Shawn Respert – Syndication Server

Michigan State basketball legend officially inducted into Michigan Sports Hall of Fame

Shawn Respert offically became a Michigan Sports Hall of Famer last night

On Thursday night, Michigan State basketball legend Shawn Respert officially became enshrined in Michigan sports history, when he was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. It was a great moment for Respert, who has been named a finalist the last few years and finally made his way in as part of the 2024 class.

Respert is remembered as the last great player of the Jud Heathcote era, where he was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and a consensus First-Team All-American back in 1995.

Respert was a lottery pick in the 1995 NBA draft, but his career was derailed by stomach cancer, a diagnosis he kept private from the public and even his own family.

You can see a picture of Respert and Izzo together from last night here.

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Tom Izzo compares two MSU basketball freshmen to two Michigan State legends

Michigan State basketball has a few extremely talented freshmen on the team this season, and two of them, Jase Richardson and Kur Teng, play the guard position, and Tom Izzo had some lofty comparisons to two MSU legends for them on Thursday in his weekly press conference.

For Jase Richardson, Izzo compared him to Sam Vincent. Kur Teng got a comparison to Shawn Respert. Those are two of the better guards in Michigan State history, so quite a comparison and high praise for them.

Chris Solari posted the original quote on his X.com account here.

Lorenzo White, Shawn Respert named as finalists for 2022 Michigan Sports Hall of Fame

In 2019, Michigan State had one famous alumnus inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame when Morris Peterson was added to the prestigious group. In 2022, they will have a chance to add two more, as Lorenzo White and Shawn Respert were both named as finalists to be inducted.

Lorenzo White is arguably the best Michigan State running back of all-time, where he rushed for 2,066 yards and 17 touchdowns in the 1985 season. To put that in perspective, Kenneth Walker III ‘only’ had 1,636 yards last season. White played for MSU from 1984-87 before going onto a successful NFL career.

Shawn Respert was a phenom for MSU, where he averaged 21.3 points per game in his five years in East Lansing. Stomach cancer derailed his NBA career but he will be remembered as one of the best pure scorers in Big Ten basketball history.

Lorenzo White and Shawn Respert are both finalists for the 2022 Michigan Sports Hall of Fame!

Vote for them today: https://t.co/WEHK9XyCFO pic.twitter.com/1lMCiX80N2

— Michigan State Athletics (@MSU_Athletics) May 13, 2022

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While it was Boylen’s call to not …

While it was Boylen’s call to not retain assistant coach/player development coach Shawn Respert when his contract is up at the end of the season, it was made obvious to the Sun-Times weeks ago that Respert was looking for a new career path long before this campaign was shut down due to the coronavirus. Respert had long hinted at wanting to be a head coach at either the college or pro level, and didn’t really see that path with his current role on the Bulls staff.

There was some frustration in that for …

There was some frustration in that for Respert, who felt like his ideas and philosophies weren’t always heard, despite several players building tight relationships with him and appreciating his knowledge of the game. The bigger picture, however, is Boylen is still operating as the head coach and making decisions like a guy that has no plans to be leaving that post anytime soon.