Patrick Hayes

Originally published by Mott Community College

The Mott basketball program has a long history of players accomplishing great things. Players who buy in to the Mott system, who work hard on the court and in the classroom and who exhibit the toughness, leadership and responsibility that is a hallmark of Mott’s program generally get the opportunity to see their basketball careers continue at four-year colleges and even the professional level. Here’s a look at where some of Mott’s recent alums are today. Continue reading

Originally published by Good Men Project

My earliest memories of television involve watching WWF (now WWE) wrestling on Saturdays with my dad, uncle, and cousin. My uncle was in the midst of a major remodeling of his house (a project that he never did complete despite spending about 17 years on), so Saturdays my dad would usually go over to his house to help. Continue reading

Originally published by Mott Community College

Over many decades, Flint has built a basketball reputation that is second to none among similarly sized cities across the country. Continue reading

Originally published by The Crossover Dribble

For a moment, the Detroit Pistons were a revolution.

Heading into the 2004 NBA Finals, no one took the Pistons seriously against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Eastern Conference was terrible. The Pistons didn’t have a go-to scorer. Who could possibly defend Shaq and Kobe? Continue reading

I never had the opportunity to meet Tom ‘Killer’ Kowalski while I was working for MLive/Booth, but I always admired his work. News of his passing this morning at the age of 51 was shocking to many, to say the least. Kowalski and I only had one real interaction. In the midst of Detroit’s historic 0-16 campaign in 2008-09, I started a little series for MLive called ‘Road to History.’ The lame premise was simple: I rather enjoyed the thoughts of the Lions becoming the only team in the history of a 16-game schedule to go winless in a season. Why just settle for shitty when you can be historically shitty, ya know? Continue reading

Originally published by Good Men Project

In July 2010, LeBron James took the unprecedented step of allowing his free agency, a free agency that had been anticipated and speculated about by fans for something like three years, to play out publicly in a widely-watched television. During “The Decision,” he announced he would leave his home-state Cleveland Cavaliers and sign in the flashier city of Miami with flashier teammates (with apologies to Boobie Gibson and Mo Williams) like Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Continue reading

Originally published by The Only Colors

Kalin Lucas is officially a professional basketball player, and that’s something he should be very proud of. Continue reading

Originally published by the Swartz Creek View

As a young kid watching basketball, Swartz Creek junior-to-be Dewrell ‘J.D.’ Tisdale always wanted to emulate the game of one of the best scoring little men to ever play in the NBA, Allen Iverson. Continue reading

Originally published by the Lapeer County Press

The Lapeer area has never been known as a basketball hotbed, but, based on the summers they are having, two members of the class of 2013 could make Lapeer West High School a team to watch next season. Continue reading

Branden Dawson's ability to make an immediate impact will be a big key for Michigan State this season.

Originally published by SLAM

Michigan State’s basketball season a year ago was a well-documented mess of frustrations and distractions, from Tom Izzo’s offseason flirtations with the Cleveland Cavaliers to disciplinary problems that led to subsequent defections of guards Chris Allen and Korie Lucious to the inconsistent performance of senior Durrell Summers and culminating with a .500 Big Ten record, falling out of the Top-25 and losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after being ranked No. 2 in the country in the preseason poll.

But with Allen, Lucious and big man Garrick Sherman all transferring as well as Summers, Kalin Lucas and Mike Kebler graduating, Michigan State will have a very different look next season, and based on the performances of some key players in the Moneyball Summer Pro-Am and Lansing Sexton High School, the Spartans could be poised for a bounce back season. Continue reading