Michael Jerome Cooper is an American basketball coach and former player. He played for the Los Angeles Lakers during his entire career in the National Basketball Association, winning five NBA championships with the Lakers during their Showtime era. He was an eight-time selection to the NBA All-Defensive Team, including five times on the first team. He was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1987. In 2024, it was announced that Cooper would be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Following his Hall of Fame announcement, it was announced on August 15, 2024, that Cooper would have his No. 21 retired by the Lakers on January 13, 2025.
Keith McLeod is an American former professional basketball player and current varsity boys basketball head coach at East Canton High School in Canton, Ohio. He is 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall. He has also played in the NBA for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors and Indiana Pacers, in the CBA for the Yakima Sun Kings, in the USBL for the Saint Joseph Express, in the NBA D-League with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, Canton Charge, and Erie BayHawks, and in the Italian top league for Mabo Prefabbricati Livorno, Lottomatica Virtus Roma and Montepaschi Siena.
Jack Avon Harbaugh is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Western Michigan University from 1982 to 1986 and Western Kentucky University from 1989 to 2002, compiling a career college football head coaching record of 116–95–3. In his final year at Western Kentucky, he led the 2002 Hilltoppers to an NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship title. In 2023, Harbaugh came out of retirement to become assistant head coach of the Michigan Wolverines under his son Jim and helped lead the team to win the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship.
The Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing Michigan State University. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I college basketball. The Spartans have won two NCAA championships and 16 Big Ten Championships. Their home games are played at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing, Michigan. Tom Izzo has been the head coach since 1995.
Paul Jeffrey Haynes III is an American college football coach and former player. He is the cornerbacks coach for the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a position he has held since 2023. He was the head football coach at Kent State University from 2013 to 2017. Haynes was an assistant coach at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels for 20 years, including stints as defensive coordinator at Ohio State University and the University of Arkansas. Before his coaching career, he was a four-year letterman as a defensive back at Kent State between 1987 and 1991.
The 2014–15 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Spartans, led by 20th year head coach Tom Izzo, played their home games at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference. MSU finished with a record of 27–12, 12–6 in Big Ten play to finish in a three-way tie for third place. They defeated Ohio State and Maryland to advance to the Big Ten tournament championship where they lost to Wisconsin. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 7 seed in the East region. They defeated Georgia and Virginia to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.They defeated Oklahoma and Louisville to advance to the Final Four for the seventh time under Tom Izzo. There the Spartans lost to eventual National Champion, Duke.
Chavano Rainer "Buddy" Hield is a Bahamian professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners and was named the Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year in 2015 and 2016. In 2016, he received four major national player of the year awards: the John R. Wooden Award, the Naismith Award, Sporting News Player of the Year, and the Oscar Robertson Trophy. Hield was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft by the New Orleans Pelicans and was traded to the Sacramento Kings for DeMarcus Cousins in 2017. He was dealt to the Indiana Pacers in a package for Domantas Sabonis in 2022. In February 2024, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. In July 2024, Hield was involved in a 6-team trade that involved him getting traded to the Golden State Warriors.
Steven Gardiner is a Bahamian track and field sprinter competing in the 400 metres and 200 metres. He is the 2020 Olympic and 2019 world champion in the 400 m, and also won the silver medal at the 2017 World Championships in that event. His winning time of 43.48 s from the 2019 World Championships is the Bahamian record and makes him the eighth‑fastest man in the history of the event. Gardiner also owns the Bahamian records in the outdoor 300 m and 200 m, with times of 31.83 s and 19.75 s respectively, and the world best in the indoor 300 m at 31.56 s.
The 1997–98 Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represented Michigan State University in the 1997–98 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan as members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by third-year head coach, Tom Izzo. The Spartans finished the season 22–8, 13–3 in Big Ten play to win a share the regular season Big Ten regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the inaugural Big Ten tournament, they were upset by Minnesota in the quarterfinals. MSU received a bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 4 seed in the East region, marking the school's first appearance in the Tournament since 1995 and first under Izzo. They defeated Eastern Michigan in the First Round which marked their first Tournament win since 1994. They then defeated Princeton to advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1990. There they lost to No. 1-ranked North Carolina.
Todd Andrew Simon is an American college basketball coach who is the current head coach at Bowling Green State University.
Jacquie Joseph is an American former collegiate softball player and coach who last served as the head coach at Michigan State. Joseph played college softball at Central Michigan from 1982 to 1985.
Robyn Fralick is an American women's basketball coach who is the current head coach at Michigan State University. She previously coached at Ashland and Bowling Green universities and was director of operations at Western Michigan.
Saddi Washington is an American college basketball coach and former player. He currently serves as a men's basketball assistant coach for the Michigan State basketball team. He played college basketball at Western Michigan. Before becoming a collegiate assistant coach, he was a volunteer coach at Romulus Senior High School under current Alabama head coach Nate Oats.
Kai Martinez Jones is a Bahamian professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the San Diego Clippers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Texas Longhorns.
Mike Tressel is an American college football coach. He is the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach for the University of Wisconsin–Madison, positions he has held since 2023. Tressel, the nephew of former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, joined the University of Cincinnati's football coaching staff under Mark Dantonio in 2004. Tressel followed Dantonio to Michigan State when he was hired there in December 2006. He was named the acting head coach when Dantonio announced his retirement in February 2020. Tressel was one of two Dantonio assistants retained by Dantonio's successor, Mel Tucker.
The most popular sports in the Bahamas are those of colonial British origin as well as those adopted from neighbouring United States. They include athletics, basketball, baseball, American football, swimming, softball, tennis, boxing, and volleyball track.
LaQuan Nairn is a male long jumper from Nassau, Bahamas. He attended C.R Walker High school in Nassau, Bahamas before going on to compete for South Plains College, and University of Arkansas. Nairn broke the Long jump indoor national record at the 2022 Tyson Invitational, with a jump of 8.18 meters.
Adam Nightingale is an American former ice hockey player and the head coach of the Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey team.
The 2022–23 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, led by 16th-year head coach Suzy Merchant played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan. They finished the season 16–14, 7–10 in Big Ten play to finish in ninth place. They defeated Nebraska in the second round of the Big Ten tournament before losing to Indiana. The Spartans were invited to the National Invitation Tournament, but declined the invitation due in part to the Michigan State shooting on campus.
The 2023–24 Michigan State Spartans women's basketball team represented Michigan State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Spartans, were led by first-year head coach Robyn Fralick and played their home games at Breslin Center in East Lansing, Michigan.
