The dozens of survivors of former U.S. national gymnast team doctor Larry Nassar are seeking payment from the FBI for its lack of action in the 2015 investigation of the former physician. The victims, which include Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, are saying that the FBI deserves some blame in the 2017 scandal which left the nation shocked.

> WATCH SIMONE BILES’ uSPORTS INTERVIEW!

The lawsuit also includes other gold medalists Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney and Biles herself. Maggie Nichols, one of the claimants and champion gymnast, said that their suit was filed because “it is time for the FBI to be held accountable.”

The FBI was aware of Nasar’s abuse as early as 2015, however, they did not act on the information allowing him to continue his sexual misconduct on young women for over a year. USA Gymnastics informed the bureau in 2015, but they did not open a formal investigation. In fact, Nassar’s initial arrest in 2016 occurred on the heels of an investigation done by Michigan State, where he was a doctor.

The FBI did not play a role in the hearings, court proceedings, or sentencing, all of which were done by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke to survivors in April 2021 at a Senate hearing where he referenced the bureau’s lack of action in the matter. “I’m especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed. And that’s inexcusable,” Wray told them.

This is not the first time the FBI has come under fire for its lack of action. The bureau had reached a $12.5 million settlement for those affected in the 2018 Parkland high school shooting. They had received a tip about the shooter about five weeks before the massacre, but it was not acted upon.

Michigan State, Nassar’s employer, also reached a $500 million settlement to the hundreds of women that were victimized by Nassar.

“If the FBI had simply done its job, Nassar would have been stopped before he ever had the chance to abuse hundreds of girls, including me,” said Michigan gymnast and Nassar victim, Samantha Roy.

The FBI has not responded to the lawsuit yet.

Charles Rogers, a former wide receiver for both the Michigan State Spartans and the Detroit Lions, has died at the age of 38.

The native of Saginaw, Michigan was a five-star recruit coming out of high school before joining a Michigan State team coached by Bobby Williams. In just two seasons for the Spartans, Rogers finished with 135 catches for 2,821 yards and 27 touchdowns; he was also named an All-American.

Rogers’ former coach at Saginaw High, Don Durrett, spoke of his memories of Rogers as a high school phenom and how he has already heard from a number of former players.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2018 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW 

“I’ll tell you, he was – and I’m including Flint, too, since I coached at Flint Northern all those years – he’s the best athlete I ever seen. I mean, honestly,” Durrett told the Free Press. “We’re talking about basketball, football and track together. He could have had a scholarship in all three sports. That’s how good.… I haven’t seen nobody that fast that could do it all. He was just a blessed athlete that could do it all.”

After a successful high school and college career, Rogers was selected as the number two overall pick in the 2003 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions. His professional career, however, was relatively short-lived due to admitted struggles with drugs. Rogers played in 15 games in his NFL career, catching 36 passes for 440 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Former Michigan State and NFL tight end Chris Baker took to Twitter to express his condolences:

“Devastated to learn of the passing of my spartan brother Charles (Rogers),” Baker tweeted. “Spoke with his mom this morning. Please pray for her and his children. Please also be respectful of their privacy at this difficult time. Rip Chuck”

Rogers certainly made an impact on many different communities throughout his lifetime and his legacy will undoubtedly live on.

Auburn, Virginia, Texas Tech & Michigan State comprise Final Four

March Madness, the most exciting time in college basketball, has ended but the tournament is not over yet.

After everyone’s bracket has been destroyed, we come down to four final teams. After defeating the No. 1 seed Gonzaga, Texas Tech were able to advance to their very first Final Four.

Texas Tech has been playing strong basketball all season and it’s gotten them this far. Texas Tech is one of the few teams in the tournament that didn’t have big star recruits headlining their program such as Zion Williamson at Duke. Texas Tech is a strong defensive team that relies on good ball movement and team basketball to win and that’s what they look to do when they face off against Michigan State in the Final Four on Saturday, April 6 at 8:49 p.m. EST.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2018 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

The Duke SLayers

Before the start off the 2018-2019 college season, one of the most powerful college teams was assembled when four of the top 100 players all decided to commit to Duke, with two of them ranked within the top five of their class. Many people saw them going undefeated, others wondered if they could beat NBA teams but who would have thought they would lose in the Elite Eight to Michigan State.

Duke was the favorite by many to win this year, having a great combination of talent in players such as Williamson, R.J Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones. Michigan State was able to beat them by keeping Williamson and Barrett out the lane on the offensive side and forcing their teammates to make plays that they weren’t familiar with.

Auburn, whether it be in football or in basketball, has always been known as a scrappy team who is wiling to get the job done, and they proved it on their way to the tournament. Auburn has always been more of a football school. Their basketball team has been great over the years but has yet to be a top choice for most people to want attend. Most schools like Kansas, Kentucky and UNC are all big-time basketball recruiting schools. And these are all the teams that Auburn were able to upset on their path to the Final Four.

With Auburn suffering from the lost of their teammate Chuma, the Tigers have been able to rally behind this loss and they allowed it to help propel them to the Final Four.

Virginia men’s basketball have made their first Final four appearance since 1984. Virginia is another team like Auburn: they’re not filled with stars nor do they center their program around their star players. It’s team basketball and team defense and that’s how they get it done.

Texas Tech is set to face off against Michigan State, who are coming off the biggest upset of the tournament. The game takes place on Saturday April 6, at 8:49 p.m. EST. Auburn (No. 5 seed) is facing off the against No. 1 seed Virginia. Auburn looks to lean on their seniors for the tough road ahead. The game takes place on Saturday April 6, at 6:09 p.m. EST. Both games will air on CBS and can also be live-streamed on NCAA.com.

What may have been the sweetest victory in this year’s NCAA Tournament might be the toughest one for coach Mike Krzyzewski to stomach.

At 72 years old and with the age of one-and-done coming to a close, Coach K blew his shot at a sixth NCAA Championship with what may have been his most talented team.

Michigan State To Face Texas Tech In NCAA Final Four

In March Madness, your best asset against the favorites tends to be a good defense. Offenses can sputter out. Defenses rarely do because of the nature of the player a good one needs. No. 2 Michigan State embodied that. On Sunday, they held tight on defense and blocked Duke from advancing to the Final Four with a 68-67 win over the No. 1 overall seed.

Despite coming into the tournament with all eyes on them, Duke had one too many close calls before their elimination. Single-possession wins over UCF and Virginia Tech might have brought the team back to earth. Despite this, they remained the favorites. In the end, the season was a failure.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2018 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

However, Michigan State seems to have disappeared in the aftermath. Coach Tom Izzo wasn’t simply pushing a Cinderella squad another day closer to April. He built a better team. For 40 minutes, the Spartans seemed in control and led for 22 minutes. Most importantly, they led at the final buzzer.

While Duke was powered by one-and-done stars Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish, Michigan State fell back on Junior guard Cassius Winston. Despite a lack of press surrounding him, the guard contributed 20 points and dished out 10 assists. Of course, it was the Big Ten Player of the Year who they entrusted with securing the win in the final seconds. Kenny Goins also made sure to hit a clutch shot to lock up the win.

While Williamson and Barrett contributed a combined 45 points and 20 rebounds, they showed the naivety of freshmen. Turnovers, bad shots and missed passes all came back to haunt them. The Spartans were able to score 15 more points than Duke off of turnovers, a large part of it due to the freshman who hadn’t ever gone deep into the playoffs. Now Duke faces the possibility that their team collapses, as Williamson hinted after the game.

The Spartans will appear in their 10th Final Four next week when they face No. 3 seed Texas Tech in Minneapolis.

Michigan State was on a roll. They’d climbed up to No. 6 in the NCAA basketball rankings and were in the midst of a 21-game Big Ten winning streak.

Boilermakers Beat Spartans 73-63

Then, Purdue flipped the script on the Spartans. Michigan State has built an identity out of playing better defense, controlling the rebound battle and hustling for loose boards. They’ve claimed a spot by dominating the parts of the game that no one wants to, best exemplified by alumni Draymond Green. On Sunday night, the Boilermakers used that to win.

It’s cliche to say that “one team wanted it more” but that’s the case with this game. Purdue came out of the gate strong and grabbed a 19-6 lead.  They then built on that. With 13:16 left in the game, they had a 23-point lead, up 55-32. But that doesn’t mean the game wasn’t interesting. As awful as a blowout can be, a late comeback attempt can make up for that. Michigan returned to form, forced eight consecutive missed shots and went on a 24-5 run. That cut the lead to just four points with 5:14 left. But then Purdue senior Ryan Cline answered back with a 3. The 6-foot-6 wing led the team with 17 points.

Carsen Edwards knocked down three free throws, scoring 14 points in total, to rebuild a 65-58 Purdue lead. Nojel Eastern made six straight free throws, which brought the lead to 71-60 and all but secured the win.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2018 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

Despite the loss, Michigan State is still a favorite for March Madness. Cassius Winston added 23 points, seven rebounds and eight assists for the Spartans. They were in the midst of a 13-game win streak on top of two school records, 21 straight conference wins and 12 road wins.

Michigan has a five-day break after their first loss since November 27. Then, they’ll face Indiana on Saturday. The Boilermakers head to Penn State on Thursday.

No. 1 Michigan State suffered a brutal 80-64 road loss to Ohio State on Sunday night, and Spartans coach Tom Izzo had much to say about the defeat to the Buckeyes.

Michigan State vs. Ohio State basketball score

“I was disappointed that I thought our lack of offense dictated our defense, and that shouldn’t happen,” said Izzo. “That should travel. As far as Nick Ward goes, give them credit. They did a good job on him. And give us blame. We did a poor job getting him the ball. When he did kick it out, we didn’t kick it back in.”

Michigan State (15-2, fourth in Big Ten) is the 10th top-ranked team to lose this weekend, and the fourth squad inside this week’s AP AP top 10 to fall since Saturday. The Spartans were coming off a 14-game winning streak.

Izzo also commented on the technical foul he received near the end of the first half.

“I’m gonna take a lot of the blame,” he said. “Not to take any heat off my team. I don’t do that. But I thought that stretch cost us a lot, and I was disappointed with the way it was being officiated at that point, and that [no-call] on [Jaren Jackson Jr.], I thought, was not very good.”

Led by Big Ten leading scorer Keita Bates-Diop who finished with a career-high 32 points on 12-of-21 shooting, the Buckeyes used a 12-0 run to end the first half and built a lead they would maintain for the rest of the game at Value City Arena.

“When you’re 15-2, 14-3, 15-3 … you’ve got to handle things a little differently because you’re gonna get somebody else’s best shot,” said Izzo. “I thought we got the crowd’s best shot. I think we got their team’s best shot, and they deserved what they got, and we deserved what we got.”

Izzo was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Ohio State (13-4, first in Big Ten) won’t play another ranked opponent in Big Ten play for the rest of January, which means the Buckeyes could have the opportunity to keep their top spot in the league.

The Buckeyes have won three straight games. They next host Maryland on Thursday, while the Spartans will host Rutgers on Wednesday.

University of Nebraska Cornhuskers senior punter Sam Foltz and ex-Michigan State punter Mike Sadler (pictured) were killed in a single-car accident on Saturday.

Foltz and Sadler were driving back from a football camp in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Foltz, 22, was in the passenger seat and Sadler, 24, was the driver, both were pronounced dead when police arrived, according to USA Today Sports. LSU kicker Colby Delahoussaye, 21, was riding in the backseat of the car and was taken to Waukesha Hospital. According to ESPN he needed stitches and was being treated for burns on his legs. Delahoussaye has since been released from the hospital and is now home.

Waukesha County Officers determined that the car was traveling westbound on Beaver Lake Road and lost control on wet pavement sending the car off the road and into a tree. Officers are saying that speed does appear to be a factor in the crash and toxicology tests will be done to determine if alcohol was a factor.

Foltz and Sadler were students coaches at the Kohl’s National Invitational Scholarship Camp for high school kickers and punters at Kettle Moraine High School in Wales, Wisconsin.

Foltz was a three-year starter for the Cornhuskers and was named the Big Ten’s punter of the year. He led the Big Ten in punting with 44.2 yards per kick and ranked fifth in school history with 42.6 yards per kick. He won Nebraska’s 2016 HERO Leadership Award.

Sadler was a four-year starter at MSU from 2011 – 2014 and was ranked second in school history for punts, punting yards and punting average. He was the Spartan’s first four-time Academic All-American in school history. He was set to go to Stanford Law School this coming fall.

Nebraska head football coach Mike Riley tweeted to the Cornhusker community about Foltz’ impact on Nebraska football.

“Sam was universally loved and respected by everyone he touched and on whom he had a positive influence each and every day. His tragic loss is immeasurable to his family, his friends, his classmates, his teammates and his coaches and our thoughts and prayers with all of them. The young men in our football program are hurting but I know that their strength of character and resolve will bring us together and we honor Sam every day moving forward,” Riley said.

Riley only coached Foltz for one season, he was previously the head coach at Oregon State.

Michigan State head football coach Mark Dantonio tweeted condolences for Sadler and his family.

Nebraska players held a vigil for Foltz outside Memorial Stadium Sunday afternoon and the event culminated with a group cheer for Foltz.

Nebraska will not participate in the Big Ten media days this week in Chicago.

It hasn’t been the best summer for Draymond Green thus far.

The Golden State Warriors forward was suspended for Game 5 of the NBA Finals and his team ended up on the wrong side of history, blowing a 3-1 lead to lose to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 7.

Now it has devolved to the point where Green is taking shots at virtual teammates.

Draymond Green Arrested For Assaulting Michigan State Cornerback

Green, 26, was arrested Sunday in the early morning hours for allegedly punching Jermaine Edmondsen in the face during an altercation. Edmondsen is a senior cornerback at Michigan State, the same school Green captained to a Big Ten Championship title in his senior year.

According to Edmondsen’s accounting of the events, via the police report, Green had bumped into him at another East Lansing establishment on Friday night.

“I was talking to one of my teammates when Draymond bumped into me,” Edmondsen, 22, said in a statement to the East Lansing Police Department. “I said, ‘Hey bro can you at least say excuse me?'” he said.

“I asked who he was to think that it’s okay to bump into somebody without saying excuse me. he then said, ‘I pay for n—– like you scholarships,'” Edmondsen recalled Green bristling. “Then I started to say you have me messed up before I was choked out by two guys who were with him.”

Edmondsen told police he was celebrating his birthday, first at Rick’s on Friday, and then at another East Lansing watering hole named Conrad’s Grill on Saturday.

JERMAINE EDMONDSEN HAPPENS TO BE FROM AKRON

The Spartans cornerback told police that Green was chatting with his roommate when he felt it was the right time to address “the bump.” Allegedly, Day-Day didn’t take too kindly to being called out.

According to Edmondsen, Green began poking him in a condescending manner.

“(Green) began to poke me on my shoulder and I tell him that he doesn’t need to put his hands on me, we can just talk,” Edmondsen said in his statement to police. “As I started to talk again, boom, I’m punched in the jaw, in front of all my friends and peers.”

The East Lansing Police Department said in a statement that there were no injuries reported in the altercation and no calls were made to report the incident, but regular patrols spotted the activity and stepped in.

Green told police “he was sorry for slapping the subject and he wanted to speak to (Edmondsen) to make things right,” according to the police report.

The triple-double machine didn’t appear too concerned about the frickas when speaking to reporters in Aspen, Colorado Tuesday.

“My legal team is handling it. It will be resolved really quickly,” Green said. “As a public figure, I just can’t put myself in certain situations. It’s something that I’ll learn from and just move on.”

Interesting choice of words for Green who used almost identical terminology in the wake of his suspension for attempting to kick LeBron James in the groin during Game 5 of the NBA Finals last month.

“I have to be better and not put myself in this position,” Green said after serving his one-game suspension.

Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo had some strong words with regards to the sports fans, supposedly from the University of Michigan, who vandalized the beloved statue of alum Magic Johnson on MSU’s campus Thursday morning.

The Sparty statue was guarded that day, as it usually was, by the Michigan State Spartans (No. 7) marching band. However, Johnson’s statue was spray-painted with a maize yellow ‘M’ (one of Michigan’s colors), along with the words ‘Beat State’ directly underneath it.

When asked for comment, Izzo stated: “There’s a lot of great Michigan kids. There’s some idiots. And there’s some idiots on our side, too, that do crazy things.” He then added: “Messing with Sparty is a bad thing, like messing with their ‘M’ is a bad thing. But messing with Magic, that’s a worse thing. And we’ll make sure that from now on maybe the basketball team will sleep out. … But we’ll have him covered from now on.”

University spokesman Jason Cody stated that once the suspects are identified, they will face criminal charges.

This is not the first instance of graffiti-type vandalism that either school has witnessed. Michigan State’s Sparty statue was spray-painted in Michigan’s colors twice earlier this year, in April and September before the Spartans played against Oregon. The two rival teams are set to play each other on Saturday.  Michigan is ranked No. 12.

The Duke Blue Devils and Wisconsin Badgers will play for the 2015 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship after winning their Final Four national semifinals Saturday night in Indianapolis. Duke knocked off Michigan State 81-61 while Wisconsin derailed Kentucky’s perfect season in a 71-64 thriller.

Duke weathered an early Michigan State run to dominate the rest of the game and cruise to a 20 point victory in the first semifinal of the Final Four. The Blue Devils had solid contributions all around, with three players scoring in double figures. Justise Winslow led the way with 19 points, while Jahill Okafor added 18 and Quinn Cook pitched in with 17. The Spartans got off to a hot start beyond the arc, but grew cold down the stretch and ended up hitting just 40% of their field goal attempts. Duke will head to the national championship with a shot at their 5th title, including the chance at winning their 3rd title under Mike Krzyzewski in Indianapolis. The Blue Devils’ first title under Coach K came in Indy in 1991 and their last title in 2010 was crowned at Lucas Oil Stadium as well.

But the headlines would end up being devoted to Wisconsin, as they took down undefeated Kentucky in the second semifinal of the night. The Badgers got revenge for last year’s semifinal loss to the Wildcats by handing them their first loss on the season and ending their shot at a perfect championship season. Frank Kaminsky came up huge for Wisconsin, as he posted a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds to help spark the Badgers to victory. While it looked like some questionable officiating would derail a classic game for both sides towards the end of the 2nd half, the referees’ calls in the end did not play as much of a factor as it could’ve been if the game ended two or so minutes earlier. Kentucky was unable to answer a Wisconsin run and would suffer a crushing defeat. Instead of prepping for a chance at 40-0 and a national title against fellow powerhouse Duke, John Calipari and his Wildcats leave Indianapolis 38-1 without any hardware.

Tonight will be a rematch of an early season matchup between Duke and Wisconsin. Duke won the first matchup in Madison in December 80-70. With both teams playing excellent basketball to get to the title game, it could be a very exciting game for fans, even without the high-profile Kentucky-Duke showdown many were anticipating. Duke will aim for their 5th national title while Wisconsin will go for their 2nd. Duke’s last title game in Indianapolis in 2010. Wisconsin will attempt to end a long drought, as they have not won a NCAA Men’s Basketball championship since 1941. A win tonight would also be head coach Bo Ryan’s first national championship.

The Final Four will conclude tonight at 9 pm EST. CBS will have the game telecast.

The 2015 NCAA Final Four is all set with traditional powerhouses making their way to Indianapolis. After the NCAA Tournament wrapped up its regional finals this weekend, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Duke, and Michigan State have earned the right to play for a national championship next weekend. All but Michigan State (a 7-seed) are the top seeded teams in their respective regions and all four teams will be making at least their second Final Four this decade.

The regional finals kicked off Saturday in the West region in an Elite 8 rematch between Wisconsin and Arizona, the region’s top 2 seeded teams. And just as it was in 2014, Wisconsin punched their ticket to the Final Four at the expense of the Wildcats 85-78. Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky were the key performers for the Badgers, as their 27 and 29 point performances were critical in the victory. Wisconsin was also a staggering 12-for-18 from behind the arc, offsetting a great performance from the free throw line for Arizona (hitting 28 of 30). This will be Wisconsin’s second straight Final Four appearance and their fourth in program history.

In the most thrilling game of the tournament thus far, the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats were able to hang on against upset minded 3-seed Notre Dame in a 68-66 win in the Midwest regional final. Notre Dame held a slim lead through much of the second half, but were unable to hang on as Kentucky clawed back to the lead in the final minute after Andrew Harrison made two free throws. The Fighting Irish nearly derailed the Wildcats’ undefeated season with a three point attempt at the buzzer by Jerian Grant, but the shot missed and sealed the win for Kentucky. Kentucky will be the 13th unbeaten team to make the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament’s history. They will also head to the Final Four for the 17th time in program history and for the fourth time in five years under head coach John Calipari.

The only “underdog” left in the NCAA tournament is still a powerhouse program, as the 7th-seeded Michigan State Spartans will head to their seventh Final Four since 1999. The Spartans went the distance in a 76-70 overtime victory over 4-seed Louisville in the East regional final on Sunday. The game was back and forth the entire way, as neither team could separate themselves throughout the game. Forty minutes were not enough and the game needed to go into overtime to decide a winner. Up by two in the final minute, the Spartans were able to grab an offensive rebound and lay the ball back in to grab a four point lead and ultimately put a dagger through the Cardinals’ hopes. Head coach Tom Izzo will be heading to his seventh Final Four as Michigan State head coach, while the program will be heading to its 9th Final Four.

The Final Four field was completed in the South region when Duke pulled away to a 66-52 win over 2-seed Gonzaga. Duke’s freshman phenom trio of Justise Winslow, Tyus Jones, and Jahlil Okafor came up with big performances to help the Blue Devils get back to the Final Four for the first time since their 2010 national championship. All 66 points came from Duke’s starters, who needed to rely on their top 5 throughout the season with a thin bench. The win sealed head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 12th Final Four appearance at Duke. It will also be Duke’s 16th Final Four in program history.

Although there are no “Cinderella” teams left in the tournament, with Gonzaga being the last mid-major remaining, the Final Four still has many storylines for fans to get excited for. With three top seeds in the Final Four, there’s a guarantee that there will be some exciting basketball to watch. All four coaches– Bo Ryan, Calipari, Izzo, and Krzyzewski– have plenty of Final Four experience and will be sure to try to add onto their legacies with a national title. And of course, Kentucky’s pursuit of perfection is now just two wins away.

Kentucky will face off against Wisconsin and Duke will play Michigan State on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The NCAA Tournament concludes next Monday with the National Championship Game. Saturday’s games will air on TBS while the title game will be on CBS.