More than 20 years after his time at Eastern Michigan, the name Earl Boykins still means a lot to the Eagles’ athletics program. He helped put the basketball team on the national scene with two NCAA Tournament appearances in four years. In the 21 seasons since Boykins graduated from EMU, he’s had a successful NBA career with multiple teams and started his own AAU program named Boykins Basketball Academy.
The Eastern Michigan athletics program has seen some ups and downs in the last year, which includes a MAC Tournament title by the women’s volleyball team, an appearance in the Camellia Bowl for the football team, and a court ruling that forced EMU to reinstate the softball and women’s tennis teams.
James Thompson IV earned the opportunity to work out with the New York Knicks and the Washington Wizards this month after closing out his senior year with Eastern Michigan this past March.. As a former student athlete for the Eagles, Thompson left his mark on the basketball program, ending his career as the all-time leading rebounder in Eastern Michigan history.
Athlon Sports announced that seven Eastern Michigan University student athletes made preseason All-MAC last month.
Emoni Bates, the 6'8 high school freshman out of Ypsilanti Lincoln High School, has been tagged as the No. 1 player in the 2022 class across the country. ESPN, Ballislife.com, SLAM Magazine, and more have been covering Emoni Bates and his potential to become an NBA star. Lincoln made a run in March to the reach the MHSAA boys’ championship at the Breslin Center.
The Lions are coming off a 6-10 finish to their season which saw them finish in last place in the NFC North. It was also the first year under new coach Matt Patricia. With the 2018 season now firmly in the rearview mirror for all 32 NFL teams, the Lions have started their 2019 campaign off on a high note taking Iowa tight end T.J. Hockenson in the first round of the draft on April 28.
After it was announced that John Beilein would be leaving Michigan to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Wolverines hired Fab Five member, Juwan Howard. The Wolverines and new head coach, Howard agreed to a five-year deal on Wednesday, May 22. Howard played basketball at Michigan for three years before being drafted in the NBA by the Washington Bullets. He helped the Fab Five make two national championship games during his time in Ann Arbor.
The Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors will square off in Game 1 of the 2019 NBA Finals on May 30 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in Scotiabank Arena. It is somewhat fitting that the Raptors have homecourt advantage during the finals considering this is the first time in franchise history that the team has made it this far.
The 55-game schedule wrapped up for Eagles' baseball last week when they were swept by Kent State at home. EMU finished with a record of 11-43-1 and 6-21 in conference, which put them at ninth place out of 10 teams in the MAC. There were some young and bright spots on the roster, though, who were producing more and more as the season went on.
The Pittsburgh Steelers invited former Eastern Michigan defensive back, Ross Williams, to rookie mini-camp. Williams is the fifth EMU player to get a chance in the NFL, as he joins Maxx Crosby, Blake Banham, Ka’John Armstrong and Jeremiah Harris. Williams played in 29 games during his four-year career with the Eagles.
After picking up six-time All-Star Blake Griffin and former Toronto Raptors head coach, Dwane Casey in 2018, the Detroit Pistons have been looking to build the roster around them. The Pistons didn’t make a pick until the second round last year after their first-round pick was involved in the trade that acquired Griffin. Ultimately, in the 2018 NBA Draft, the Pistons acquired two guards, Khyri Thomas and Bruce Brown Jr. Some would say that the Pistons found success during the 2018-19 season, despite finishing the season with a 41-41 record. The team found itself just barely in the playoffs.
The Eastern Michigan baseball team was swept by Kent State in the final series of its season. The Eagles finished with a 6-21 record in the MAC and a 7-12 record on their home field. Eastern Michigan celebrated Senior Day on Saturday, May 18 at Oestrike Stadium in Ypsilanti.
New York sports went through an excoriating 24-hour period last week, starting from the highest of highs and ending at the lowest of lows. The New York Knicks had their dreams crushed in the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday, May 21, followed up by the New York Jets firing their general manager and hiring their head coach as the interim general manager the next day.
The Detroit Red Wings reached the playoffs in 25 consecutive seasons, including winning four Stanley Cup Finals, before failing to reach the postseason in 2016-17 as they went just 33-36-13. Since then, the Red Wings have missed the playoffs another two years and finished 2018-19 with only 32 victories. Being eliminated from playoff contention in three straight years after playing deep into the postseason for nearly three full decades is a major wakeup call.
Soccer is widely regarded as the most popular sport worldwide, yet it’s the fifth most viewed sport in the United States. With that said, the popularity growth of the sport in the country over the last decade is apparent, and a part of that is the development of college soccer.
For the first six weeks of the 2019 MLB season, some things have gone unexpected. Other players and teams around the league are living up to the hype which was surrounding them in the early months of preseason. Here is a recap of what has happened in the MLB so far this year.
The Eastern Michigan baseball team was swept in a three-game series by rival Central Michigan at Oestrike Stadium over the weekend. The Eagles have now lost eight straight games and are 7-9 at home on the year. In the three games, the Chippewas outscored EMU 22-9 including an 11-1 victory in the series opener.
After two Game 7 thrillers on Sunday night, the conference finals will kick off on Tuesday, May 14 with a Western Conference matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Portland Trail Blazers at Oracle Arena. The Eastern Conference Finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors at Fiserv Forum will begin on Wednesday.
Jeremiah Harris, who played defensive lineman for the Eagles over the past four seasons, has signed a free agent contract with the New York Giants. Harris started 12 games last season for Eastern Michigan and totaled 64 tackles. He is now the second former Eastern Michigan defensive lineman to sign with an NFL team this year. The first was Maxx Crosby, who was drafted 106th overall by the Oakland Raiders, the sixth highest draft pick in Eastern Michigan history.
