Hello TOC,

We would like to start off by thanking Izzo4POTUS for his contribution to this first edition of the TOC Mailbag. He is the only one who sent us questions. Now that you all see we are really doing this, please send your queries to theonlycolorseditors@gmail.com.

Now let’s get to I4P’s questions.

Izzo said: “We pay players – a lot more than most of you know and a lot less than what’s going on out there.” Most of us would really like to know what we pay in NIL and how it compares to other teams. Are we competitive or, like we fear, way behind the top teams? This also applies to football.

I think this is very difficult to find out exactly as NIL is not YET a centralized system. It is supposed to be if and when the House Settlement is finalized. We wrote about this earlier this month. Approval, however, appears to now be contingent on some sort of resolution on roster limits that were proposed as part of the settlement.

In addition to where, exactly, MSU stands in the NIL realm, other questions that we posed in the article earlier this month include:

• Will the proposed NIL regulation system actually work if and when House is approved?
• Will there actually be an enforcement mechanism and how much will teams test it?

As far as basketball NIL, CBS Sports released a list of supposed teams with $10 million and $8 million NIL budgets (MSU not listed in either):

~ $10 million: Arkansas, BYU, Duke, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, North Carolina, St. John’s, Texas Tech

~ $8 million includes but is not exclusive to: Auburn, UConn, Florida, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Miami, Purdue, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, USC, Villanova, Virginia

However, former Spartan Tre Holloman and hockey Captain Red Savage apparently made some top 10 list of NIL earners in February. Holloman made the list again in March and was joined by Jase Richardson.

Our best guess for basketball: while Michigan State is not in the top tier of NIL programs listed above and Izzo had to do “more with less” to get to the Elite 8 this year, MSU is not necessarily lagging way behind either.

Is there any plan of succession for basketball? Izzo is 70 and a phenomenal coach but as far as I can see he has no one in his coaching tree that I would want to take over the program. A lot of us are concerned MSU will fall off drastically in basketball like we have fallen off in football once Izzo retires.

A former athletic director once told me that any well-prepared AD is going to have a list of coaches stored somewhere in case they suddenly need to make a change. This applies to all sports, not just the marquee ones. Alan Haller was prepared earlier this year and quickly brought Kristen Kelsay back to East Lansing to coach the Volleyball team. He also had Jonathan Smith in place the day after the Spartans’ football season ended in 2023.

This case is pretty unique though, given Izzo’s long and remarkable tenure. Perhaps the second biggest question here, after “Who will replace Izzo?” is “How much influence will Izzo have in the decision?” Izzo did mention in a College Hoops Today podcast last year that he would consult with Spartan greats like Draymond Green, Mateen Cleaves, Steve Smith, and Magic Johnson regarding future program leadership, indicating that he will play a role in this decision.

There is no way of knowing, or at least we couldn’t find any evidence of, Izzo and Haller discussing a succession plan. However, it may be reasonable to assume that the most important thing to Izzo is maintaining the culture the program has developed over 30 years and Izzo might think that an internal hire, or someone from his coaching tree, is best equipped to do that.

Brian had an extensive article on Izzo’s coaching tree in December. We can’t run through the pros and cons of all the possibilities here but these might be among the most prominent names with ties to Izzo:

• Tom Crean. The 59 year old made a Final Four at Marquette in 2003 and later won two Big Ten championships at Indiana. He also went to three Sweet 16’s with the Hoosiers but ended his tenure in Bloomington with an 18-16 record in 2016. Crean spent four years at Georgia but was unable to gain much traction there. He’s been out of coaching since 2022 after a 6-26 year with the Bulldogs.
• Dwayne Stephens. The former Spartan player was on Izzo’s bench from 2003-2022 before taking over as the head coach at Western Michigan. So far, Stephens has managed a 32-63 (.337) record with the Broncos.
• Doug Wojcik. Wojcik, 61, is in his second stint as an assistant with Izzo. He was named the 2024-2025 Big Ten assistant coach of the year. Wojcik went 140-92 as head coach at Tulsa from 2005-2012.
• Mark Montgomery. The former Spartan player coached with Izzo from 2002-2011 and 2021-2024. He just completed his first year as head coach at Detroit Mercy with an 8-24 record. Montgomery went 124-170 (.422) as head coach at Northern Illinois from 2011-2021.
• Stan Heath. Heath was an assistant at MSU from 1996-2001. He’s the current head coach at Eastern Michigan where he just completed his fourth year with a 16-16 record (9-9 in the MAC). Overall, Heath is 255-285 (.472) as a college head coach. His best year was his first year as a head coach when he led Kent State to the 2003 Elite 8.
• Drew Valentine. Valentine, 33, has been the head coach at Loyola Chicago since 2021 where he has an 83-51 record. He was a Loyola assistant in 2017 when the Ramblers went on a historic run to the Final Four. Valentine was born in Lansing, played at Oakland, and was a GA at MSU for two seasons when his brother, Denzel, played for the Spartans.

Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

• Saddi Washington. Washington, 49, just completed his first year on the MSU bench. He has no head coaching experience but does have a solid track record as a recruiter and big man developer. Jaxon Kohler, Carson Cooper, and Szymon Zapala all saw improvements in Washington’s first year on staff. Washington was an assistant at Oakland and Michigan prior to coming to MSU.

Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

If Michigan State does decide to look beyond Izzo’s tree, that list might include Central Michigan head coach Andy Bronkema and Ohio State’s Jake Diebler.

Bronkema just took over at Central Michigan and has yet to coach a Division 1 game. He led Ferris State to a Division 2 national championship in 2018 and produced a .725 winning percentage over 12 years at Ferris. Bronkema’s background is somewhat similar to that of MSU women’s coach Robyn Fralick, who won a D2 national championship prior to moving to Bowling Green and then MSU.

Diebler, 38, was named interim head coach at OSU near the end of the 2024 season and went 6-2 in that capacity, which included a win over MSU. The Buckeyes went 17-15 this season (9-11 in conference) and missed the NCAA tournament.

Another name that’s come up, possibly because he ties to Michigan is Alabama’s Nate Oats. He has a nearly .700 winning percentage with the Tide, a 13-8 NCAA tournament record and took Alabama to the 2024 Final Four. Oats also coached at Romulus High for 11 seasons and won over 80% of his games. But there may be reasons to stay away from Oats as well.

Regardless of who succeeds Izzo’s, history shows mixed results when trying to follow a legend. Indiana has struggled to live up to the high standard of Bob Knight. More recently, Villanova has struggled post Jay Wright. However, Jon Scheyer seems to be doing just fine as Coach K’s successor at Duke. Matt Painter has had success at Purdue post Gene Keady. And, most importantly, Izzo has done pretty well following up Jud Heathcote.

Unfortunately, we just have a lot of speculation at this point. Izzo hasn’t indicated any sort of imminent end to his career and there do not seem to be any (publicly known) succession plans. So, let’s close with three educated guesses. Or at least hopefully they are educated.

1. Izzo’s successor won’t be anyone on this list.
2. If he is on this list, let’s go with Saddi Washington. It’s hard to see MSU going with someone with no head coaching experience and there may not be time for Washington to go someplace else to be a head coach for a while and then come back to MSU. However, there were a lot of reasons for MSU’s improvement this year, Jase Richardson of course among them, but Washington was also new to the team and probably had a hand in this resurgence. Maybe he takes on an increased role in the coming years to prepare for taking over. If not Washington, it seems reasonable to think Drew Valentine may be a strong contender.
3. With what Izzo has done with the program, unless it is someone like Mark Few at Gonzaga or Scott Drew from Baylor, who still not be enough to please everyone, it may be tough for Haller to convince the fanbase that he got the right guy.

What has Nightingale done to turn the hockey program around so quickly from an after thought to the top ranked team for a lot of last year? Is he just a great coach or do we have more hockey NIL than most other programs?

This is a great question. It really comes down to a few things. Nightingale is an exceptional coach, strong character, good discipline and a really good human. His connections and involvement in hockey run pretty deep. He’s coached the USA National Development Team Under 17 which has clearly given him a look at incoming youth. This has aided in some of the players that have ended up at MSU. He’s now recently been named as a coach for Team USA in the World Championships. So, Nightingale being well connected and his strong coaching and development abilities are a big reason.

Hockey players are also wired different in comparison to football and basketball. Nightingale does a lot of stressing on the team and no individual is greater than the team. This is why the team comes out and stands in numeric order. He also stresses commitment and putting in the work and flat out tells players if you aren’t going to do those things, MSU is not the place for you. Having Augustine and Howard come back rather than turn pro for another season is just another testament to the team mentality.

MSU was also the first team to reach a full team partnership NIL deal with MuskOx. Every player is a part of the deal and gets in on the action. Again, stressing team, not an individual. Granted there may be more Augustine jerseys sold than others, there isn’t anyone left out without a piece of pie. It is unlikely that they are getting a lot but they do get something and whether MuskOx gets any ROI is another question. Speaking of ROI, hockey’s is much smaller than football and basketball and therefore do not eat up from other sports. This is just the first wave of something like this and MuskOx being owned by an MSU alum and hockey player themselves, it is partially to support something they love. I know I’ve seen the Instagram ad with Howard in it.

Ultimately I think Nightingale is the bigger reason but the fact that MSU has lawyers on board to negotiate NIL for hockey is something that I know other schools are playing catch up on. Once Nightingale brings a title in, really watch out. More players will want in with a chance to boost their NHL odds.

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Hope you enjoyed the first edition of the TOC Mailbag. Don’t forget to email us your questions for next week at theonlycolorseditors@gmail.com.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh senior Rory Dudley has been named Patriot League Player of the Week, the league announced Monday afternoon. Dudley hit .400 (6-for-15) over four games for the Mountain Hawks last week, highlighted by a monster senior day effort as Lehigh defeated Boston University 13-10 to claim the series win over the Terriers.
 
The award is the second of the season for Dudley, who leads the Mountain Hawks with five home runs and 37 RBIs for the season, while batting .310.
 
Dudley went 3-for-7 with a run scored in Saturday’s doubleheader split with BU and then went 2-for-5 in Sunday’s Senior Day series finale with a three-run double in the third inning and a three-run home run in the fifth. Both hits gave Lehigh the lead, with the home run giving the Mountain Hawks the lead for good.
 
The six RBIs are a career high for Dudley and also tie the Leadership Park single-game record. They are the most by a Lehigh player in a game at Leadership Park.
 
Also on Monday, junior Chloe Hess and first-year Kelly Fricker picked up honorable mention recognition from the league.
 
Hess earned the victory in Lehigh’s 3-2 win in game two on Saturday, allowing two runs on nine hits with three strikeouts in a complete-game effort.
 
Fricker hit her first career home run to put the Mountain Hawks on the board in that Saturday victory and then went 3-for-5 with three runs scored in Sunday’s series finale. She is now up to a Patriot League-leading 70 hits on the season.
 
The Mountain Hawks (25-22, 13-5 PL) have three more non-league games before the Patriot League Tournament, May 8-10. Lehigh hosts Villanova in the home finale Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Leadership Park.
 
Follow Lehigh Softball on X/Twitter and Instagram and like on Facebook for exclusive updates throughout the season.
 

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» THIS WEEK IN BALL STATE SOFTBALL: It is the final week of the regular season and the Ball State softball team will take on two of the three teams ahead of it in the league standings … Tuesday, the Cardinals travel to league-leading Ohio for a 1 p.m. doubleheader … Ball State will then welcome second-place Central Michigan to the Ball State Softball Stadium for a 1 p.m. twinbill Saturday and the regular season finale Sunday at Noon.

» THIS WEEKEND’S PROMOTIONS: Saturday’s twinbill versus Central Michigan will serve as Mental Health Awareness Day … Sunday, the Cardinals will honor the cultural icon Star Wars with May The 4th Be With You Day.

» THE OVERALL RECORD: Ball State enters the week with a 1206-1185-4 (.504) overall record dating back to 1975 … The Cardinals have tallied 30-or-more wins in 16 seasons, most recently a 37-18 mark in 2021 … Of the 16 seasons with 30-or-more wins, 11 have come in the past 17 years.

» QUOTING COACH PEÑA: “Our goal this season is to have fun competing. If we can compete every single pitch, and have fun doing it, I believe we are going to have a really good season. It’s truly about getting better every weekend and not putting so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect.”

» AGAINST THE BOBCATS: Ball State holds a 54-45-1 lead in the all-time series versus Ohio after winning three of the five meetings last season … During the 2024 regular season, Ball State swept a March 16 doubleheader in Muncie by scores of 7-5 and 5-0 … However, Ohio earned a 7-0 win the next day … In the MAC Softball Championship, the Bobcats handed Ball State an 8-0 (5) setback in the first meeting, while the Cardinals earned a 5-1 victory in the championship game of the elimination bracket … Ball State is 17-22-1 all-time in Athens, with Ohio winning the last four on its home turf, including all three meetings during the 2023 season by scores of 13-3 (5), 10-2 (6) and 4-2.

BALL STATE NEWS & NOTES:

» MAC PRESEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS: Ball State was picked to finish fourth among 11 teams in the Mid-American Conference’s annual preseason poll … The Cardinals, who finished sixth in the league last season with a 12-13 MAC record, are looking for a third consecutive  MAC Softball Championship berth, with the league’s top six teams advancing to Firestone Stadium in Akron, Ohio, for the three-day event which runs May 7-10 … BSU also picked up one of the 11 votes to win the MAC Tournament title.

» EARNING HER SPOT AMONG THE NATION’S BEST: Thanks to her solid play so far this season, redshirt senior catcher McKayla Timmons has been recognized as one of the nation’s top catchers, including earning the No. 2 spot in the latest DSoftball.com Power Rankings released April 24 … She has also moved up three spots to No. 4 in the latest SoftballAmerica.com position rankings released April 28 … Timmons has earned those accolades by leading the MAC and ranking 21st nationally with a .448 batting average … Timmons has blasted a team-leading 15 home runs this season and ranks seventh nationally in walks per game at 0.95 … In addition, Timmons ranks second nationally in on base percentage (.626), eighth in slugging percentage (.974), 36th in runs scored (52) and 48th in RBIs (52).

» CARRER IMPACT: Along with all her success this season, McKayla Timmons is set to end her collegiate career as one of the most prolific players in program history … She currently ranks first on Ball State’s career list in on base percentage (.515), second in slugging percentage (.795), second in home runs (56), second in RBI (177), third in batting average (.386) and fourth in runs scored (155) … She also owns the program record for times being hit by a pitch at 43, while her 104 career walks are tied for fifth.

» SHINING BEHIND THE PLATE TOO: In addition to pacing the offense, McKayla Timmons has proven to be one of the nation’s top threats behind the plate and finished the 2024 season ranked as one of the nation’s best catchers by SoftballAmerica.com … She was fifth on SA’s final catchers list and 47th among the nation’s top 100 players … The effort was aided by Timmons throwing out 11 of the 37 runners attempting to steal a base on her last season … She has already caught nine runners trying to steal this season, while surrendering just 17 stolen bases, and has picked off a pair of runners at first base.

» ON THE BASES: Ball State has proven to be one of the nation’s craftiest teams on the base paths, ranking first in the MAC and 22nd among all NCAA Division I programs with a 1.91 stolen bases per game average … The Cardinals have successfully stolen 82 of the 94 bases it has attempted to steal, led by 20 stolen bases from McKayla Timmons which its tied for first in the league and 70th nationally … Overall, 14 different Cardinals have stolen at least one base, with redshirt junior second baseman McKenna Mulholland ranking second on the squad and fifth in the MAC with 15 and sophomore shortstop Maia Pietrzak ranking third on the squad and seventh in the MAC at 14 … Conversely, Ball State has limited opposing squads to just 19 stolen bases on 28 attempts this season … Only 15 teams in the country have limited teams to less stolen bases, with the next best MAC school being Central Michigan at 23.

» ON THE OFFENSIVE FRONT: Ball State has been putting on an offensive clinic so far this season, ranking 18th nationally by averaging 7.23 runs per game … The Cardinals have earned eight run-rule victories this season and have scored 10-or-more runs in 13 games … Overall, Ball State is out-scoring opponents 311 to 192 this season and owns an 23-4 record when scoring at least five runs … In fact, Ball State’s 311 runs scored are already the seventh-most in a season in program history, with the record being the 368 runs scored by the 2012 squad.

» TAKING THE HIT: Ball State’s offense is bolstered by its ability to get on base, and one area the Cardinals excel in is staying tough in the box and getting hit by pitches … The Cardinals currently lead the nation in being hit 79 total times, which is already a BSU single season record topping the previous mark of 55 set in 2015 … McKenna Mulholland has been hit 15 times which is tied for first in the MAC and 10th nationally, while McKayla Timmons has been hit 14 times which ranks third in the MAC and 19th nationally … The next closest team is St. John’s which has been hit 62 times over 52 games, nine more than the Cardinals have played.

» THE WHITNEY EFFECT: Junior Ella Whitney, who played her first two seasons of collegiate softball at FIU, is tied for first in the MAC and 23rd nationally with her 18 pitching victories … Over 145.1 innings of work, the two-time MAC Pitcher of the Week honoree has compiled a 2.94 ERA which is fourth in the MAC … Whitney has also limited opposing batters to a .233 average against which ranks first in the league, while owning the third-best WHIP in the MAC at 1.24.

» MORE ON WHITNEY: A two-way player for the Cardinals, Ella Whitney is also a big offensive threat, boasting a .308 average and ranking second on the team in both home runs (9) and RBIs (45) … She recorded Ball State’s first triple of the season and is third on the squad with 10 doubles.

» SHUTTING ‘EM OUT: Ball State’s pitchers have combined for five shutouts so far this season, including two complete game shutouts each for Ella Whitney and freshman Breanna Severino … In fact, the Cardinals’ pitching staff put together a 14-inning shutout streak after Severino and Whitney threw back-to-back complete game shutouts in the April 12 doubleheader sweep of then-league-leading Miami … The last time the RedHawks were shutout in back-to-back games was March 5, 2023, when it lost both ends of a doubleheader at then-No. 14 Stanford by scores of 10-0 (5) and 8-0 (5).

» LONG BALL NUMBERS: The Cardinals currently rank second in the MAC with 49 home runs, trailing only Miami’s 60 … Timmons leads the way and is third among all league players and 48th nationally with her 15 home runs … Overall, 10 different Ball State players have blasted at least one home run this season … On the opposite spectrum, Ball State’s pitching staff ranks first in the MAC and tied for 51st nationally by allowing just 21 home runs … Ohio is second in the league with 29 home runs allowed.

» SOME OF THE NATION’S TOUGHEST: Maia Pietrzak and senior outfielder Kara Gunter enter the weekend as two of the nation’s toughest batters to strike out … Pietrzak is third in the MAC and 46th nationally at one strikeout per every 23.5 at bats, while Gunter is fifth in the MAC and 79th nationally at one strikeout per every 19.9 at bats.

» MORE ON PIETRZAK: Maia Pietrzak is having a spectacular sophomore season, ranking  second on the team and 16th in the MAC with a .355 batting average … In fact, she leads all MAC players with 55 runs scored, three ahead of Timmons in second, which ties as the fourth-most in a single season in program history … She is also third on the squad with seven home runs.

The ACC is “strongly considering” reducing its conference schedule from 20 games to 18 in order to bolster its participation in March Madness, according to CBS Sports’ Brandon Marcello. This comes after the conference sent just four teams to the NCAA Tournament during the 2024-25 season.

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, as well as althetic directors across the conference have reportedly been in “active discussions” with ESPN to impliment the changes into the upcoming 2025-26 season. According to the report, the proposal is expected to be approved by ACC administrators when the league meets for its annual spring meetings in May.

This model would consist of each team playing one game against each conference opponent, as well as two games against a “permanent rival.” Those two rivalry matchups would be home and home matchups for the two programs. For example, Duke and North Carolina.

The Blue Devils and Tar Heels ended up being two of the four teams that the ACC sent to the NCAA Tournament this past March. They were joined by the Louisville Cardinals and Clemson Tigers.

However, this won’t be the first time the ACC has played an 18-game schedule. That was the previous model the conference used before transitioning to 20 games during the 2019-2020 season, which coincided with the launch of the ACC Network. Though, the additions of Cal, Stanford and SMU will shake up how conference matchups occur from how it was then.

Despite only holding less than six percent of the total March Madness field, they were able to send one team to the Final Four in the Duke Blue Devils. They would go on to face the Big 12’s Houston Cougars in the matchup in San Antonio, where they’d fall 70-67 in a chaotic finish. Louisville, Clemson and North Carolina were all eliminated in the first round. However, the Tar Heels were on the winning end of their First Four game against San Diego State.

The ACC hasn’t won a national championship since the 2019 season, when the Virginia Cavaliers captured the title under former head coach Tony Bennett. This continued a trend of an ACC team winning the title every other year with Duke (2015) and UNC (2017) winning it all in previous seasons. Whether reducing the total number of league games will be the solution to the six-year drought remains to be seen, but the hope is for the new schedule to help the ACC gain some extra notoriety on a national, non-conference level.