From 2014 to 2018, Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn Jr. made his name at Michigan State, playing in 137 games for the Spartans.
“My time at Michigan State was pretty special. I always reflect on being where I’m from in the Bahamas and just how far I’ve come, how far the Lord has brought me,” Nairn said. “So, my time there was special, and I was fortunate enough to be a part of a lot of winning when I was there; played in the final four as a freshman, won Big Ten championships, won a lot of championships there, a lot of games.”
Fast forward six years to Saturday, Nov. 16, Nairn will make his long-awaited return to East Lansing. However, it will not be in the Spartan green. Rather, it will be on the opposing side, coaching Bowling Green.
“It’s a hard game for me because, you know, I sometimes play former assistants, and that’s hard. One other time, I played a former player, but this player’s like a son to me, and I think to most people here in East Lansing,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said. “I’m going to love “Tum Tum” Nairn 364 days a year; that one day, I’m going to just like him. But he knows that, and I’m sure he feels that way, and I’m really kidding because I’m going to love him that day, too.”
While his return to the Breslin Center will be special, it is not something Nairn ever dreamed of.
“To be honest, I have a lot of different emotions about it because, for me, it’s a little bit more than a game. I’m from The Bahamas; I moved to America when I was 13. I’ve done some amazing things in my life by the Lord’s grace; I’ve done a lot of good things, and a lot of good things have happened to me,” Nairn said. “I had dreams and goals and aspirations when I left the Bahamas, but this was never a dream of mine; to coach against my former coach in a game, I never dreamt of that.”
Although his goal will be to coach the Falcons to a win, Saturday will be more than a college basketball game for Nairn.
“For me, yes, it’s a game, but it’s more than a game because I think about people in The Bahamas, where I’m from, that never got an opportunity to do some of the things that I’ve done in my life; it’s like a picture and possibility for them to see like, look, great things can happen in your life if you work hard, you stay dedicated to your craft and you sacrifice a lot,” Nairn said. “I think it’s more than a game because, for me, I’m looking at it as it can inspire people back home in the Bahamas that great things can happen in your life regardless of where you come from.”
When recruiting him over a decade ago, Izzo immediately fell in love with Nairn.
“My favorite story is the first day I went down to Sunrise (Christian Academy) to watch him play to recruit him, he was in the weight room, and the energy in that weight room was so off the charts that I offered him a scholarship immediately after,” Izzo said. “I don’t even think I hardly saw him play, I just felt like he had it; he was our kind of guy.”
Nairn went on to have a very successful career at MSU, becoming just one of six three-year captains in program history.
“I made that decision in the weight room in Wichita, Kansas, at Sunrise. That first day, I saw him and said, ‘He’s a captain.’ I guess some other guys are lucky he’s not the only four-time captain here because I felt I could make him a captain his freshman year,” Izzo said. “Tum’s one of those guys where if I ever told a recruit you remind me of “Tum Tum” Lourawls Nairn, that kid would have no idea, but for me, that would be one of the ultimate compliments.”
During his time at Michigan State, Nairn developed a strong and lasting relationship with Izzo.
“I think it’s evolved in a lot of ways. Obviously, when I was there, he was my coach. When I left, he became more of my friend. Now that I got into the coaching world, he’s one of my mentors. So, it’s been special spending a lot of time with him; we talk a lot still, and we text a lot. One Christmas Day, I was at his house just having hot chocolate with him, talking to him,” Nairn said. “I ask him so many questions, and part of the reason why I ask him a lot of questions is because that’s my way of honoring his greatness. He’s a Hall of Fame coach, but he’s a Hall of Fame person.”
Izzo considers Nairn to be like a son to him.
“Everything you believe and what’s right about the world, in that phrase in the dictionary, there should be a picture of Tum,” he said. “It sounds like I’m talking about somebody that isn’t real, and sometimes I wonder if he is real because he means that much to me, to my family, my kids and to this program.”
Saturday will also mark a semi-homecoming for BGSU head coach Todd Simon, who grew up in Fowler, Michigan, about 40 minutes away from Michigan State. It was through this local connection that Simon first discovered Nairn.
“Growing up in the shadow of Michigan State in Fowler, Michigan, it was a big deal. He (Izzo) used to allow me to come to practice way back when I was 19, 20 years old and watch,” Simon said. “I actually got to know of Tum by coming to practices way back when he was playing, and I got to see his leadership skills in action in practice, and that’s kind of what started the journey of kind of following his career path.”
A few years down the road, Simon came back to Nairn when he was looking for an assistant coach at Southern Utah.
“So, when there was a time and a place to have an assistant coach hiring at Southern Utah, he was somebody that I thought would kind of fit our mold of young and hungry, a man of character, a man of leadership,” Simon said. “He’s a fantastic leader of young men. He’s got character; everything that he stands for is what we want our program to stand for, and he sets a great example of what we want our young men to become. From that standpoint, the basketball part is also off the charts. He knows the game; he’s been well-coached. He’s a product of coach Izzo.”
Over the years, Simon, like Izzo, has become a great friend and mentor for Nairn.
“Todd means a lot to me; his family means a lot to me. He’s been really, really good for me. Ever since I’ve been with him at Southern Utah, he’s mentored me; I consider him my biggest mentor as a coach and as a friend in this profession,” Nairn said. “I think working with him, working underneath him, has been one of the, if I can say this, it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life and my career…I can tell you this 100%: I would not be the coach I am today had I not come to work for him for sure.”
Izzo believes Simon, who he is still friends with, is the perfect mentor for Nairn.
“Todd’s the perfect guy; if I had to pass a baton to somebody to take care of my semi-son, it would be Todd. I’m saying all these good things, and tomorrow I’ve got to play against him, but if it didn’t go our way tomorrow, I’d feel the same way, and I guess that’s the biggest compliment I could give both guys,” Izzo said. “The way I look at it, he’s got two guys in his life, now, that are going to help him make a lot of decisions in his professional life; he’s got way more than that in his overall life. But in his professional life, he’s got two guys that care about him to be successful.”
Now that Nairn has been away from Michigan State for a few years, Izzo has come to admire him even more.
“My favorite thing about Tum is still on the walls of our practice gym. For four straight years, at the end of practice, we’d huddle up, and Tum had a line, ‘Remember, you don’t have to be here; you get to be here,'” Izzo said. “In this day of entitlement, which I think is off the charts right now, I appreciate him more now than I did even four, five years ago when he was here.”
While Izzo has certainly taught Nairn a lot throughout their relationship, he has also learned life lessons from Nairn.
“I wish I had his positive outlook on things as much as he does,” Izzo said. “What I’ve learned from him is if I could stay as positive all the time as he does, I’d be a better coach. Mike Garland and I used to say it all the time, ‘If we could get a bunch of Tums, we could win championships.'”
Although Izzo believes Nairn will run into some obstacles in his coaching journey with the current state of college athletics, he believes Nairn’s ceiling in the industry is endless.
“I think his ceiling is whatever he wants it to be. I think he has the intelligence and the basketball savvy to be a great coach,” Izzo said. “I think the skies the limit for him, I really do.”
While Izzo and Nairn will be competing against each other for two hours in East Lansing, Michigan, on Saturday, they have built a relationship that will last their entire lives.
“He’s family, and he’ll be family until the day I’m dead, and I mean that honestly,” Izzo said. “Hopefully, I’ll always be in his life, and hopefully, he’ll always be in my life.”
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