Wildcats to Face Spartans, Wolverines in Exhibition Play

MARQUETTE — WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair once said, “To be the man, you gotta beat the man.” And the Northern Michigan men’s basketball team have taken that sentiment to heart as they will be heading downstate this preseason to face off against two college basketball powerhouses.

The Wildcats will play exhibition games against the Michigan State Spartans and the Michigan Wolverines. The games will be held in East Lansing and Ann Arbor, respectively. Head coach Bill Sall says the exposure NMU will get from these games is priceless.

“Nothing wrong with having on the ESPN scroll, NMU come up there. A great recruiting tool of saying “We’re playing some high level teams you might get that opportunity when you come here.” So you put all that together and it does nothing but sell positives about your program,” Sall said.

Sall says the players are really excited about the opportunity and being able to see the speed of the game at the next level.

“Because even though at the Division II level, the game moves quickly. It’s another notch from there, like those players playing in the NBA. Along with that, when you go back and you’re going to watch film, you’re going to really see early on from our young guys…how much better have you improved? What’s your improvement level from last year to this year? It’s, I think, all the way around, a positive experience,” said Sall

NMU will face Michigan State on November 4th and against Michigan on November 13th. The Wildcats last played the Spartans back in 1975 but played the Wolverines more recently, an exhibition game back in November of 2012.