Sports
Tom Izzo preps Michigan St. for late-night date with Bryant
Feb 15, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo talks with Michigan State Spartans guard Jase Richardson (11) during the second half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images Michigan State opens as the NCAA Tournament late show with no designs on going home early.
The Spartans (27-6) won the Big Ten regular-season title and extended the program’s streak to 27 consecutive appearances in the tournament. They were given the No. 2 seed in the South Region in Cleveland. The reward is a Friday night matchup with America East champion Bryant (23-11) scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET to close out two days of first-round games.
A delayed bedtime aside, head coach Tom Izzo promises to bring a high-alert Michigan State squad to town before what likely is to be a partisan, traveling “Izzone” crowd. For relative comparison, the Big Ten tournament title teams — Wisconsin and champion Michigan — have Thursday games at altitude in Denver.
“I’m ecstatic about where we are. We played awfully good ball, I don’t know if we have ever had a stretch where we played that many high powered teams in critical situations, on the road, short prep time,” Izzo said. “I think we’re prepared for the tournament.”
Bryant has run up against only a few NCAA Tournament teams this season. The Bulldogs lost to St. John’s (99-77) and Grand Canyon (112-66) in December during a four-game losing streak, then went 17-2 after the calendar flipped to 2025.
Head coach Phil Martelli Jr. said Izzo called him Saturday, before knowing they were opponents in the first round, to congratulate him on winning the conference tournament. Phil Martelli Sr. retired from coaching after successful runs at Michigan and St. Joseph’s and also talked to Izzo last week.
“(Izzo) talked to my dad and said, ‘You know, one of these predictions had us playing Bryant.’ And he said to my dad, ‘You know, that really (stinks) for you,'” Martelli Jr. said. “And (Martelli Sr.) goes, ‘Why?’ And (Izzo) goes, ‘You have to root against your son.'”
The Bulldogs are led by a power tandem in Miami and Memphis transfer Earl Timberlake, the America East Player of the Year who averaged 15.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.8 blocks per game. Another senior guard, Rafael Pinzon, is Bryant’s leading scorer with 18.5 points per game.
Bryant was eliminated in the First Four in 2022 in the program’s first NCAA Tournament. Martelli Jr. became head coach in 2023, moving from assistant coach to interim to the full-time replacement for Jared Grasso.
Michigan State strolls into the tournament highly tested. Seven of the Spartans’ final eight games were against Top 25 teams. They went 7-1, dropping the Big Ten tournament semifinal to Wisconsin, 77-74.
Being a No. 2 seed isn’t new for Izzo. In 2016, the Spartans lost in the first round to Middle Tennessee State. In 2019, they mowed their way to the Final Four.
The usual Izzo tenets apply to this bunch of Spartans: win the rebounding battle, run with a numbers advantage, and get downhill on offense. If MSU has a glaring weakness, it would be shooting, with no singular perimeter threat and a woeful 325th ranking in 3-point percentage (30.8).
Freshman Jase Richardson has become vital to Michigan State’s success as a multi-level scorer playing next to senior Jaden Akins, who has helped spread Izzo’s message that tournament games are won “in the meeting room, in the locker room, or in the hotel” by the team that is best prepared.
“The game will be won before it’s played 90 percent of the time,” Izzo said. “I think that’s your leaders, your seniors that have to get that through to guys, and then Jaden being one of our key guys he’s got to play his best, too.”
Richardson entered the starting lineup in February and has since averaged 17.3 points per game. The son of Jason Richardson, who was on the Spartans’ 2000 national championship team and a second Final Four squad the following year, Jase Richardson seems as if he might’ve been bred for the moment, Izzo said.
“He’s beyond his years in youth. He’s not a freshman. Pressure does not seem to bother him,” Izzo said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
LIV's Thomas Pieters: Rather retire than return to PGA Tour
Apr 4, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Thomas Pieters plays his shot from the 18th tee during the first round of the LIV Golf Miami golf tournament at Trump National Doral. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Belgium’s Thomas Pieters said he won’t return to the PGA Tour if the financially challenged LIV Golf League shutters its doors.
“I’m definitely never going back to the PGA Tour,” he recently told host Dan Rapaport of the “Dan on Golf” YouTube channel. “I’ve never liked that life. And that’s not me having a go at the PGA Tour, it’s not for me. I tried it and I just wasn’t happy there. If (LIV) goes away, I’ll probably try and play some on the European Tour or I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
Pieters, 34, joined the PGA Tour in 2017 and made 53 starts, with his best finish a runner-up effort at the Genesis Open in 2017. He has six wins on Europe’s DP World Tour.
He signed with LIV Golf in 2023 and currently plays for captain Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC. He finished T4 at the 2026 season opener at Riyadh in February and third at LIV Golf Hong Kong in March.
Pieters said he was “ready to retire” if LIV Golf had decided to “pull the plug” after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced plans to cut off funding.
“The atmosphere was really grim. I had enough of it after 3-4 hours, everybody talking about it,” he said. “I’m not fussed about it at this point because I feel like I still have a duty to focus on these next six, seven tournaments on LIV and then we’ll see. They’re obviously trying to get it together next year. We’ll see.”
Pieters, a member of the 2016 European Ryder Cup team, said he will make a decision about his future after he has more information from LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil.
“We are just guessing right now,” Pieters said. “But if we’re playing for $5 million next year or I could play on the DP World Tour for $3 million but be close to home that’s something I’d have to look at it when it comes. Possibly there’s guys going. But I think that’s up to Scott and his team to get this thing together and we’ll just have to find out.
“… Scott is telling us that he’s going to a broader market and trying to fund this for next year. I guess it’s a massive challenge. But we just have to wait and see.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lightning D Victor Hedman stepped away for mental health reasons
Mar 7, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (77) warms up before playing the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images Tampa Bay Lightning captain Victor Hedman announced Tuesday that his extended absence was a result of a need to address his mental health.
The 35-year-old defenseman missed the Lightning’s final 15 games of the regular season and all seven contests in a first-round playoff loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
“Over the past couple of months, I made the decision to step away and focus on my mental health,” Hedman said in a statement released by the Lightning. “It was not an easy decision, but it was the right one.
“I’ve always believed that being a leader means doing what’s best for the team. In this case, it also meant doing what was necessary to take care of myself, so I can be the best player, teammate, husband and father I expect to be.”
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 5, 2026
Hedman hasn’t played since exiting in the first period of Tampa Bay’s 6-2 road win versus the Vancouver Canucks on March 19 due to illness. Six days later, the Lightning announced he was taking a leave of absence for personal reasons.
“Obviously, after that first period in Vancouver, that was the final straw,” he told reporters Tuesday. “So, it’s something that’s been going on for a long time. I went through ways to get around it, but I wasn’t able to do that. So that’s where the decision came that I needed to take some time.”
Hedman also addressed his message to people dealing with mental health issues.
“Just don’t stick with your thoughts,” he said. “There are a lot of people out there that can help you and that’s what I found out. And like I said, it’s never too late, either.”
Hedman, 35, recorded 17 points (one goal, 16 assists) in 33 games this season. He endured extended absences due to an undisclosed injury in November and elbow surgery in December.
Hedman is a 2017-18 Norris Trophy winner as the best defenseman in the league, a two-time Stanley Cup champion (2020, 2021) and the 2020 Conn Smythe Trophy recipient as the playoff MVP.
The Sweden native has totaled 811 career points (172 goals, 639 assists), a plus-192 rating and 782 penalty minutes in 1,164 games since being selected by the Lightning with the second overall pick of the 2009 NHL Draft.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hall of Fame LB Lawrence Taylor discharged from hospital
St. Louis Rams vs New York Giants — The 1986 Giants were honored for their Super Bowl at halftime. Here is Lawrence Taylor at the conclusion of the ceremony, September 19, 2011. Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor has been discharged from a New Jersey hospital after more than a week’s stay.
Taylor, 67, was hospitalized with pancreatitis, TMZ Sports reported. He was released late last week from Morristown Medical Center, where initial reports said he was admitted on April 20 for a “stomach-related issue.”
“He is deeply grateful to the entire medical staff for their exceptional care and unwavering support,” attorney Mark Eiglarsh said in a statement Tuesday to The Athletic. “Also, he is grateful to now be on the road to recovery and hopes to be back on the golf course soon. He is returning home to Florida today.
“Mr. Taylor would also like to sincerely thank everyone for the outpouring of love, support, and prayers. Knowing that so many people were thinking of him and praying for his recovery gave him strength and helped carry him through a very challenging time.”
Considered one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history, Taylor was a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, eight-time All-Pro and 10-time Pro Bowl selection during his 13-year career with the New York Giants.
In 1986, Taylor recorded 20.5 sacks en route to being named the NFL MVP.
Taylor, a key part of two Super Bowl championship runs for New York, was selected by the Giants with the second overall pick of the 1981 NFL Draft out of North Carolina.
After leaving the NFL, Taylor publicly battled substance abuse issues.
–Field Level Media
LIV's Thomas Pieters: Rather retire than return to PGA Tour
Lightning D Victor Hedman stepped away for mental health reasons
