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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Sunday / December 15.
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    • Michigan State, St. John's

    By AARON BEARD

    PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) –– Michigan State coach Tom Izzo can see the positives and negatives all jumbled together for his 24th-ranked Spartans, from the good stretches where the ball goes inside to the bad ones when his team fires up quick 3-point attempts.

    “It’s still not smooth for us,” the Hall of Fame coach said after Wednesday’s 73-62 victory over St. John’s in the Battle 4 Atlantis. “It might not be for a while.”

    Freshman Miles Bridges had 22 points and a season-high 15 rebounds to lead the Spartans (3-2), who used a 17-4 burst midway through the second half to pull away late and build a 67-53 lead with about 2 1/2 minutes left.

    Kentucky, Michigan State

    NEW YORK — It isn’t often that John Calipari swings and misses on an elite recruit.

    But when it came to Miles Bridges, Calipari didn’t get his man.

    The 6-foot-7 Michigan native considered Kentucky and Michigan State before choosing the Spartans last October after his close friend Cassius Winston also picked Michigan State.

    “When he committed, then I basically switched over to Michigan State from Kentucky,” Bridges told Scout.com. “At first I thought Cassius was going to Michigan. When he went to Michigan State, it changed everything.

    “I just started hanging with him when AAU started,” Bridges said about Winston. “But it feels like I’ve known Cassius for all my life. We connect like brothers.”

    Indiana, Maryland, NBA Draft, Purdue

    Michigan State  coach Tom Izzo joked at Big Ten Media Day that he’s not a big fan of the new rules that allowed players to test the NBA Draft waters and still return to campus.

    “Yeah, it made me feel awful,” Izzo cracked. “Mine left and the others stayed.”

    While Michigan State lost freshman Deyonta Davis and senior Denzel Valentine to the NBA Draft, three other Big Ten players tested the waters and opted to return to campus.

    Indiana’s Thomas Bryant, Maryland’s Melo Trimble and Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan all chose to come back and are now part of a deep group of NBA prospects in the Big Ten.

    According to DraftExpress.com, the Big Ten has seven players projected to go in the 2017 NBA Draft: Indiana’s OG Anunoby at No. 11; Bryant at No. 20; Michigan State freshman Miles Bridges at 20; Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes, the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, at 36; Ohio State’s Keita Bates-Diop at 46; Illinois’ Malcolm Hill at 48; and Trimble at 56. Swanigan is currently projected to go undrafted.

    Articles

    Tom Izzo added the latest piece of a potentially fearsome recruiting class on Saturday when Michigan native Miles Bridges committed to the Spartans at Mott Community College in his home town of Flint, Mich.

    The 6-foot-6 small forward out of Huntington (W.V.) Prep also considered Kentucky and Indiana. Bridges is ranked the No. 3 small forward in the Class of 2016 by 247Sports.com and the No. 12 overall prospect.

    Michigan State now has the No. 1 recruiting class in 2016, according to Scout.com, jumping Duke and Kentucky.

    Izzo’s class now has four players ranked among the top 47 players in the nation, according to Scout. Shooting guard Josh Langford is No. 19, point guard Cassius Winston No. 28 and center Nick Ward No. 47. Bridges and Winston are close friends and AAU teammates.

    “When he committed, then I basically switched over to Michigan State from Kentucky,” Bridges told Scout.com. “At first I thought Cassius was going to Michigan. When he went to Michigan State, it changed everything.

    “I just started hanging with him when AAU started,” Bridges said about Winston. “But it feels like I’ve known Cassius for all my life. We connect like brothers.”

    Copyright 2016 Zagsblog. Partner of iOne Digital / Cassius Network
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