Michigan State Basketball: Miles Bridges, Tom Izzo speak after Wisconsin win
Michigan State basketball has been dealing with off-court issues, but Tom Izzo and Miles Bridges spoke out after Sunday’s win over Wisconsin.
It’s been another rough week for Michigan State. On Friday, Yahoo! Sports released a report, detailing amounts of money dispersed by Christian Dawkins to current and former players and their family members. Shockingly, Miles Bridges’ name surfaced as the report stated an alleged $400 was paid by the agent’s runner to the sophomore’s mom before his freshman season.
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This came just 48 hours before the Spartans were set to play the Wisconsin Badgers on the road in the regular season finale. Late Saturday night, the NCAA cleared Bridges to play moving forward after the Michigan State compliance committee’s internal investigation.
Michigan State squared off with Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon and the distractions seemed to catch up with the Spartans. Mentally, these type of off-court distractions take a toll, but Michigan State found a way to win, holding off a scrappy group of Badgers, namely Brad Davison who scored 30.
Bridges hit some clutch late free throws that sealed the deal after having one of the worst games of his young career. That mental toughness with the game on the line goes to show just how impressive this kid is, and he knew he’d have to face questions from the media afterward.
The star sophomore spoke to the media after the win and said he was “scared” that he would be deemed ineligible for the rest of the season and that he has never met Dawkins nor know who he is.
Bridges, on turning down the NBA and being linked to this: "I think if I wanted to get some money, I would definitely go to the NBA. I'm not really worried about that."
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) February 25, 2018
Miles Bridges told reporters today that neither he nor his family has received impermissible benefits. He said he believes the statement his mother gave to Compliance officials is what led to him being cleared, but said he doesn't know what his mother said in her statement.
— Brendan Quinn (@BFQuinn) February 25, 2018
About Christian Dawkins, Miles Bridges says "I don't know him at all. If he was in here, I wouldn't know if he was here." Says alleged "late-night meeting" in Los Angeles in Dawkins' email never took place. "No. They don't even let us out of the camp at Nike."
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) February 25, 2018
Tom Izzo also weighed in during his post-game presser:
Outright B1G champs ☑️No. 1 seed in #B1GTourney ☑️Tom Izzo speaks after @MSU_Basketball's season-finale win. https://t.co/TpVpZhzbMb
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 25, 2018
Izzo says they found the $400 payment to Bridges' mom not to be true, based on their investigation.
— Graham Couch (@Graham_Couch) February 25, 2018
Although there is plenty to still come out, such as the truth regarding all parties involved, it’s looking more like Izzo and Bridges are telling the truth.
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Right now, this should be treated as an “innocent until proven guilty” situation. The Spartans have plenty of time to prepare for their first Big Ten Tournament game on Friday against either Wisconsin or Maryland. It’s time to mentally prepare as well.