Michigan State University Athletics
Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2026
- Class:
- 2011
Kalin Lucas
Men’s Basketball (2007-11)
Detroit, Mich.
· 2009 Big Ten Player of the Year
· Three time All-Big Ten honoree (2009-11), including First Team honors in 2009 and 2010
· 2009 NCAA All-Tournament Team, leading MSU to National Championship game
· Led MSU to back-to-back Big Ten Championships in 2009 and 2010
· Led the Spartans in scoring three straight seasons, finishing his career ranked fifth in all-time points
· Three-time Team MVP
· Three-time Team Captain
The day he got the phone call, former Michigan State men’s basketball standout Kalin Lucas admitted he wasn’t having the best day.
It was the day after the 2026 NBA Draft and he was watching a replay of the night most kids dream of when they grow up playing basketball. For Lucas, it brought back memories of those days 15 years prior when he was not selected in the draft. Even after a 14-year professional career that took him around the world playing the game he loves, that moment still hurts at times.
And then his phone rang. It was his former coach, Spartans head man Tom Izzo, and they were finally connecting after playing phone tag. Lucas thought Coach Izzo needed him to reach out to a current player and offer some advice. Instead, that call turned his day around when Izzo told Lucas that he was joining Michigan State’s Athletic Hall of Fame as part of its 2026 class.
“I won’t lie, I wasn’t having a great day,” said Lucas. “That call from Coach Izzo turned it into a day that I won’t forget.”
And when he had a chance to sit down – after he called his mother, Tina, and his father, Ken, to tell them the news – the concept of “Hall of Famer” took him back to when he first committed to Michigan State.
“I just remember him (Coach Izzo) being super excited, me having my family up here, us being in the video room,” recalled Lucas. “Once I told him, ‘Yeah, this is where I want to be,’ he jumped up in the air so excited that my little brother started crying because he didn't know what was going on. He thought something bad had happened, but no, Coach (Izzo) was just super excited. That was the first thing that came to mind. And even right now, every day now I'm waking up just thinking about different memories. Thinking about the hard work, the grind. It's super exciting.”
That hard work and grind helped make Lucas one of the all-time greats in Michigan State history.
One of just eight players in MSU basketball history to be named the Big Ten Player of the Year (2009), Lucas helped lead the Spartans to back-to-back Final Fours in 2009 and 2010. He was a three-time All-Big Ten selection, including consecutive first team honors, and was the team’s leading scorer in three-straight years, one of just five players in program history to lead the team in scoring for at least three years (Shawn Respert did it four times).
Lucas still ranks fifth all-time in scoring at Michigan State with 1,996 points and is one of just seven players in program history to score at least 1,900. When he graduated, he was sixth all-time in assists and still ranks 10th in program history with 558, leading the team as a sophomore and a junior.
“What's really big for me is just knowing the people that came before me,” said Lucas. “I knew coming to Michigan State wasn't going to be an easy task, especially having some of the greatest point guards to ever play the game come before me, from Magic (Johnson) to Scott Skiles and Mateen Cleaves. It just goes on and on. So, me knowing that, I knew I had to come here and represent. For them, for myself, and for my family. And for sure, you got to win. If you want to put that jersey on, winning has to come with it. To be honest, I'm still reflecting, and it still feels a little weird, honestly.”
Of the many memories he has from his career, two from his freshman year stick out the most. He scored 18 points and had six rebounds against Texas in the Spartan Clash at the Palace of Auburn Hills early in the year and then his first taste of March Madness later that year, beating a talented Pitt team in the second round and losing to Memphis in the Sweet Sixteen.
“That game against Texas was my coming-out party and where everything just came together for me,” said Lucas. “And that first taste of March Madness, if you win, you keep going and if you lose, it’s over. And Coach may not even remember this, but against Memphis, he put me back in with maybe two minutes left in a game we were down pretty good and I just remembered thinking, ‘we are coming back here next year and we’re going to make it.’”
Lucas and the Spartans did come back the next year, winning the Big Ten and advancing to the 2009 Final Four. Although just a sophomore, Lucas earned a spot on the All-Midwest Regional Team and the NCAA All-Tournament Team as MSU appeared in the National Championship Game.
The Spartans were poised to do it again in 2010, but the junior guard tore his Achilles in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and had to watch the team’s run to the Final Four from the sidelines. He came back as a senior and led the team in scoring at 17.0 points per game, solidifying a four-year career that ranked among the best in program history.
“When you're in college and when you're young, stuff is moving so fast and quick, you don't even really know everything that you did,” explained Lucas. “I didn't even really know, ‘Wow, I had this many points. I did this in assists. I was in the top five in this.’
“It was just me going out there, just putting everything I had on the line, just blood, sweat, and tears. So you really don't sit back and think about it until you're done, and that’s including my years overseas. And now to think about the opportunities I had and what I was able to do, I’m really proud.”
Lucas admits that it will be overwhelming when he returns to campus for his official induction into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame. He will have his parents here, along with his brother, his grandmother (Mae Sturdivant), his soon-to-be wife Kaitlyn and his sons, Kalin Jr. and Kru, along with so many of his teammates.
“It's going to be emotional,” said Lucas. “But I think it's going to be cool too, just because it's around the time of Grind Week. That will make it even more special. All the guys are going to be back, all the players I’ve played with, past players that I’ve watched and got a lot of respect for, and I think it's going to be just a whole big event.”
It has been a long journey for Lucas, from the time he was recruited to State by Izzo from Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, to his career at MSU and his injury and then a professional career that took him to seven different countries, and now, to the Hall of Fame.
“Coach Izzo was the main reason I went to Michigan State because I knew the kind of coach he was and I knew he was going to hold me accountable,” said Lucas. “I didn’t want anything to be handed to me and once I got here and saw his work ethic, I said that I’m going to try to work just as hard. One of my goals was to make sure nobody was in the gym or in the Breslin Center more than me besides Izzo.”
