MSU's incoming class, U-M players headline Lansing Moneyball Pro-Am

Lansing’s Moneyball Pro-Am Basketball Summer League has perhaps never before offered so much in one season.

The five-week, twice-a-week league, which begins at Thursday evening at Aim High in Dimondale, features most of Michigan State’s team, per usual, including the Spartans’ heralded incoming freshman class. For the first time, it also includes much of the University of Michigan’s roster, paired with and against their rivals from MSU, as well as a four-team women’s league, with many of MSU’s players.

The first women’s game is at 5:30 p.m., followed by three men’s games, at 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Admission is free. The pro-am runs every Tuesday and Thursday, this week through Aug. 4.

“My goal, and there are a lot of goals, they haven’t all been reached, but my goal when I started was to get every Division I school to play in the league,” said Desmond Ferguson, who runs the 13-year-old league and owns Moneyball Sportswear in Lansing, which sponsors it.

Players from MSU, U-M, Detroit, Oakland and Eastern Michigan are on this year’s rosters. The only two Division I teams in state not represented are Western Michigan and Central Michigan, which have previously taken part.

The women’s league is something Ferguson wasn’t sure he could pull off. But with MSU’s willingness to participate and Aim High general manager and former WNBA player Paige Sauer coordinating, the idea found footing.

“My background is not in women’s basketball, so I didn’t really know a whole lot about who’s around and available,” Ferguson said. “We got a real good reception about the women’s league. A lot of people want to see that. Hopefully we can grow the women’s league like we did the men’s league.”

The men’s rosters are full of familiar names. For example, the 6:30 game Thursday features MSU’s Cassius Winston and Eron Harris, along with Oakland’s Jalen Hayes (Lansing Sexton) against MSU’s Nick Ward and Alvin Ellis, along with Michigan’s Duncan Robinson and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman. At 7:30, Ferguson’s team with MSU’s Josh Langford and Gavin Schilling, Michigan’s Derrick Walton and Mark Donnal plays a team with MSU’s Miles Bridges and Tum Tum Nairn. At 8:30, Michigan’s Zak Irvin and Moritz Wagner play against Kyle Ahrens, Kenny Goins and former Lansing Eastern star Cha Cha Tucker.

Not every player on the roster is there every night and some have known obligations later in the summer, including Bridges and Winston who are finalists for USA Basketball’s Under-18 National Team, which practices in Houston beginning mid-July.

The addition of Michigan players coincides with former Lansing Sexton star and Oakland assistant Saddi Washington joining John Beilein’s staff at U-M.

Pro-am teams can have no more than two members of the same Division I roster. Ferguson relies on the assistant coaches at those schools to advise him on what players they want paired.

“For example, you see Bridges with Tum Tum, that’s a leader with a new guy,” Ferguson said. “Eron Harris is with Cassius.”

Graham Couch can be reached at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.

Couch: Lansing gem Moneyball Pro-Am begins 12th year

Moneyball Pro-Am

What: 13th annual Lansing summer basketball pro-am, featuring players from MSU, Michigan, Detroit, Oakland, EMU, LCC and elsewhere, as well as a women's league.

When: Tuesdays and Thursdays, this week through Aug. 4 (four games a night, beginning at 5:30 p.m.)

Where: Aim High, Dimondale

Admission: Free