Michigan
WATCH: Michigan State’s Keith Bhonapha Talks Spring Ball, More
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State lost its two premier running backs from last season in Nate Carter and Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams.
Now, the running back room is largely made up of young up-and-comers, with one veteran in transfer Elijah Tau-Tolver.
The Spartans’ run game was not where they needed it to be last season, and it’s on this group to turn that around.
Michigan State running backs coach, assistant head coach and co-special teams coordinator Keith Bhonapha discussed his room when he addressed the media after the Spartans’ 13th spring practice on Tuesday.
You can watch below:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Below is a partial transcript from Bhonapha’s media availability:
Q: After losing a lot of snaps from last year, where does that leave you now?
Bhonapha: “Oh yeah, I mean, obviously, you lose guys like Kay’Ron and Nate Carter. Not only do you lose them on the football field, but more importantly, just the leadership that they had in the meeting room and on the team.
“So, you go into the spring ball, we were able to get Elijah Tau-Toliver here from Sacramento State. He has one year left, but he’s having a productive spring.
“And then you go to Brandon [Tullis] and Makhi [Frazier], who were here last year. But as true sophomores, even though they were here last year, I think each of them had, I want to say, like seven carries apiece. So, they’re still really young.
“And then, the two other guys, Zion Gist and Jace Clarizio, those guys were in high school in December. So, the room is really young. Chris Williams is in there, Jaxon McCaig. But the thing that you’re always trying to do is develop, right? And develop depth, develop talent.
“Even with the depth, I think about that dependable depth. So, where we’re at progressing, it’s like, ‘All right, who’s going to take the reins of it and be the lead dog. So, it’s been a lot of mixing guys in with the 1s and the 2s to try to figure out, ‘OK, who’s going to truly separate instead of being those four to five cars driving next to each other on the highway.’”
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Michigan
College basketball rankings: Michigan holds off Arizona at No. 1 in USA TODAY Sports poll
Rising stars in college basketball you need to know
Caleb Wilson, Nate Ament, and Kingston Flemings are emerging as names to watch this season.
There is no change at the top in the USA TODAY Sports men’s college basketball coaches poll this week, but the margin for the No. 1 team is much closer.
Michigan is still first, receiving 16 of 31 No.-1 votes while keeping its record clean for another week. But No. 2 Arizona has closed within four poll points of the Wolverines with 14 first-place votes after the Wildcats blew away Alabama to rack up yet another ranked win on the road over the weekend. Duke holds at No. 3 overall, claiming the remaining first-place nod, and Iowa State and Connecticut continue to round out the top five.
TOP 25: Complete USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball poll
In fact, the first 11 positions in the poll are the same. Purdue, Gonzaga, Houston, Michigan State and Brigham Young comprise the lower half of the top 10, with Louisville retaining the 11th spot.
Vanderbilt climbs two spots to No. 12 as Alabama slides four places to 16th. Nebraska makes the week’s biggest jump, a gain of seven positions to No. 15 after the unbeaten Cornhuskers defeated Illinois on the road.
No new teams enter the Top 25, as Iowa hangs on to the final spot after a loss to Iowa State.
Michigan
Bodies of missing snowmobilers recovered from icy Michigan lake
MASON COUNTY, MI – The bodies of two missing snowmobilers were found Sunday morning.
Two Grand Haven men were recovered by first responders in six feet of water on Dec. 14 in Round Lake off Sugar Grove Road in Mason County’s Sheridan Township.
The riders, aged 65 and 49, were reported missing at 12:30 a.m. after their family had not heard from them for several hours, according to the Mason County Sheriff’s Office.
At first, through family of the missing, police believed the two may have been snowmobiling on trails in Lake County.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office started searching trails in attempts to locate them.
Around 4:30 a.m., the search expanded to include eastern Mason County.
A searcher located snowmobile tracks leading onto Round Lake off Sugar Grove Road. A further search showed no tracks leaving the lake.
Due to darkness and heavy snowfall, a check of the lake from shore could not be performed.
At first light, police saw what appeared to be a snowmobile helmet several hundred yards offshore on the ice.
Mason County Sheriff’s Office launched a drone when weather permitted and spotted a hole in the ice.
There was a helmet at the hole.
Rescuers attempted to get to the area, but kept falling through the ice, making rescue efforts impossible, the press release stated.
The Michigan State Police Dive Services Team and Mason County dive team were called to assist and made their way onto the ice.
An airboat from the Manistee County Sheriff’s Office responded to support recovery efforts.
While the team worked to get to the hole in the ice, an MSP diver fell through the ice, but was properly tethered to another diver and was pulled from the ice unharmed.
Law enforcement recovered the bodies in approximately six feet of water. Two snowmobiles were also found submerged under the ice.
The Ludington Police Department, United States Coast Guard-Manistee, Michigan DNR-Law Enforcement, Branch Township Fire Department, Carr Fire Department, Fountain Area Rescue, Free Soil Fire Department, Hamlin Fire Department, Irons Fire Department, Luther Fire Department, Pleasant Plains Fire Department, Manistee Fire Department and Norman Township Fire Department all assisted at the scene.
Michigan
Urban Meyer reacts to Sherrone Moore scandal after coach’s shock Michigan firing
One of the best college football coaches of all time, Urban Meyer, lent some sympathy to Sherrone Moore — or at least his family — in the wake of the former Michigan head coach’s shocking firing last week.
“Last night, I said a prayer for that family,’’ Meyer said on “The Triple Option Podcast,” speaking of Moore’s wife and daughters.
“I mean, you’ve got three little girls,’’ said Meyer, who won a national title at Ohio State a little over a decade ago. “You’ve got a guy that was on top of the road a week ago.”
That changed in stunning fashion, as Moore, a married father of three, went from leading the Wolverines to out of a job, fired in Ann Arbor for cause after the university confirmed he had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.
The situation only worsened when Moore was later arrested after he allegedly broke into the home of the staff member, and during an argument, grabbed butter knives and threatened to kill himself.
On Friday, he was charged with third-degree home invasion, a felony, as well as a pair of misdemeanors — stalking and breaking and entering.
Here’s the latest on former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore
Even Meyer, who created some controversy of his own during a brief, ill-fated tenure as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars — when he was seen on video in 2021 that showed him dancing suggestively with a woman who was not his wife and was later fired before finishing his lone season in Jacksonville — was stunned by Moore’s downfall.
“They’re up 6-0 on the Buckeyes at home,” Meyer said of Michigan’s early lead against rival Ohio State on Nov. 29. “And then, also, you wake up, and they’re in this situation. Rivalries aside, this is all human element. Now, this is something that, from what you read, that’s some serious stuff that went on. And just, all of a sudden, you start seeing the impact. Forget football. Who cares about football?’’
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