EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Michigan State women’s golf will be hosting the NCAA Regional at Forest Akers West starting on Monday morning. On Sunday morning, MSU participated in a relaxed practice round that was a preview of the 12-team regional field.

Head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll is used to being in the NCAA Tournament, with the Spartans making it for the eighth straight time and the 24th time since 1999.

The Spartans currently sit 30th in the collegiate rankings and are coming off a tough second place finish in the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago.

MSU will need to finish the three day event in the top five to make it to the National Championships in Carlsbad, California.

Monday is the second time in five years that MSU will be the NCAA Regional host and it will tee off at 9 a.m.

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Former Michigan Wolverines linebacker Obi Ezeh has died at the age of 36. Both Ezeh’s mother and the University of Michigan confirmed the sad news.

“We are saddened to hear about the passing of former Wolverine linebacker Obi Ezeh. Our prayers go out to his family, friends, and former teammates. May he rest in peace,” Michigan football said on Twitter.

Ezeh’s mother delivered a very heartfelt message via Facebook.

“My very own!” My Obi. My #2. My heart. My father’s heart. My quiet giant. Grand child of an elephant. Journey well to your maker. My Obinna Ezeh, you will always be in my heart my beloved son,” she wrote.

Ezeh spent five seasons with the Wolverines. While in Ann Arbor, Ezeh racked up 293 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, and two interceptions in 49 games.

Ezeh went undrafted but signed with the Washington Redskins. He was then waived several weeks after being signed.

Michigan State transfer offensive lineman Andrew “A.J.” Dennis’ world was turned upside down when Michigan State went through its Mel Tucker calamity last year.

The Tucker news broke just after Dennis has committed to the Spartans. Instead of immediately changing his mind, however, Dennis waited it out before he ultimately decided he would commit to Illinois.

He discussed the situation when he joined “The Drive With Jack ” on Friday.

“Had some contact with the staff and I waited about a month or two, and there’s no new information about what’s going,” Dennis said. “So, you don’t really have a head coach less than a month from signing day. It’s getting stressful by that point because you don’t know if you should wait or find a spot. And so, I just wanted to find a spot. And we were actually on our way back after I committed to Illinois, and you see Coach Smith get hired, so it was kind of a funny timing.”

After Jonathan Smith was hired as Michigan State’s new head coach, the Spartans took the opportunity to pursue Dennis once again.

“You kind of look at the term rebuild, and he [Smith] did a great job of that at Oregon State,” Dennis said. “You see that, whether it’s winning 10 games or putting guys in the league like they did last weekend with [Taliese Fuaga]. … So, you see that’s there, they’re not just kind of selling it to you. So you see that, and when I was committed, I told them, ‘Hey, I’m not going to go visit anywhere else.’ And that happened with Illinois, and I told them the same thing. [Michigan State was] like, ‘Hey, we get it, wholeheartedly, 100%.’ And so, they [Michigan State] understood that, and they came up and saw me once, and I heard them out. 

In an effort to not “burn bridges,” Dennis told Michigan State he appreciated them coming to talk to him. That effort would end up paying off.

“I was around some great people [at Illinois], but I just didn’t feel like it was the best fit for me,” Dennis said. “I wanted to be closer to home, and here we are today.”

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