The redshirt is the most important piece of laundry in college athletics.

OK, so it's not really wearable. But when it comes to roster management, the redshirt tag has helped countless young players develop faster and injured ones make up for lost time.

Here's how it works. Every NCAA player has four years of eligibility. If a player misses a season, he can obtain a redshirt tag to roll over that year of eligibility. This usually happens for two reasons: if a coach sits the player out for the entire season (usually to develop a young talent), or if an injury forces the player to miss more than 80 percent of his team's games. If a player decides to pursue a redshirt, he has to petition the NCAA, which then has the final say.

Seven of this year's MSU men's basketball players have been redshirted at one point, and Drew Naymick is expected to get one for this season. The junior center has sat out the last two and a half months after struggling with a lingering shoulder injury in MSU's first seven games.

But redshirting isn't always an easy decision. Imagine if you had to sit out a year from the thing you love to do most.

Here are three of the MSU players who've been redshirted, and the factors they had to consider before deciding whether to do so.

Idong Ibok

Idong Ibok's college basketball career hit a road bump after three minutes. A few days after playing three mop-up minutes in MSU's first exhibition game last season, the 6-foot-11 center broke his left hand in practice.

Ibok tried playing with a silicon cast on the hand, but it was too bulky for him to be effective.

"It was like having a tennis ball in your hand and trying to catch a basketball," Ibok said. "It wasn't working that well."

Ibok's injury was supposed to heal in four weeks, but when it was still hurting him shortly before the NCAA Tournament, he and Izzo jointly decided to pursue a redshirt.

"Most of the year was gone by," Ibok said. "It would be no use coming in, trying to play and using that year."

Ibok, who's only been playing basketball for a few years, now says the experience helped him get caught up with the rest of his teammates.

"Back then, it seemed like sort of a burden," Ibok said. "But right now, I'm grateful that I redshirted."

Delco Rowley

It was a different story for redshirt junior forward Delco Rowley. He was an all-state high school recruit out of Indianapolis. He had no major injuries holding him back. But once he got to East Lansing, he decided that he needed more development before he could contribute.

"I just didn't feel like I was ready and Coach didn't feel like I was ready," Rowley said. "He told me that if I redshirt, it could help me, so I trusted him and I redshirted."

Now, Rowley still has a year of playing eligibility left, despite taking his last semester of classes. He said he won't decide until after the season whether he'll return to MSU next season or begin pursuing a basketball career overseas.

Marquise Gray

Marquise Gray was one of the most heralded MSU recruits in years. His freakish height and jumping ability had many salivating over the thought of him rattling the Breslin Center rims.

But last summer, Gray's high-flying act was grounded when he suffered an ankle injury.

He tried playing through it, but he could tell the injury was keeping him from doing what he was capable of. So, after a lot of soul searching, he went to Izzo and asked to redshirt.

"It was one of the hardest things I've had to do in my life," Gray said. "You have so much love for the game and you want to play so bad ... if you ain't find me dead, then I want to play."

So he sat. And watched. And, most of the time, wished he wasn't.

"Thinking about it made me cry," Gray said. "There was a couple games I wanted to play in so bad - I'd be in the locker room, everybody else getting all hype and stuff and I'd be in the back, standing like, 'Man, I wish I wouldn't have did that.'"

A year later, Gray is fully healed and has been one of MSU's most effective players off the bench.

He says his redshirt year helped him grow as a player. He says it gave him time to watch the game and get used to the college atmosphere. Most of all, he says, it reignited his passion for the game.

"At times, I regret it," Gray said. "But it helped me more than it hurt me."