NCAA Final Four coming to Detroit in 2026

Posted on by farlane

Editor’s note: I don’t know if I’ve ever had 3 sports posts in a single week or started & ended the week with a photo from the same photographer. Guess it’s just one of those special weeks and one of those special photographers!

NCAA Fan Jam Mobile by Montez Miller

NCAA Fan Jam Mobile by Montez Miller

Although the NCAA National Basketball Champions haven’t even held their parade yet (Saturday, April 11 @ 10am in Ann Arbor), the NCAA is already beginning promotions for the 2027 NCAA Men’s Final Four in Detroit that takes place April 3 & 5 at Ford Field (click for tickets & details).

Our friend Montez Miller was at the kickoff yesterday in Detroit for the NCAA Fan Jam Mobile tour that will travel to the 83 counties of Michigan through April of 2027 to build awareness and excitement for another huge event for the state of Michigan & our largest city.

Here are some more photos from the Detroit event below, and I snuck in a gorgeous shot of the new Hudson’s in downtown Detroit that she shared last night! Follow her on Facebook for the latest!

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University of Michigan wins NCAA Championship!

Posted on by farlane
Champs by University of Michigan Men's Basketball

🏆 CHAMPS 🏆 by University of Michigan Men’s Basketball

Michigan Men’s Basketball shares that the top seeded and No. 3-ranked University of Michigan men’s basketball team took down No. 7-ranked UConn last night by a score of 69-63 to secure their second NCAA championship. They share that in addition to the national championship, the Wolverines won the Big Ten championship with a 19-1 record, had the Big Ten Player of the Year (consensus All-American Yaxel Lendeborg), the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year (7′ 3″ center Aday Mara), and Big Ten Coach of the Year Dusty May.

Unsurprisingly, fans took to the streets of Ann Arbor following the win as you can see in the photos mLive shared. While there were some reports of fires, it looks like it was mostly couches with no serious damage (other than to the couches).

PS: I promise that even though there have been three straight sports posts, this isn’t a sports blog – the state of Michigan is just having a moment right now!

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Detroit Pistons are the 2026 Eastern Conference Champions!!

Posted on by farlane
Daniss Jenkins by Montez Miller & Tell Us Detroit

Daniss Jenkins stepping up by Montez Miller & Tell Us Detroit

I was tempted to feature a photo from Detroit-based photographer & Michpics friend Montez Miller on my Detroit Tigers Opening Day post on Friday, but something told me I needed to hold off. That something turned out to be the Detroit Pistons who clinched their first Eastern Conference title since the 2006-07 season! ESPN shares how a gritty Pistons squad managed to seal the deal by going 7-2 after superstar & team leader Cade Cunningham went down with a scary lung injury.

All-Star center Jalen Duren has taken more of a central offensive role, averaging 23 points and 11 rebounds on 66% shooting since Cunningham went down. Reserve point guard Daniss Jenkins reemerged from a midseason slump to take advantage of increased playing time, with 19.3 points and over seven assists. On Saturday, Jenkins had 14 assists, one short of his career high.

“With Cade here, we were more relaxed, we knew we had more of a superstar to get us to wins,” Pistons swingman Ausar Thompson told ESPN. “But since he’s been gone, we all gathered around and knew we had to be more gritty, missing such a big piece. We had to make up for less offense on the defensive side.”

Here are a few more from Montez so we can get a pic of Cade in. For sure follow Montez Miller and Tell Us Detroit on Facebook for many (many) more along with all kinds of Detroit Tigers & other Motor City magic!

Lots more Detroit Pistons over the years on Michigan in Pictures!

2026 Pistons FACTS via the Detroit Pistons

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Michigan March Madness

Posted on by farlane
Michigan State vs. Michigan by Matt Hallowell

Michigan State vs. Michigan by Matt Hallowell

College basketball fans in Michigan will be eating very well tonight with both Michigan and Michigan State reaching the NCAA Men’s Basketball Sweet Sixteen. Top seeded Michigan Wolverines will tip off against 4th seeded Alabama at 7:35pm and third seeded MSU Spartans will face on 2 seed UConn at 9:45. For sure tune in on Saturday for the Michigan Wolverines who will face Louisville on Saturday at 12:30 in the NCAA Women’s Sweet Sixteen matchup!

Matt Hallowell was the photo editor for The State News & has shared some great photos over the years including these from 2012. Head over to his photostream on Flickr for more!

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Congratulations to the Detroit Pistons!

Posted on by farlane

Detroit Pistons Game 6 2025 by Montez Miller Photography

I was having a hard time summarizing my feelings about the Pistons’ heartbreaking loss to the Knicks last night. Fortunately, my friend Montez Miller shared the perfect photo & words with me. We will be back!!

According to the game, the Detroit Pistons lost, but considering their journey, it’s clear that losing isn’t the full story.

In the 2023-2024 season, they finished 15th with 68 losses. However, in the 2024-2025 season, they rebounded to win 44 games, finishing 6th and earning a spot in the playoffs. That’s not just losing — that’s a remarkable comeback and a clear sign of progress and WINNING.

CONGRATULATIONS, DETROIT PISTONS FOR A WONDERFUL SEASON. 🏀❤️🏀

Follow Montez on Facebook, learn more about her & her work as a photojournalist on her website, and GO PISTONS!!

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Coach Izzo is the Big Ten’s winningest!

Posted on by farlane

MSU vs South Carolina by Matt Hallowell

MSU vs South Carolina by Matt Hallowell

Last night Michigan State University Spartans mens basketball head coach Tom Izzo notched his 663rd win to pass Bobby Knight for most wins at one Big Ten school. From his first victory in 1995 to last night’s,  Izzo has enjoyed an extraordinary career at Michigan State with 23 straight NCAA tourney appearances (soon to be 24), 10 Final Four appearances, and a 2000 NCAA championship. Congratulations to Coach Izzo on a stellar career that’s still going!

Matt took this way back in November of 2010 when he was working for the State News. See more in his Sports Portfolio gallery on Flickr.

PS: I also wanted to make sure you all saw this Instagram photo that Adam Ruff took last night of Izzo!

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Detroit Pistons get the #1 pick! #DetroitUp

Posted on by farlane

Ben Wallace, Number 1 Pick

Ben Wallace, Number 1 Pick

Last night the Detroit Pistons secured the #1 draft pick in the NBA Lottery. As Duncan Smith writes, their 2020-21 “Fade for Cade” has paid off spectacularly with their first #1 overall pick since Bob Lanier:

The 2020-21 Detroit Pistons lost a lot of games and their 20-52 record produced the fifth-worst winning percentage (.278) in franchise history. But they did it by design, and grit, accountability and hard work were more important than anything else. For a young team building the foundations of what is hopefully meant to be a great franchise in the future, the building blocks were in place.

Now, fast-forwarding a bit, the Pistons and their hard, painful work over the past year have been rewarded. There won’t be anything easy about this, but teams don’t win anything of import without generational and transformational talents. Time will tell if Cade Cunningham is this, but we know right now he might be.

Indeed he might & if you’re a Pistons fan like me (or Big Ben) you gotta be over the moon right now!!

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Farewell, Jud Heathcote

Posted on by farlane

Jud Heathcote, photo courtesy MSU Basketball

“Michigan State has lost one of its icons today. And yet nothing can erase his impact on the program, the players he coached and the coaches he mentored. Spartan basketball is what it is today because of Jud Heathcote.”
~MSU Basketball Coach Tom Izzo

Legendary Michigan State University basketball coach Jud Heathcote has passed away at the age of 90:

George M. (Jud) Heathcote coached the Michigan State men’s basketball team from 1976-95, guiding the Spartans to 340 victories, three Big Ten titles, nine NCAA Tournament berths and one national title during his 19 seasons in East Lansing.

Heathcote is the second-winningest coach in MSU history with a record of 340-220 (.607), including a 14-8 (.636) mark in the NCAA Tournament. His overall record was 420-273 (.606) over 24 seasons, including five years at Montana.

In his third season in East Lansing, Heathcote led Michigan State to its first NCAA men’s basketball championship in 1979 and won back-to-back Big Ten titles in 1978 and 1979. During those two seasons, Heathcote had the opportunity to coach one of the game’s greatest players, All-American Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who propelled the Spartans to a 51-10 record in his two seasons at MSU.

A two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year (1978 and 1986), Heathcote coached seven All-Americans (Johnson, Gregory Kelser, Jay Vincent, Sam Vincent, Scott Skiles, Steve Smith and Shawn Respert) and 22 NBA players. Five of his players won the Big Ten scoring title a total of six times. During Jud’s tenure, MSU had at least one player among the first-team All-Big Ten selections in 12 of his 19 years.

Prior to his retirement, Heathcote ensured that the future of Spartan basketball would be in good hands. In 1990, he promoted assistant Tom Izzo to associate head coach, and fought for Izzo to be named his successor.

Read on for more and please share articles about him that you enjoyed in the comments!

Here’s a brief video on Heathcote from CBS Sports…

The Smitty and Detroit’s University Club

Posted on by farlane

the-smitty-detroit-mi

the.smitty // Detroit, MI, photo by Brian Day

Historic Detroit says that the University Club:

…was a fraternal organization where the city’s educated men could go to hang out and network.

The organization was founded in 1899 in Swan’s Chop House at the northwest corner of Woodward and Larned. To be a member, you had to have graduated from a university or college. George P. Codd, a congressman and mayor, was the group’s first president. The group would move several times before it would move into this structure on East Jefferson in 1931. It was designed by William Kapp of the architectural firm Smith, Hinchman & Grylls in the Collegiate Gothic style. Among its features were underground 4 Singles and 1 Doubles Squash Courts, and 1 Racquets Court, and a grand two-story great hall. There were also 24 bedrooms on the third floor. This building was for only the boys, and women were forced to use a side entrance on Jefferson.

…At 4:30 a.m. on June 15, 2013, a massive fire ripped through the club’s dining hall and destroyed other parts of the building. “It took fire crews nearly six hours to completely extinguish the blaze, which continued to flare up into the evening,” DetroitUrbex.com notes.

Click the pic to view it bigger and see more of Brian’s work at BrianDay.org.

Tom Izzo: Definitely One of the Most Famous Natives of Michigan

Posted on by farlane

tom-izzo-michigan-state-spartans

Tom Izzo, photo by Hillary Higgens

TRUE CONFESSION: Page-at-a-time slideshows make me want to smash my screen, but I have to say that what mLive is doing with slideshows has been pretty cool. Their feature on the Most Famous Natives of Michigan has their pick for the most famous person from each of Michigan’s 83 counties. Definitely worth a read. Share your thoughts here on on the Michigan in Pictures Facebook!

It’s hard to argue with their choice for the most famous person from Dickinson County, Michigan – Michigan State University Spartan coach Tom Izzo:

Since 1995, Tom Izzo has led the Michigan State men’s basketball team as head coach. Born Jan. 30, 1955, Izzo was recently inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Under his watch, the Spartan team has made it to the Final Four seven times and taken home an NCAA Men’s Division I Championship.

Hillary took this photo back in 2011. View it background big and see more in her 2011 Champion’s Class slideshow.