The most tumultuous basketball offseason in memory just got a little more tumultuous, as Lansing TV station WLNS is reporting that Korie Lucious was arrested for drunk driving last night.  According to WLNS:

We have a copy of the ticket which says he blew a .09 on a breathalyzer test.

For reference, .08 is the legal limit (Edit - if you're over 21 - which Lucious isn't.  It's .00 for minors). Lisa Byington is reporting that Izzo won't comment until he gathers all the facts but rest assured his comments will not be glowing.  On the plus side, football season starts Saturday, and I'd never thought I'd be using football to get away from basketball's problems.

EDIT: For the record, Lucious doesn't turn 21 until November, so there might be a minor in possession charge as well. 

More photos » Al Goldis - AP

Less than two months away.

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There wasn't a lot of critical information in the basketball schedule released yesterday that we didn't already have, but analyzing things is what we do here  So here you go, bulletpoint-style:

• Exhibition opener is Tuesday, November 2 vs. Saginaw Valley State.  Only 67 days away, believe it or not.
• Regular season opener is Friday, November 12 vs. Eastern Michigan.
• Five off days before the Maui Invitational; three after, going into a game vs. a lower-tier Tennessee Tech team.  Shouldn't have the kind of fatigue issues the team did going into the 2008 UNC game coming off only 2 full days rest after a long weekend tournament (although the travel back to East Lansing from Hawaii will obviously be lengthier).
  
• We already knew all the major-conference non-conference opponents: South Carolina (at home), Duke (away), Syracuse (New York), Texas (home).  As Izzo pointed out in the press release, 6 of MSU's 12 currently-scheduled non-conference games could be against major-conference opponents if things play to form in Maui (UConn, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Washington are the potential major-conference foes there).
• MSU plays at the Palace again, after a year off, against Oakland.  (This qualifies as new information, I think.)  The Grizzlies look to be the most dangerous non-major-conference team on the slate.  Center Keith Benson (21 points, 11 rebounds vs. MSU last year) is back for his senior year.
• One more non-conference game is yet to be announced.  Will presumably be the weekend of December 18-19 (after finals week) or a mid-week game after Christmas going into conference play.  Saturday the 26th is also a possibility; not sure if they'd want to play a game Christmas weekend or not.
• Conference schedule looks pretty reasonable.  No more than two road games (or home games) in a row at any point.  Quite a few turnarounds on only 2 full days rest, but that's the price of being on ESPN a lot.
• Missing conference games are home to Ohio State and at Indiana, reversing last year's missed games.  Fairly neutral pair of games to have off the schedule.  Missing OSU on the road last year was a better deal, arguably helping MSU snare a share of the title and making up a little for scheduling disadvantages that worked against MSU's title hopes a couple times earlier in the decade.
  
• Big Ten slates ramps up fairly slowly to a killer back-to-back-road-game sequence in Champaign and West Lafayette in the 6th and 7th games.  A 6-game sequence in the second half of the schedule includes at Wisconsin, at Ohio State, Illinois, and Purdue.  That's MSU's Big Ten championship hopes are likely to be realized or squashed.
• Senior Day will be against Iowa on a Wednesday night.  Pretty good odds of Lucas, Summers, and Kebler going out with a win.
  
• Final regular season tilt is down in Ann Arbor.  As noted by Seer, Michigan students will be on break for the game--so Crisler could be pretty green.
• Final entry on the schedule, on the very slim chance you weren't aware:

More photos » Paul Sancya - AP

Fare thee well, Mr. Allen.

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Chris Allen is reportedly headed to Iowa State to play out his final year of college basketball eligibility (after sitting out a year).  Allen had also considered playing at UTEP and St. John's.

Former Cyclone star Fred Hoiberg was named the new head coach at Iowa State earlier this year.  Coming off a 4-12 finish in Big 12 play this past season, the Cyclones are clearly in rebuilding mode.  Their top two offensive stars both departed following last season (Marquis Gilstrap graduated; Craig Brackins left for the NBA) and it appears the team will have four seniors in its playing rotation this season, so the opportunity will definitely be there for Allen to be a major contributor when he's able to take the court.  As noted in Sam Hosey's article, fellow former Big Tenners Chris Babb and Royce White will be joining Allen in Ames.

We still don't really understand the dynamics that led to Tom Izzo dismissing Allen, but he certainly worked hard to become a better player at MSU, and we wish him the best of luck as he continues his college career elsewhere.

It's now been just over two weeks since Chris Allen's career as a Spartan was terminated.  As I've contemplated the fallout from that event, it still seems to me that the biggest impact will be on the freshman season of Keith Appling.  Appling goes from the second perimeter player off the bench to the first--if not a potential starter, with Korie Lucious coming off the bench.  It's hard to see a scenario where he doesn't play at least 20 minutes per game right off the bat.  Appling comes in very highly touted, but that's still a pretty high-pressure situation to step into on a team hoping to contend for a national title.

So what can we reasonably expect from Appling?  Projecting the performance of incoming freshmen is obviously not a scientific task, but we can look back at what other freshman guards who have been asked to play substantial minutes for MSU have done in recent years.  A table showing key offensive stats for freshman guards who have played more than 15 minutes/game for Tom Izzo over the last 10 years is after the jump (I've deemed Alan Anderson and Raymar Morgan to be full-fledged forwards, BTW).

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. . . this happens:

"I actually had an opportunity to talk to Coach Izzo and we had a very good conversation," said Harris Sr. "I can say this, based on our conversation it was similar to conversations we had in the past about Gary, and Michigan State being a possible excellent choice for him with his college. I don’t think that anything has changed."

"Harris Sr." is Gary Harris, Sr., the father of 2012 basketball recruit Gary Harris.  While the 2012-13 Michigan State basketball roster is now completely full on paper, Tom Izzo is apparently leaving the door open to Harris becoming a Spartan.  From a logistical standpoint, it's very hard to see how that's going to happen.  One of the 13 players currently slated to be on basketball scholarship in the fall of 2012 would have to forego that position.  Possibilities:

• One of the current 2011 or 2012 MSU recruiting commits decides to decommit (and/or has his verbal offer pulled).  This would be a pretty unusual move for an Izzo-era recruit and/or Izzo.  As Josh has noted, it would also be a potential PR nightmare for a program that has prided itself on creating a stable, family-oriented atmosphere.
  
• Somebody goes pro early.  Unless Harris is willing to wait all the way until April 2012, that would have to be Adreian Payne going pro after just one year (so that Harris would only have to wait until April 2011).  Possible, but I think unlikely.  If Payne had intentions of being a one-and-done college player, I really don't think he would have chosen to come play for Tom Izzo, a guy with a reputation for developing players over 3-4 years, rather than featuring talented stars right off the bat.
• Somebody transfers.  Again, possible, but hard to foresee.  Assuming it's not one of the 2011 recruits (after one season), it would have to be someone who's going to be a freshman or a sophomore this upcoming season: Nix, Sherman, Appling, Gauna, Payne.  No reason to think any of those players aren't going to have productive careers at MSU.
  

Another potential scenario is for Harris or one of the players currently slated for a scholarship to come in on a non-basketball scholarship.  Matt Costello reportedly has a 3.8 GPA (HT: Donaldo).  Gary Harris plays football.  I have no idea how stringently the NCAA polices the use of academic or football scholarships for athletes clearly coming into a university primarily to play basketball.

Longtime readers know that recruiting talk in general creeps me out, and talking about which players officially slated to be Spartans may not end up being Spartans really creeps me out, so I'm going to leave it there.  Needless to say, stay tuned for future developments.  From everything I've read, Harris is certainly a player who would be a great asset to the program, potentially helping with the point guard situation after Kalin Lucas and Korie Lucious are gone.  How that could become a reality remains to be seen.  As with so many other things, in Izzo we trust.

Update: One more thing.  Even if you can squeeze Harris on to the roster, there's also the matter of how you find enough playing time for 9 perimeter players during the 2012-13 season (8 if Kaminski develops into a legitimate power forward).  Again, stay tuned.

The Bay City Big Man (I like it!) Matt Costello chose to became the latest member of the Michigan State Spartan basketball program.  With Travis Trice covering the point guard position and MSU bringing in a wealth of riches on the wing, Matt was the last piece of the recruiting puzzle to ensure that the frontcourt is covered for the future.  He chose MSU over offers from Ohio State, Notre Dame, Bulter, Indiana, and, again, the University of Michigan.  Entering his junior year in the neighborhood 6'9", 215 lbs, size shouldn't be a issue in limiting his success.  Costello's HS coach Chris Watz called him a "maniac" in the weight room so Matt should only improve his ability to hold his position and play with power.  Also, he'll fit right in with incoming Spartans like Adreian Payne and Alex Gauna as post players who can also step away from the basket and shoot.

I'll give you his rankings but then tell you why they don't tell the whole story after the cut...

SCOUT: Three-star, #20 C

RIVALS: Unranked

ESPN: Grade of 91

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It may seem odd that State now has more basketball than football commitments in the month of August, but PG/wing Denzel Valentine became the second player to join the 2012 recruiting class.  As mentioned before, the 6'5", 205 lb. guard from Lansing is the son of former MSU player and current Sexton coach Carlton Valentine.  Like Travis Trice, Valentine improved his stock with a great July on the AAU circuit, therefore his current recruiting rankings won't show his current ability.  Nevertheless, here they are:

RIVALS: No ranking

SCOUT: No ranking

ESPN:  Grade of 89, #32 SG

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(Big HT to Con-T for his help on this article.)

Years have passed since Michigan State basketball had a commitment come out of the blue, but I think it's fair to say that everyone was surprised with Obie Travis Trice, AAU teammate of MSU commit Branden Dawson, pledging Michigan State yesterday.  The 5'11", 160 lb. point guard from Dayton will take the final scholarship in the 2011 class, assuming no current players leave.  Here's how the recruiting services rate Trice's skills:

RIVALS: No ranking

SCOUT: 2 stars

ESPN: Grade of 88, #55 PG

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