Former MSU basketball star Steve Smith and his wife Millie will be lending Sparty a hand in his transition into bronze.
The two have been asked to be honorary chairpersons for the $500,000 project, slated to be completed by 2005.
"The Spartan," better known as Sparty, is the world's largest freestanding ceramic statue that is located near Demonstration Hall. The statue was created in the 1940s and has weathered the harsh climate of Mid-Michigan for more than 50 years.
In an effort to preserve Sparty, the university has established a donation campaign to pay for the recasting of the statue into bronze and be placed in a new location, about 80 feet away from Kalamazoo Street and Red Cedar Road.
So far, $125,903 has been collected for the project, said Karen Wenk, director of development for Campus Parks and Planning. The Council of Graduate Students, ASMSU and the Student Alumni Foundation have already pledged more than $100,000 to help out Sparty. ASMSU is MSU's undergraduate student government.
Steve and Millie Smith will be going to MSU alumni clubs across the nation and the world to garner more financial support for the project.
"Steve and Millie represent everything that is good about MSU," Wenk said. "They care deeply about the success of all (university) aspects - academics and sports."
But this is not the first time Steve Smith and his family have donated their time and effort to improving MSU, said university spokesman Terry Denbow.
Steve Smith has given the university more than $3 million since he departed for the NBA. The $2.5 million Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center, named after Steve Smith's mother, was built in 1998. A $600,000 endowment also was established in 2001 for graduates of Detroit Pershing High School to receive a four-year scholarship to attend MSU.
The total amount is the highest any athlete has ever donated to their school.
"Smith has set a standard for athletes, nationally, that gives back to an alma mater," Denbow said. "I don't know of any athlete who has an appreciation for the traditions of MSU and its athletics more than Steve Smith does."
Smith ranks second on MSU's all-time scoring list with 2,263 career points. Smith was named an All-American in both 1990 and 1991.
He has represented the United States on three occasions, including in the World Championships' team in 1994 and the Tournament of the Americas in 1999. He also earned a gold medal while playing for the 2000 Olympic team in Sydney, Australia.
Smith plays for the 2003 NBA World Champion San Antonio Spurs. It was Smith's first NBA championship in his 12-year career.
