Among the tens of thousands of MSU fans who flocked to Detroit this weekend for the Final Four, there were thousands of alumni and even a few connected with the MSU men’s basketball program.
Drew Naymick, the Muskegon native and former MSU center, returned to Ford Field to support his former teammates after having spent five years with the Spartans.
“This is great,” he said Saturday, while spending time at Elwood Bar & Grill near Ford Field, before the game. “This is an incredible atmosphere.”
Naymick graduated last year as the MSU career leader in blocked shots with 134. He was an Academic All-Big Ten player and finished his career with the team while pursuing his doctorate degree in finance.
“I remember coach Izzo talking about this years ago when they first announced the Final Four would be here,” Naymick said. “And these guys did it.”
Naymick returned to Michigan after a one-year stint with the SKK Kotwica Kolobrzeg men’s basketball team in Poland, where he posted 10.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and a league-high two blocks per game. His team finished third in its league and won the Polish Cup for the first time in three years.
Naymick said it was a little different coming back and watching the Spartans as an outsider instead of from his usual spot on the floor or from the sidelines.
“I enjoyed it as a player and now I’m enjoying it as a fan,” he said, adding that he’s kept in touch with a number of the current players. “I’ve talked to them a little, yeah,” he said. “It’s part of being in the Spartan family.”
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