Q&A: Steve Smith on Michigan State memories, NIL and the future of Spartan basketball
Ryan Black
EAST LANSING – Sitting on a couch in a hotel lobby, wearing a tan sweater with a matching scarf, Steve Smith appeared comfortable Thursday morning. Which should come as no surprise.
Any time he returns to East Lansing, Smith is in familiar surroundings.
After a storied career for Michigan State's men's basketball team from 1987 to 1991, Smith went on to play in the NBA for more than a decade, starring for the Atlanta Hawks in the late 1990s, winning a title with the San Antonio Spurs in 2003 and capturing a gold medal with the U.S. at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
His latest visit to East Lansing has nothing to do with sports, however. Last summer, the university president's office asked Smith to serve as a commencement speaker during the 2021-22 school year. It took him about "two seconds" to accept the offer, he said.
Smith will deliver his speech during Friday's spring undergraduate commencement ceremony, which will begin at 1 p.m. at the Breslin Center.
Before Smith's speech, the State Journal spoke with him about his time as a student-athlete, his take on the name, image and likeness debate enveloping collegiate athletics, the state of MSU's men's basketball program, and more.
Some of the questions and answers have been condensed and edited for clarity.
Ryan Black: How humbling is it to be the commencement speaker?
Steve Smith: It's such an honor in itself, right? But when I put my story to this entire journey, I go back to my love of Michigan State because of Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser when they were playing in the 1979 national championship game. I remember my entire family rooting for Greg Kelser and Magic Johnson. I got a chance to hear the stories about Kelser playing in the city, and then obviously Magic because of Magic. I'm obviously not ranking them as players. People talked about Greg Kelser because I grew up in Detroit, and my dad, my brothers and uncles who are older were like, "Greg Kelser is one of the best players I've seen in my life."
You take that and then you fast forward, I was Tom Izzo's first recruit, not knowing Tom Izzo was going to become Tom Izzo. He was the second, third, fourth assistant — whatever he may have been in that time. My oldest (child) goes to MSU and graduates. My youngest is a walk-on and still on the team. I got a chance to donate to The Clara Bell Smith Student Athlete Academic Center. So if you put everything together, this is the extra cherry on the top.
RB: Is there one moment you cherish as a student?
SS: I remember my Class of '91, my roommate and all of the friends we accumulated through the four years, the joy and the sadness that we wouldn't be together anymore as far as the dorm situation, the campus situation. Everybody who was part of Michigan State graduating that year, whether you were an athlete or not, we were saying, "Wow, we're all going to different places." We also were saying, "Wow, college is over." It seemed like it went like this. (snaps fingers)
RB: What about your on-court memories with the Spartans?
SS: On court was the hardest, because I said, "I'm going to leave here with a national championship." And obviously we didn't. So I say on the court was extremely hard because you set out (to win the national title). For me, it started as just being on the team. Then it was, "Uh oh, I'm one of the best players on the team" my junior year. Then I am the best player on the team my senior year. There was nothing else left but to win it all. We had a Big Ten championship. We had been ranked No. 1. So you always want to be greedy and fill up your resume. But in my speech, that's kind of what I'll talk about. We all set goals and people set goals for us. I'd be happy if I had won a national championship. But I didn't. Everybody can't win it. It's all about the journey.
RB: What are your thoughts on the name, image and likeness matters dominating the college sports landscape right now?
SS: As an athlete, I know I would have got ahold of it. But boy, that's just something else, along with social media. Just think about the athletes today: They're kids and they're students, too. But obviously you add in NIL, and I know it's hard for a lot of people to want to look at. But I'm a person who loves to give grace.
Imagine being 18 years old and you've got to navigate NIL, social media and all the other pressures of being (a student-athlete). What I dealt with isn't as much pressure as what these kids are going through. I had nothing. We didn't even have the internet when I was in college. But just look at things today. I went to get something to eat (Wednesday) night and it was packed. You have to know no matter what you're doing — it doesn't always have to be bad — it's going to be documented, every word, every movement. And you might not even know it. That's why you've got to be glad you were in your era sometimes. Then I also look at it and say, "There are some positives. I wouldn't mind being in this era." But there's definitely more put on a student-athlete's plate now. I think more needs to be written about it. There needs to be more instructions. But how can you do NIL instructions? No one has lived through it yet.
RB: What do you make of the transfer portal and the fact players now can transfer one time and immediately become eligible at their new school?
SS: With everything there's pros and cons. The pros of it are, I think you give a kid a chance to not have to sit out when they want to make a change of venue. It doesn't have to be a negative. For instance, Julius Marble transferred. (Editor's note: Marble left MSU last month and committed to Texas A&M earlier this week.) That's really not a bad thing. He wanted to be close to his family because his mom can't come up here and see him play as much. He has a younger sibling.
Selfishly, I didn't want him to leave. But we can't just think about these things selfishly — or even think about how it affects the Michigan State basketball program. I mean, he was the most experienced big we had returning. Marcus (Bingham Jr.) is gone. But when you take yourself out of it, it was the best thing in the world for Marble. That has nothing to do with basketball.
RB: Speaking of Michigan State's roster, what do you make of the team heading into next season? How close — or far away — are the Spartans from being a contender?
SS: We've been going through this with Tom Izzo for, what, almost three decades? When people think he can't (contend), he does. When you think the roster isn't good enough, it always ends up being good enough. We're just spoiled — he's got us so spoiled. Our (fan base's) expectation is to win the national championship. Not get to the national championship. Not get to the Final Four or the Elite Eight. If you really think about it, we're at the top. I don't remember the last time we missed an (NCAA) Tournament. The standards here were set by him. The tournament is like practice. We know they're going to the tournament. And we know we're going to be in the running at the end. That's the standard he has set. In any job, you want to reach the top. I just hope people understand what we've had here, this isn't the norm.
RB: Is it sometimes hard for you to believe everything you've accomplished in your career?
SS: Did I ever think I'd get a scholarship to Michigan State? No. Not because of lack of confidence. But I was 5-9, 99 pounds in high school. Did I think I'd get drafted? No. Did I think I'd play 14 years (in the NBA), win a (NBA) championship, win a gold medal, be an (NBA) All-Star? No. And then there are the days as you get older where you go, "Hey, both my sons are at Michigan State." I think that's a highlight.
Life keeps going. It's good if you stay the course. There are going to be some peaks and valleys — there are some valleys that I look back on and I get emotional. My mom's not here. My dad passed away in January 2019. But then I'm getting an honorary degree and I'm the commencement speaker at Michigan State University. I'm still riding the wave, still riding this roller coaster. But even with the peaks and valleys, I've been blessed.
Contact Ryan Black at rblack@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @RyanABlack.