON CHEAT SHEET: Can’t keep up with Michigan State football roster moves?

MSU faces U-M on Oct. 26 in Ann Arbor.

Bridgeman is new Spartans coach Jonathan Smith’s 24th incoming transfer since being hired in late November and 12th addition since spring practice ended April 20. He was the third player Friday to pledge to play this fall in East Lansing, along with safety Nikai Martinez (Central Florida) and cornerback Jeremiah Hughes (LSU).

With the Spartans, Bridgeman joins a linebacker room that continues to stockpile depth and talent under new defensive coordinator Joe Rossi.

Jordan Turner (Wisconsin) and Wayne Matthews III (Old Dominion) arrived in January as transfers, joining senior stalwart Cal Haladay, rising sophomore Jordan Hall, veteran Darius Snow and true freshman early enrollee Brady Pretzlaff during spring practice. MSU also picked up pledges in the past month from Marcellius Pulliam of Miami (Florida) and landed commitments from two of the state’s best linebackers for 2025 in Charles “DJ” White from Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and DiMari Malone from Macomb Dakota.

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

Subscribe to the “Spartan Speak” podcast for new episodes weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

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Michigan

Michigan man accused of failing to pay taxes on more than $1 million in unlicensed marijuana sales

Published

2 hours ago

November 24, 2025

Press Room

Michigan man accused of failing to pay taxes on more than million in unlicensed marijuana sales

November 24, 2025 / 10:20 PM EST
/ CBS Detroit

A Holland, Michigan, man is facing charges for alleged fraud and failure to pay taxes on more than $1 million in unlicensed marijuana sales, according to the Michigan Attorney General’s office.

Shaun Michael Brown, 48, was arraigned on Nov. 21 for one count of false pretenses — $50,000 but less than $100,000 and six counts of failure to file taxes/false return.

Officials say the case was submitted to Nessel’s office by the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office and the Michigan State Police’s Marijuana and Tobacco Investigation Section.

“Sales tax revenue supports our schools, our roads, and services our communities depend on,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. “I would like to thank the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department and the Michigan State Police for their diligent work in investigating this matter. My office will continue to enforce Michigan’s tax laws and protect residents from fraud.”

State officials say Brown allegedly failed to pay sales taxes on the $1.1 million he earned from the marijuana sales, as well as income and sales taxes for a 2021 Corvette he sold. Officials say Brown sold the vehicle for $95,000 and allegedly did not provide the customer with a valid title for the car.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for Dec. 4, and a preliminary examination is scheduled for Dec. 18.

“These charges reflect the steadfast resolve of our law enforcement partners and the Attorney General’s office to uphold Michigan’s regulated cannabis system, and we appreciate their unwavering work in bringing this case forward,” said Cannabis Regulatory Agency Executive Director Brian Hanna. “Cases like this demonstrate exactly why a strong, transparent regulatory framework matters – and why those who choose to operate outside it will be held accountable.”

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Michigan

Michigan basketball enters Players Era tourney with ‘growth mindset’

Published

19 hours ago

November 24, 2025

Press Room

Michigan basketball enters Players Era tourney with ‘growth mindset’

Four games into the 2025-26 season, Michigan basketball remains unblemished.

The No. 6 Wolverines (4-0) haven’t always looked flawless, but they’ve found ways to get wins against different styles. A zone team (Oakland), a pair of Power Four opponents (Wake Forest and TCU) and most recently a pesky mid-major (Middle Tennessee State) have all provided different tests.

The slate gets even harder this week when Michigan travels to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival men’s championship tournament, featuring 18 teams – 11 of which are in the top 50 of KenPom entering the event. So, what are coach Dusty May’s goals entering this type of environment?

“Hope for some vitamin D, hope we stay healthy and hope these three games in three days show us what we need to do or continue to do better to win the Big Ten Tournament,” he said. “I know some coaches or programs don’t value as much (the tournament). … but we want to be in position to compete for it.

“So three games in three days gives us an opportunity to prepare like that, to take care of our bodies and prioritize the next game immediately.”

Michigan won the Big Ten Tournament last season and May clearly is already thinking ahead. That said, it’s not the only goal the Wolverines have in the desert. Michigan has struggled to get its 3-point shooting going, hitting below 33% in each of its past three games and 20% or worse in two of them.

The tests don’t get easier for U-M this week, facing San Diego State on Monday, Nov. 24 (10:30 p.m., TruTV) which is No. 19 nationally in defense per KenPom and Auburn the following night (8:30 p.m., TNT), which is No. 36.

It’s unclear who the Wolverines will play for their third game, which could be either Wednesday or Thursday, and depends on how the first two go. Either way, with three games in 72 hours, there’s a chance Michigan will go a bit deeper into its bench, which could include some time for sharp shooting freshman Winters Grady.

“I could see us in the near future going with a little bit longer, deeper rotation,” May said.

Michigan won the Fort Myers Tip-Off a year ago during feast week, which served as a spring board for a 5-0 start to Big Ten play and helped them figure out their Danny Wolf-led identity.

Michigan is still figuring out its rotations this year, as far as lineup combinations, minute allocations and assessing which pairings lead to certain outcomes on each side of the court. May has said that he’s pleased with his team’s start in some ways, namely the toughness.

“Nothing gives me confidence we’re going to pick up a few quality wins other than we have a really good team, we’re capable of playing really good basketball,” May said following his team’s 84-61 win over MTSU. “I haven’t watched San Diego State, I’ve watched Auburn. Obviously we’re very familiar with them, they sent us home last year.

“The confidence I have to go get a couple wins is simply because we have a really good staff and really good players. Now it’s the time to turn the page and start studying what we need to do.”

What U-M needs to do is protect the ball better. Its turned the ball over 56 times the past three games and SDSU is No. 17 in the country, forcing turnovers on 23.8% of opponents possessions.

The Aztecs are deep, with their bench playing 43.4% of all minutes. Auburn, meanwhile, is run-and-gun team. They rarely turn it over (No. 24 nationally), shoot well inside the arc (62.4%, No. 24) and do so because they get so many high-percentage looks on putbacks (44.0% offensive rebounding rate, No. 10).

“We’ve got to be able to learn on the fly where we don’t have time to practice in between – we go straight from a film session, walk through and be able to apply things,” May said. “That’s the secret sauce of elite teams. So hopefully we’ll see us doing that on the fly.”

Should U-M win the tournament, it would be a positive on multiple levels, most notably some Quad 1 wins for the resume.

But the staff has been around the sport long enough to know the week will not make or break the season one way or the other.

“We are 100% a growth mindset program. We need to be better (when we return) next week than we are today,” May said. “We need to continue to learn more about our team and whether we win or we lose, we’re not going to be too high or too low because our season is long and we have a high, high ceiling.”

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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Michigan Football true freshman burns redshirt vs Maryland Terrapins

Published

2 days ago

November 23, 2025

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Michigan Football true freshman burns redshirt vs Maryland Terrapins

The Michigan Wolverines took care of business against the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday, 45-20. This team is one of the youngest in the Big Ten, and even more young guys had a chance to play in this one.

Despite the return of Cole Sullivan, linebacker Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng still got in the game and burned his redshirt in College Park.

Here is where the freshmen stand 11 games into the season. An asterisk (*) indicates they saw playing time against Maryland:

Once again, wide receiver Andrew Marsh stood out as a key component of Michigan’s offense, and now special teams. He finished the day with 147 all-purpose yards. He had one long return against Maryland for 39 yards that set Michigan up nicely late in the game.

His quarterback, Bryce Underwood, had a nice day, too. He was 16-of-23 with two touchdowns and no interceptions. On the ground, Underwood had eight carries for 20 yards. Running back Jasper Parker got into the end zone and had eight carries for 23 yards.

We also saw some of the freshmen offensive linemen, with Ty Haywood (left tackle) and Avery Gach (special teams) earning some garbage time snaps in this one.

Without Ernest Hausmann, we saw more plays from some of the younger linebackers. Chase Taylor had a crucial heads-up play on Maryland’s onside kick, and he also had one tackle. Edge rusher Nate Marshall, defensive back Jordan Young, defensive back Elijah Dotson, and the aforementioned Owusu-Boateng all ended up on the stat sheet at the end of the day.

Michigan has just one game left this season, The Game in Ann Arbor. Michigan will have a chance to win five straight games against the Buckeyes. While we’re waiting to hear about some crucial injuries ahead of the matchup against the Buckeyes, Michigan will likely still rotate these young players on the offense. We’ll just have to wait until Saturday to see if they’re still on the field for the same amount of snaps.

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