Steve Smith was watching the MSU football team take on Central Michigan on Saturday from his personal luxury box at Spartan Stadium when third-year MSU women’s basketball head coach Suzy Merchant walked in and began to chat with him.
Smith, a mainstay in Spartans athletics for his work affecting thousands of student-athletes, saw his All-American playing days as a member of the MSU men’s basketball team end in 1991. But today, as a donor and lifelong fan, he still sees himself as a part of the university and a confidant to those coaches and athletes who have come since his time passed.
Smith has been one of the most philanthropic MSU athletic alumni and his efforts were commended after the first quarter of Saturday’s football game when he was awarded the Jack Breslin Lifetime Achievement Award. The former Spartans guard is most well-known for his $2.5 million donation to fund the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center in 1997, which is named in honor of his mother. The donation was the largest ever made by a professional athlete to his or her respective alma mater.
The Breslin award was created in 1986 to honor a Spartan athlete whose post-college career brought honor to himself or herself and MSU.
“It just means a lot,” Smith said. “When you look at Michigan State, the Jack Breslin Lifetime Achievement almost says, ‘Yes, we believe in what you’ve done and thanks.’ And it’s the same for me.”
The honor, awarded annually, has been given to individuals including former football head coach and current MSU Trustee George Perles and former football star Gene Washington.
“When you look at what the community and Michigan State has done for me, I just think it’s something that was instilled in me from my mom,” he said. “You just try to do as much as you can and what you’re allowed. Michigan State has been home and they treat me like family and I look at it as a great partnership.”
Smith said he was inspired by role models and teammates who have done work in communities.
He said former Spartan Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s philanthropy and former professional teammate Dikembe Mutombo’s work in Africa were some examples of other athletes whose work inspired him.
“I had role models on and off the court just like I hope I get a chance to be a role model for some guys on and off the court,” Smith said.
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