“I’ve grown up around here, watched all the MSU basketball games and it’s always been a dream of mine,” Conner George said. “I always wanted to come here and play, and when I got the opportunity I knew I had to do it. It’s too good of an opportunity to pass up.”

Being a newcomer and a walk-on, becoming acclimated to a college basketball team seems like quite the challenge. Luckily for Conner George, Izzo’s past helps his situation a great deal.

“I’m very partial to walk-ons, I picked that up from my playing days,” Izzo said. “My walk-ons got it made as good as anybody here. All the people at the bottom of the rung, because that’s where I was, I am appreciative of those people.”

With George’s mother, Cathy George, being the head coach of MSU volleyball in her now 11th season, Conner George has always felt as if he was part of the MSU family. He said being a part of the team makes it even more special because of the help his teammates give him, but the team and himself remain focused on one goal.

“The players are really pushing me, pushing all the freshman,” Conner George said. “Everyone’s behind everyone to get better. We have one goal in mind, and that’s national championship. To achieve that goal, everyone has to contribute and work as hard as they can.”

The competitiveness and winning attitude is not something Conner George recently picked up. His older brother, TJ, was an athlete too, and with his mother Cathy George coaching a Division I volleyball program, it came with the family name.

“Throughout his life, as he was a little guy, he had to be towed around to all the ball games in every sport that TJ competed in and was always kind of miffed that he wasn’t in those games,” Cathy George said. “He was so eager to get in athletics. Conner loves to win, everything about it is winning, and in every sport he figures out how to score.”

Conner George may not be an integral part of the team on the court this season, but off the court, he looks to make even more improvements and contribute in every way possible.

“I’m going to redshirt the freshman year, gain some strength and get some skills better, work on some stuff,” Conner George said. “In practice, I got to do a really good job of scouting the other teams, being on the scout team, knowing their plays. Getting the first string and second string ready for games.”

Izzo characterized Conner George as a “specialist” and said he can shoot the ball as well as anyone on the team. Conner George stands at 6-foot-3, and has been taller than everyone his age for a long time now, Cathy George said.

“He was a big baby,” Cathy George said. “He was called Big Baby George because he was bigger than all the kids his age. He was a head taller than everybody. Big hands, big feet, big everything.”

Conner George will look to contribute in the upcoming seasons for MSU, hoping to join other walk-ons who have enjoyed success at MSU, such as his teammates Colby Wollenman and Kenny Goins. With Izzo at the helm, it was a no-brainer for Conner George to be a Spartan.

“Our whole family respects Tom (Izzo) a great deal,” Cathy George said. “We like his tough-nose kind of coaching, and Conner understand the way that he coaches and appreciates his level of success and his winning ways. I know that’s what attracted him to go to Michigan State.”