Chiming in
Haven't been around much the last week as my regular reporting duties have called, but just wanted to share a conversation I had with former MSU assistant Jim Boylen. He's adjusting well to his own program, living out of a hotel in Utah for the time being while his house is being built, and if you happen to be in the market for a place in mid-Michigan his house is still up for sale.
On the court, Boylen and his staff holdover assistants Marty Wilson and Chris Jones and newcomer Jeff Smith have the talent to compete for an NCAA bid next year if they can improve their defense (one of the worst in the country in field-goal percentage allowed). Tyler Kepkay was one of the top junior college recruits in the nation and someone frequently compared to Steve Nash (for more than just their Canadian roots), and big man Luke Nevill has NBA potential.
The best part about having your own program? "When you play in all those scrambles you get to tee off on No. 1," Boylen said. "When you're an assistant you tee off on 12." He's half-joking, of course.
Two other issues to weigh in on, albeit belatedly. Maurice Joseph surprised no one by finally picking Vermont. A few readers had emailed during his decision-making process and that always appeared to be his best fit. He'll sit out a season, be close to home, and be the focal point of a team with NCAA aspirations when he comes back. Plus, he'll get his masters for free from a pretty good school, whereas if he stayed at MSU he'd be out on his own after next season.
Finally, MSU released its "criteria" for selecting a new athletics director yesterday. Immediately, I filed that under, "Duh." It's no secret Mason planned to step down at the end of his contract. In fact, he told me as much for a story I wrote when he signed his one-year extension last year. I still have every reason to believe associate AD Mark Hollis will replace Mason, and this is just a formality to appease other candidates. Hollis was actively involved in the new football coach search, he's Tom Izzo's trusted basketball sidekick and he's the marketing genius who brought the Cold War, BasketBowl and WJR to MSU. The Spartan brass would be silly to turn anywhere else.
Probably no blogs next week as I'm wrapping up my first of two summer projects, but I'll spend most of July previewing the upcoming college football season. A sneak peak: No. 1 in my first AP poll will be USC, and I've got Michigan winning the Big Ten.
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