Sports week in review: Zavier Warren to Brewers, football agrees to three-year deal with MSU
Another week, more news for Central Michigan sports.
CMU signed a substantial football game contract and had a baseball player selected in the abbreviated MLB Draft, among other stories.
Here are four stories around the CMU sports community:
CMU, MSU agree to three-year contract in football
From 2023-2030, the Chippewas and Spartans will play three times in East Lansing. The two programs came to an agreement on June 10.
For the three games, MSU will play CMU a total of $4.75 million for games slated on Sept. 2, 2023, Sept. 11, 2027 and Aug. 31, 2030.
"There is such a great tradition between Central Michigan and Michigan State, and we are excited to build on that with this three-game series," CMU Athletic Director Michael Alford said in a statement. "I appreciate the staff at Michigan State working with us to put together a series that I know our fans and alumni really look forward to and is another great opportunity to play an in-state opponent."
MSU has an 8-3 edge in the series — which started with a pair of Chippewa wins in 1991 and 1992 — and has won each of the last four games, including the only game in the series played in Mount Pleasant in 2012.
Zavier Warren drafted by Brewers in third round of MLB Draft
After a breakout season in 2019 with the Chippewa baseball team, Zavier Warren will continue his playing career in the professional ranks.
Warren, who primarily played shortstop with CMU, was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers with the 92nd pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.
In 2019, Warren was a catalyst for the Chippewas' Mid-American Conference regular-season and tournament championships and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Warren set a pair of season records with 59 walks and 23 doubles. Warren also found himself in the top-10 of several categories of season records. He finished third in runs (73), tied for third in RBIs (70), fourth in hits (90), tied for fourth in extra-base hits (33), fifth in at-bats (244) and sixth in total bases (141).
Warren was the highest Chippewa drafted since Doug Harrison went to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third round of the 1977 MLB Draft.
Men's hoops finalizing nonconference schedule
In 2019, CMU's men's basketball team played a rigorous back half of its nonconference schedule with games at Valparaiso, Robert Morris, Texas and Purdue — losing them all.
Going into 2020, the Chippewas will play another strong nonconference slate after adding games at Wisconsin, Butler and Pittsburgh.
CMU's matchup against the Badgers will be the sixth between the teams, third against the Bulldogs and the first against the Panthers.
Against the Badgers, the Chippewas have the best record at 2-3 with a pair of wins at home in 1981 and 1986. CMU is 0-2 against Butler after a pair of losses in 1978 and 1979.
Here is an updated look at the Chippewas' 2020 nonconference schedule. Scheduled home games are in bold:
Nov. 13 - Incarnate Word
Nov. 17 - at Wisconsin
Nov. 20 - at Butler
Nov. 28 - Robert Morris
Dec. 5 - at Tulane
Dec. 12 - Valparaiso
Dec. 18 - at Pittsburgh
Dec. 21 - at Arkansas State
NCAA committee recommends six-week plan for football
According to a CBS Sports report, the NCAA College Football Oversight Committee detailed a four-phase plan to start the college football season on time.
The first phase is slated from June 1-25 for voluntary workouts. Team workouts, the second phase, can start July 13 for weight training, conditioning and film study. Walkthroughs and team meetings for 20 hours a week are able to start on July 24. Finally, the preseason practice period — training camp — can start Aug. 7.
Teams were allowed to bring their student-athletes back to campus June 1 and many will start their voluntary workout programs June 15.
CMU and other teams kicking off Labor Day weekend are allowed 20 hours with their players per week from July 24-Aug. 6. The hours are divided between six hours of walkthroughs and meetings with eight hours of strength and conditioning work.
Two-a-days were banned by the NCAA in 2017 and were not considered in this proposal.
The NCAA Council is slated to work on approving the preseason calendar when it meets on June 17.
