The 76-mile trip to East Lansing from Ypsilanti is more than just a matchup against his former team. For Kim, it’s a return to the team that believed in him and gave him his first chance as a starting quarterback in college.

It’s also the place where Kim built lifelong friendships and began a journey that ultimately led back to where he first started.

“I consider a group of my best friends being the guys that I met freshman year,” Kim said at a press conference on Monday. “We lived across the hall from each other in the dorm rooms, and then we got a house together and stuff like that. I think probably just the relationships that I made and experiences that I was able to go out and experience. Just playing in Big Ten stadiums, traveling, all of that stuff is just definitely something that I will cherish.”

Those relationships are part of what makes Saturday different. Kim won’t be the same quarterback who left MSU three years ago. The 24-year-old has racked up 14 starts and 7 backup appearances since leaving the program, building experience with in-game reps. That experience has shown early this season, with Kim completing 63% of his passes — the second-highest completion percentage of his career — while limiting himself to one turnover through two games.

The Chantilly, Virginia, native arrived at MSU as part of the 2020 recruiting class that finished 45th nationally according to 247Sports. And while Kim didn’t immediately impact the field, he received his first opportunity as the starter after winning the QB competition in 2023. Other notable names from that competition were Katin Houser and Sam Leavitt, who have both carved out starting jobs for Illinois and LSU, respectively, in 2026.

Kim flourished in his first two starts for the Spartans, combining for 5 touchdowns and 571 passing yards with 0 turnovers. He excelled in his first two performances, but as soon as conference play started, his play plummeted.

He was benched on Sept. 30, 2023, after throwing three interceptions in Iowa City against the Hawkeyes, and never saw the field again for the Spartans after that.

The following offseason, MSU brought in head coach Jonathan Smith, who arrived with his quarterback, Aidan Chiles, from Oregon State. Kim entered his name into the transfer portal and began his new journey at Coastal Carolina.

His experience in Conway, South Carolina, only lasted one season before he ventured back to the Great Lakes State to join the Eagles.

In Ypsilanti, Kim finally discovered an opportunity to settle down and start over.

He started all 12 games for EMU in 2025 and threw for 2,817 yards and 18 touchdowns. Although turnovers still impacted his play, he was able to establish himself as one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the MAC who has continued to build off that campaign in 2026.

Kim enters this Saturday with 453 passing yards and three touchdowns, hoping to carry over that production against his former team. 

“I think Noah’s a heck of an athlete,” MSU head coach Pat Fitzgerald said at Monday’s media availability. “He’s got an ability to make all the throws that show up on tape — veteran guy,  seven years. I mean, he’s played a lot of football. He’s seen a lot of football.”

The familiarity between MSU and Kim is another byproduct of the college football NIL and transfer portal era, something Fitzgerald has said will become increasingly more common.

“We’ll obviously have great respect for his game and for him but we need to worry about us,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve got to get so much better.”