The Associated Press
DETROIT - When people talk about Kelvin Torbert, this year’s Mr. Basketball, the word “special” is used a lot - and not just because of what he does on the court.
On Monday, Torbert became the 21st winner of the award.
Torbert is headed to MSU next year, joining a long list of Flint standouts who’ve played for head coach Tom Izzo.
“I’m real excited to go up to East Lansing and play for a coach like coach Izzo and play with players like (last year’s Mr. Basketball) Marcus Taylor and (1999 Mr. Basketball) Jason Richardson; that caliber of players,” Torbert said. “I like how (Izzo) relates well with his players. It’s really more of a family atmosphere up there than just basketball.”
The Flint Northwestern High standout had 773 points to runner-up JaQuan Hart’s 256 points.
Torbert is the second winner from Flint Northwestern. Glen Rice, a former Michigan standout who now plays for the NBA’s New York Knicks, won the award in 1985.
Torbert passed Rice for the school’s all-time scoring record with 1,978 points in 95 games - Rice had 1,654 points in 77 games - and came in second all-time for Flint-area players behind MSU senior guard Charlie Bell. Bell scored 2,252 points in his four years at Flint’s Southwestern Academy.
This year, Torbert also made the McDonald’s All-American team and was named the Sporting News Player of the Year.
Torbert’s coach, Grover Kirkland, is quick to point out that Torbert maintains a 3.1 grade-point average and is active in student government and community service. He has also scored well enough on test scores to be eligible as a freshman at MSU.
Basketball also has been a way for Torbert to forget about some of the other things going on in his life. His mother died when he was just 5 and his father, Climmie, has kidney problems.
“Most of the time, usually it’s the mom that is there and the dad is missing,” Kirkland said. “But in this case it’s the other way around. He’s handled that. He has to do the cooking, he has to do the washing, he has to get up with his dad to make sure he got his shots, make sure he goes to the doctor. He goes once a day, I think, for transfusions.
“He’s a special young man, that’s what he is.”
