Michigan

Michigan State undrafted free agent tracker: Wide receiver, linebacker land deals

Published

2 years ago

April 28, 2024

Michigan State undrafted free agent tracker: Wide receiver, linebacker land deals

The 2024 NFL draft is over and only one Michigan State player’s name was called in Detroit.

Fifth-year senior center Nick Samac was taken by the Baltimore Ravens with the eighth pick of the seventh round, No. 228 overall, on Saturday.

Samac was the lone Spartan invited to the NFL Scouting Combine and unable to participate in on-field drills while still recovering from a broken fibula sustained in a Nov. 18 win at Indiana.

The injury didn’t prevent Samac’s name being called on Saturday and meant Michigan State didn’t get shut out in the draft for the second time in three years. The Spartans’ streak of 80 straight drafts with at least one player selected ended in 2021 before they had seven players picked over the previous two drafts combined.

Samac was the only Spartan drafted this year but there were nine others from last season’s roster who participated in the program’s pro day in March in offensive lineman J.D. Duplain, linebackers Aaron Brule and Jacoby Windmon, tight end Jaylan Franklin, running back Harold Joiner, defensive back Chester Kimbrough, wide receiver Tre Mosley, defensive tackle Jalen Sami and defensive end Brandon Wright.

They’ll be looking to sign as undrafted free agents and here’s a roundup of Michigan State players with a shot in the NFL:

Jacoby Windmon, LB

Team: Steelers

Windmon’s final season of college was cut even shorter than Samac’s. The linebacker who spent three seasons at UNLV and the last two at Michigan State suffered a pectoral injury in Week 3 that sidelined him for the rest of the fall. It was the second straight season that ended abruptly for Windmon, who was suspended for the final four games the year before due to his involvement in the tunnel incident at Michigan.

After being a highly-productive player at UNLV, Windmon, 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds, made an early splash at Michigan State. He became the first player in program history named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week three times in one year. Even though Windmon played only eight games in 2022, he led the nation with six forced fumbles and topped the Spartans with 10.5 tackles for a loss and 5.5 sacks.

By appearing in only three games last year, Windmon had an additional season of eligibility remaining. He entered the portal in December and declared for the draft less than a month later.

Tre Mosley, WR

Team: Bengals

As a Pontiac native, Mosley would have been thrilled to hear his name called on stage in Detroit but had to settle for the next-best route. He’s another productive veteran whose final season of college was cut short as he missed the final four games last year because of shoulder injuries.

Mosley, 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, made 28 starts in 43 career games over five seasons for the Spartans. He finished with 126 catches for 1,464 yards and 10 touchdowns.

A former standout from West Bloomfield High School, Mosley cracked the lineup as a true freshman and was a reliable pass catcher who excelled while lining up alongside future NFL draft picks at receiver. The Spartans didn’t have one last year and he struggled with injuries in an ugly season all around for the team.

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Michigan

Michigan residents wake up to first real snow of the season; more possible

Published

17 hours ago

November 9, 2025

Press Room

Michigan residents wake up to first real snow of the season; more possible

Many Michigan residents woke up to their first hint of winter Sunday.

Dropping temperatures led to the first snowfall in many areas of the state, with most residents seeing an inch or 2 of fresh powder.

Detroit Metro Airport recorded 1.2″ of snow in a 12-hour period, according to the National Weather Service in Detroit. Adrian showed a 24-hour total of 2″ from Saturday into Sunday. Freeland received the most snow in the southern half of the state, racking up 6″ in 19 hours.

Winter weather advisories remained in effect in the state Sunday night.

The counties of Bay, Saginaw and Tuscola had an advisory in effect, warning of lake-effect snow. Snow accumulations between 1-3″ were possible, with some areas possibly seeing higher amounts.

St. Clair and Macomb Counties, including the cities of Port Huron and Warren, had a winter weather advisory in effect through 4 a.m. Monday. Total snow accumulations between 2-4″ were possible.

“Lake effect snowfall will continue across the area this afternoon and evening, with the heaviest snow focused across the Tri-Cities region and the eastern Thumb into northern Metro Detroit,” the National Weather Service website said.

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Michigan

Wisconsin men’s hockey bounces back vs. No. 2 Michigan, takes over first place in Big Ten

Published

1 day ago

November 9, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin men’s hockey bounces back vs. No. 2 Michigan, takes over first place in Big Ten

The response from the Wisconsin men’s hockey team was emphatic.

One day after suffering their first loss of the season, the Badgers bounced back to score a 6-1 victory over No. 2 Michigan on Saturday, Nov. 8, at Yost Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The victory leaves the Badgers, who are ranked No. 10 in the USCHO poll, in first place in the Big Ten with nine points. Michigan, which is also 3-1 in league play, sits in second with eight points.

Leading the way for UW was freshman goalie Daniel Hauser. Friday, he got caught out of position and left the net empty for a goal. Saturday, he turned away 24 shots. The only goal he allowed came at the 4:59 mark of the second period when a long rebound of a shot by UW’s Christian Fitzgerald led to a 2-on-1 opportunity the Wolverines didn’t waste.

Six Badgers scored goals for Wisconsin, which raised its record to 7-1-2 overall. Senior defenseman Ben Dexheimer (one goal, one assist) was the only Badger with more than one point.

He scored the first goal at the 7:13 mark of the first period and assisted sophomore Gavin Morrissey on the second goal 5 ½ minutes later.

Before the night was done Fitzgerald scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season, freshman Blake Montgomery scored his fifth and senior Aiden Dubinsky and sophomore Adam Pietilla recorded their first goals of the season.

Up next for Wisconsin will be No. 19 Ohio State on Friday and Saturday at the Kohl Center. The Buckeyes (4-4, 0-2) had a bye this weekend.

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Michigan

5 questions with a man who finds money for risky business ideas

Published

2 days ago

November 8, 2025

Press Room

5 questions with a man who finds money for risky business ideas

Carol Cain
| Detroit Free Press Business Columnist

Michigan wasn’t on anyone’s radar for venture capital investment 20 years ago.
Chris Rizik and his Renaissance Venture Capital have used their network and investments to bring over $3B in VC investment to Michigan.

There was a time Michigan was an also-ran place for venture capital and helping startups in the Great Lakes State.

In fact, the state wasn’t on anyone’s radar 20 years ago as 95% of the VC action was taking place on the nation’s east and west coasts.

It helped inspire Chris Rizik to light a fire to help change that image.

The end result was the launch of Renaissance Venture Capital 17 years ago with the support of Business Leaders For Michigan and corporations like DTE Energy, Ford Motor Co., AAA, and Blue Cross Blue Shield and others who belonged to the statewide business group.

Renaissance Venture Capital has since used its network and investments to bring more venture capital to Michigan (over $3 billion ). To date, the Renaissance Venture Fund itself has raised more than $300 million, according to Rizik, who serves as founder and managing partner.

Jeff Donofrio, president and CEO of Business Leaders For Michigan, said: “We partnered in creating the Renaissance Venture Capital Fund because we believed in Chris’ vision to make Michigan a national leader in venture capital. Thanks to his leadership, it has become a reality and the fund is now a powerful catalyst for startup growth and a model for other states.”

Other VC funds like Invest Detroit and Mercury Fund have opened here as the region has become something of a hot spot for VCs.

Along the way, Rizik’s reputation as the go-to guy has grown.

“Chris’ phone number is on everyone’s speed dial,” said Patti Glaza, executive vice president and managing director of Invest Detroit. “From mentoring founders and serving on boards to leading conversations that strengthen our ecosystem, Chris embodies what makes Michigan’s venture community so special.”

Rizik, a former partner at Dickinson Wright law firm and chairman at Ardesta, a nanotechnology incubator, recently got applause from the National Venture Capital Association for his efforts to expand VCs, naming him one of three 2025 Venture Vanguard honorees, the highest national venture capital award. (Ann Winblad of Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and Howard Morgan of First Round Capital were the others.)

“A pioneering force of venture capital in the heartland, Chris has helped shape the Midwest’s startup ecosystem like few others,” Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of NVCA, said when they gave out the awards in June.

Connecting ideas to dollars

Rizik launched UnDemo Days in 2015 to provide a place for venture capital investors to come to Detroit to meet startups as they kick the tires in deciding whether to invest.

“It’s like speed dating for startups,” he said.

The last UnDemo Day was held Oct. 1 at Ford Field and introduced over 250 local startups to venture capital investors with over 900 people attending.

With so much going on, I posed a couple questions to Rizik (his answers are edited for length).

QUESTION: Tell me about state of venture capital in Michigan?

ANSWER: Michigan has been one of the fastest growing states for venture capital in recent years. We’ve always had great technology and a talented engineering workforce here, but for decades we underperformed at creating startups. Now there’s energy around startups in Ann Arbor, Detroit and Grand Rapids and other places and VCs are excited to come here. They are investing at more than four times the level they were when we started hosting our UnDemo Days.

Q: Explain how VC investors get involved in a startup?

A: Venture capital is high risk investment in startups that have the potential to grow very big very fast. They typically involve some kind of game-changing technology or process. These are companies that are generally too risky for banks to loan money to, but venture capitalists are willing to take the risk in hopes the company will explode into something that can change the world and at the same time provide lucrative financial results. A majority of these investments will not pan out financially, but the hope is that the successes more than make up for the failures.

Q: Where are the opportunities for VCs here?

A: Michigan is best known around the world as being particularly strong in areas like mobility, cybersecurity, life sciences, advanced materials, supply chain and advanced manufacturing.

Q: You just got a national award where you were credited for bringing VC opportunities to areas that have been challenged. How have you been able to succeed?

A: We are focused on what we are and what we are not, and we keep our focus in a world where there are temptations to chase shiny objects that take you off course. We are about investing in great venture capital funds around the country and connecting them with the Michigan ecosystem to help grow the state.

Q: Give me an example of a VC success story you’ve been involved with?

A: One of the most interesting was Orbion Space Technology. In 2018 we met the founder, Dr. Brad King (of Michigan Technological University) in Houghton where he started the company. He was creating a revolutionary propulsion system for satellites, and was committed to building the company in the U.P. But raising capital there was difficult. So we invited him to UnDemo Day and introduced him to venture capitalists. A Boston firm, Material Impact Fund, loved what they heard and became Orbion’s first institutional investor. The next year Orbion met more VCs at UnDemo Day. Now, Orbion is a leader in propulsion systems and one of the largest employers in Houghton. It is a great Michigan story and a great Renaissance success.

Contact Carol Cain at clcain@cbs.com. She is senior producer/host of “Michigan Matters,” which airs 5:30 a.m. Sundays on CBS Detroit and 9:30 a.m. Sundays on CW Detroit 50. See Detroit City Councilman Coleman Young II, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, GOP Strategist Susy Avery, Adrian Fortino of Mercury Fund, Patti Glaza of Invest Detroit and Chris Rizik of Renaissance Venture Capital on this week’s show. You can also watch the show simultaneously on Fubu, Pluto TV, YouTube TV and Apple TV.

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