Moneyball Pro-Am Week 5 ended with one team standing alone, and Team Faygo was the last group left with the trophy.
The championship bracket opened Tuesday with three first-round games. Team Faygo, behind Cam Ward and Jasiah Jervis, got past Team SPS, which featured Jordan Scott and Julius Avent, to move on to the next round. In the night’s other early test, top-seeded Team LAFCU - Jeremy Fears and Ethan Taylor - survived a scare from the winless No. 6 seed Team BLT, pulling out an 81-78 win.
The final game Tuesday turned into a showcase for Carlos Medlock Jr. Team Motorcars, with Medlock and Anton Bonke, knocked off Team Tri-Star, which included Coen Carr and Jesse McCulloch, 96-94.
Medlock poured in 48 points, exactly half of Motorcars’ total, in what was described as another near 50-point outing. The performance only added to the buzz around him.
Thursday’s semifinal brought the biggest shot of the week. Team Faygo met Team Motorcars, and MSU freshman Jasiah Jervis ended it with a deep three-pointer with two seconds left, lifting Faygo to a 92-89 win. That bucket sent Team Faygo into the title game against Team LAFCU.
Former Spartan and current Orlando Magic player Jase Richardson was there to watch the finale.
The championship game had its own late drama. Team Faygo, after winning earlier in the night and falling behind early in the final, battled back and grabbed a 74-72 lead over Team LAFCU. Jeremy Fears had one last chance to steal it at the buzzer, working an in-and-out dribble that got his defender to the floor, but the shot didn’t drop.
Team Faygo - with Jasiah Jervis, Cam Ward and Tre Holloman featured - finished as this year’s Moneyball Pro-Am champions.
In Other News...
Tom Izzo Faces A Tough Roster Call As NCAA Fight Looms
A federal ruling out of Colorado has added another layer of uncertainty to Michigan States long-range planning, because it opened the door for college basketball players in the 2022 class to seek an extra year of eligibility. For Tom Izzo and the Spartans, the issue is not about the coming season so much as the one after that, when roster math could get complicated if veterans decide they want to come back for a fifth year.
The NCAA, for its part, has said it will stick with its original eligibility rules and may challenge the decision, which leaves the whole situation in limbo for now. Michigan State can only plan so far ahead with that kind of legal cloud hanging over it, and the potential impact on the 2026-27 roster is real even if the final shape of the ruling is still unresolved. [Read more 🡒]
Pat Fitzgerald Sounds Like Exactly What Michigan State Fans Wanted
Pat Fitzgerald used Big Ten Football Media Days to lean right into the standard Michigan State fans tend to want from a head coach: belief, pressure and a clear-eyed insistence that the goal is bigger than just being respectable. He spoke about his excitement for the season ahead, said the expectation in East Lansing should be to chase championships and pointed to the rivalry game against Michigan as one of the defining markers of the year. Even with ESPNs College Football Power Index giving the Spartans long odds to win the Big Ten, Fitzgerald made it clear he does not see that as a reason to shrink the message.
What stood out was how much confidence he projected in the programs foundation, from the resources around it to the fan base waiting for something bigger. Fitzgerald also drew on his own playing days at Northwestern as part of that broader point about what it takes to build a winning culture in the Big Ten. For Michigan State, the interesting part now is whether that kind of public certainty turns into the kind of season that lets the Spartans stay in the conversation deeper into the fall. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Freshmen Are Already Creating Real Playing Time Pressure
Michigan States new freshman class is arriving with a little more runway than classes of the past, and that could matter quickly for a roster still sorting out its depth chart. Under the NCAAs new 5-in-5 eligibility rules, the Spartans are no longer working around the old four-game limit, which opens the door for young players to get on the field without burning a year of eligibility in the same way they once would have. With five four-star recruits in the 2026 class, the talent level alone is enough to make this group worth watching as the season unfolds.
Pat Fitzgerald pointed to that flexibility at Big Ten Football Media Days, noting how the new setup can help teams find real roles for freshmen sooner rather than later. For Michigan State, the bigger question is how quickly those newcomers can turn recruiting buzz into actual snaps, especially with several spots already carrying competition and the staff evaluating where the best matches might be. The opportunity is there, but the freshmen still have to earn it, and that is where the pressure starts to build. [Read more 🡒]