Michigan State University Athletics
Spartan Profile: Lourawls 'Tum Tum' Nairn Jr.
12/2/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Nick Barnowski, MSU Athletic Communications
Walk around the Michigan State campus, and it's not uncommon to hear the soulful sounds of Lourawls "Tum Tum" Nairn Jr.'s voice echoing through the East Lansing air.
With headphones in and a smile on his face, he has one goal on his mind -- to put one on yours.
"That's why I walk around campus singing, because people are always smiling," said Nairn, who is in the midst of his second season at Michigan State. "One goal I have away from basketball is to try and make somebody smile every day. That may be the only time that person is smiling that day. They may be going through some problems at home or a bad day at school. That's how I approach life."
It's Nairn's genuine selflessness that has helped him become a captain on a talented and deep Michigan State team that has its sights set on the Final Four. But for the sophomore, it's a personality trait that extends far beyond the court. Step inside Nairn's mind, and you'll find that each day the 5-foot-10 guard is gifted is meant to be treated as just that -- a gift. And to Nairn, he approaches life with the intention to always give more than he receives.
"I put myself in other people's shoes a lot of the time," said Nairn, who appeared in 39 games as a freshman last season. "I love seeing people succeed, because where I'm from, a lot of people don't make it out. I just feel so privileged and blessed to go to school. Knowing where I'm from and that the people in my family don't have the same opportunity I have, I feel like it's extra special that God has given me the talent and the chance to make something happen for my family."
A smile on his face doesn't always equate to a perfect day. Nairn is all too familiar with what it's like to be on the other side of the fence, needing a smile to brighten his day instead of being the one who dishes them out.
Growing up in a poor neighborhood in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, Nairn watched his mother, Monalisa McKinney, struggle throughout his childhood. He lost close friends growing up due to violence in the area, and continues to see people from his hometown go down an ever-darkening path. As a teenager, when life diverged into two separate roads, Nairn took the one less traveled by. And like Robert Frost said, it's made all the difference.
"Just knowing that I was in the position that they were in just a couple of years ago, I could have made the same decisions, but I was blessed enough to go down a different road," Nairn said. "That keeps me on edge too, just to know that I'm not out there doing anything I don't want to do. I'm playing basketball and going to school, doing the things I love to do."
Why not be happy about that all the time? It's a state of mind he's sought after since the age of 13, when he left the Bahamas -- and his mom -- for a new start in the United States. Eventually ending up at Sunrise Christian Academy in Wichita, Kansas, it meant an opportunity for Nairn, whose combination of speed, strength and basketball IQ led him on a visit to MSU to see Coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans.
"It was just a match, the kind of people we are," Nairn said of his relationship with Izzo. "We want to see other people succeed. Coach Izzo is going to bring everything he can out of you. Anytime you see somebody who is going to really push you to be the best that you tell them you want to be, that just shows how much that person really cares about you."
While Sunrise Christian meant opportunity, Michigan State means family. Nairn, who is nicknamed "Tum Tum" after a character in the 1992 movie "3 Ninjas," is the latest Spartan who had no issues fitting right in with MSU's family atmosphere.
He has an extremely close relationship with former Spartan and current NBA star Draymond Green -- who said Nairn could have been a captain as a freshman -- and also has developed a friendship with legendary MSU guard Mateen Cleaves. While he is able to talk to his mother and brother, who still live in the Bahamas, nearly every day, Nairn said his teammates have become his family away from his family. It's all part of an aura that hangs around the halls of the Breslin Center, one that Nairn said in unlike any other he's ever been fortunate enough to be involved in.
"When they talk about family, it's real. When I committed, it was just family," said Nairn, who was the recipient of MSU's Stephen G. Scofes Inspirational Player Award as a freshman. "My teammates mean everything to me because these guys have so many great opportunities ahead of them and I'm just so happy for them every time something good happens to them.
"When I play, I play for my teammates. I play to let them know that I'm there for them no matter what, and that I'm in it 100 percent because that's what they mean to me."
Living like this is how he thinks people should live life. Nairn believes one of life's greatest gifts is having the freedom to believe in what you want to believe in, and that's strengthened by his Christian faith.
It's why he chooses to live every day as if it could be his last, and dedicates himself to shed his several layers of happiness on to the people who surround him.
"I approach everything as if it's the only moment I have," he said. "That comes from seeing people suffer, the things I've went through in my life, and the understanding that God is in control and everything is going to be OK, no matter what I go through."
The self-described visual person does find time for himself, just before bed, when he shuts his eyes and spends every night thinking about how to turn his goals into reality. He wrote them down before coming to college on a list that is the subject of nightly prayers: Move his mom to America. Create his own children's foundation. Win Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and the Bob Cousy Award. And, of course, win a national championship.
His mind isn't crowded, he said, because he believes trying to fulfil all of his goals are part of his life's purpose.
"I'm very visual," he said. "If I can see it in my mind, I can believe it. Seeing us win a national championship is something I think about every single day. Sometimes I think I think about it too much because it gets me riled up, but that's just the kind of passion I have for life."
His enthusiasm for life is why he always says he's great when someone asks how he is. After 21 years of living this way, there's nothing to suggest that the smiles will stop when the singing begins.
"I was just made that way, and I'm happy I'm that kind of person because I don't want to be any different than I already am."
