Michigan State Athletics Announces 2019 Hall of Fame Class
7/30/2019 11:51:00 AM | Football, General, Men's Basketball, Men's Ice Hockey, Track and Field, Wrestling
MSU will induct Bass, Dennis, Donnelly, Milkovich and Robinson in October.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State will induct five Spartans into its Athletics Hall of Fame on Thursday, Oct. 24 as part of its annual "Celebrate" weekend. The 2019 Hall of Fame Class includes: Dan Bass (football), Karen Dennis (track & field), Mike Donnelly (hockey), Tom Milkovich (wrestling) and Mike Robinson (basketball).
The Celebrate 2019 weekend includes the 10th-annual Varsity Letter Jacket Presentation and Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 24 and then a special recognition of the Hall of Famers during the Michigan State – Penn State football game at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 26.
The MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, located in the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center, opened on Oct. 1, 1999, and displays key moments in Spartan Athletics history as well as plaques of the 149 previous inductees. The charter class of 30 former Spartan student-athletes, coaches and administrators was inducted in 1992.
"This is an outstanding class that includes national and school record holders, trailblazers and national champions," Michigan State Athletic Director Bill Beekman said. "When I look at the credentials of each honoree, I'm a bit surprised that they weren't already in the Hall of Fame, which speaks to the overall strength of this class.
"Michigan State football has an outstanding tradition, especially on the defensive side of the football, but no one has recorded more tackles in a career or a single game than Dan Bass. The numbers he put up have withstood the test of time.
"Karen Dennis was a pioneer in the sport of women's track and field, excelling both as an athlete and a coach, while helping build the foundation for the Spartan program. She was the first Spartan woman to win an AIAW (or NCAA) Championship in 1975, and seven years later she was serving as head coach and guiding the Spartans to their first Big Ten Championship.
"There's a saying that records are made to be broken, but I'm not sure Mike Donnelly's NCAA record of 59 goals in a single-season will be touched for some time. But beyond his massive goal total, it's a singular goal that has cemented his place in MSU hockey lore, as he scored the game winner in the 1986 NCAA Championship game.
"It's hard to pick the most amazing thing about Tom Milkovich's career. He never lost a conference match, either in a dual or in a tournament, and he won the last of his four Big Ten Championships while wrestling with a broken collar bone. A three-time All-American and 1972 NCAA Champion, Milkovich is among the most decorated wrestlers in MSU history.
"Mike Robinson is arguably the greatest scorer in Michigan State basketball history as his career scoring average is three points better than anyone else. A two-time Big Ten scoring champion, he scored his 1,000th career point in his 41st game; no other Spartan did it in fewer than 53 games. He still ranks 10th on the MSU career scoring chart, despite playing half as many games as most of today's players play."
Dan Bass
Football (1976-79)
Bath, Michigan
When Dan Bass got the phone call from Michigan State Athletics Director Bill Beekman, the humble former Spartan football linebacker thought it was someone playing a joke on him.
"At first I thought it was maybe someone playing a joke, but the phone number did say it was from Michigan State University, so that made it real pretty quick, but I was surprised," Bass said about the call from Beekman informing him of his induction to the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. "The reason for that surprise was that I was not a first-team All-American and almost all the other inductees have been first-team All-Americans and had greater awards, so I guess I never thought I'd have the opportunity to be there and for it to be a reality."
It is a reality, and Bass is very humbled by the honor and excited about joining other great Spartans.
"It's an honor, I never really thought about it, but it's an honor to be there. I didn't think I would have the opportunity to be there, but there's a lot of great football players and a lot of great athletes there, and I'm just very honored to be included with them and very happy to be a part of it," Bass said.
Looking back on his highly decorated Spartan career as an MSU linebacker, which includes 1979 second-team All-America and first-team All-Big Ten accolades, one of Bass' favorite memories is from his debut game in a Green & White MSU uniform, on Sept. 11, 1976, in Columbus, Ohio.
"I'll never forget my very first game my freshman year when head coach Darryl Rogers came up to me and said, 'okay kid, we're going to start you against Ohio State.' With me coming from a small town of Bath, Michigan, that didn't have a lot of people, I looked at him and said 'okay, that's no problem, it's just like playing in front of the fans in Bath.' He said 'no son, it's not, we're playing Ohio State,' but I said, 'no, we'll be okay.' So then he just gave me a grin and said 'just promise me you won't wet your pants in front of 85,000 people.' So I've always appreciated him having the faith in me because I know it probably wasn't the easiest thing for him to start a true freshman his very first game at Ohio State," the reflective Bass said.
Bass proved Coach Rogers' faith in him to be worth it, as he went on to collect 541 tackles during his four years as a Spartan, still the most in Michigan State history. He led MSU in tackles all four years in the Green & White. During his senior season of 1979, Bass posted a then-school record 160 stops, which is still good for the fifth-most tackles on the MSU single-season tackles list. He also recovered 12 fumbles during his career in a Spartan uniform, a school record that still stands today.
Another of his marks in the MSU record book that still stands is his 32 tackles in a single game, also against Ohio State, on Oct. 27, 1979, a mark that Bass is bittersweet about.
"It is an honor, but then it's kind of not, because in that game we got the crap kicked out of us, so it meant that I was on the field a lot. I would have rather won the game and had five tackles," Bass said. "It might be hard for someone, but there's always going to be somebody out there that's better and will break it, and good for that guy, I hope he wins!"
Bass won plenty as of games as a Spartan, especially in 1978, when he helped lead MSU to an 8-3 overall record and a share of the Big Ten Conference championship. That championship season was memorable for Bass.
"That was just a fantastic year, and getting to play with great players, guys like Eddie Smith, Kirk Gibson, Mark Brammer, the offense was just fantastic, and we had Melvin Land and Mark Anderson on defense, so it was just an exciting time with how we played as a team and what our offense could do," Bass said. "To be part of it and be co-Big Ten Champions was a huge honor. We had a really good team and it was a really close-knit team. That really pulled us together and is something that we'll always have as a bond, and that's something that I'll never forget, and of course when you're winning, you're having a lot of fun."
Bass and his teammates also had a great deal of fun celebrating Bass' 99-yard interception return for a touchdown against Wisconsin on Oct. 28, 1978, that is still the longest interception return in Spartan history. Legend and lore has gone back-and-forth about whether he capped his return with a flip or a dive into the end zone.
"It wasn't really a flip, let's not get too carried away," Bass said laughing. "It was more of a dive into the end zone; I didn't know what to do, and I'd always thought and dreamed about what I would do because defensive players don't really score many touchdowns, but a lot of people thought I collapsed because of running so long and I wasn't used to running that far that fast. So, I just kind of fell into the end zone with a dive. The worst part was that everyone then jumped on top of me, and I couldn't breathe. I was yelling at all my teammates, 'get off me, I can't breathe!' but they were just high-fiving and celebrating. There's video of me when I'm walking to the sidelines and Darryl Rogers is there waiting to congratulate me, and I just stopped and put both hands on my knees and am just sucking air, and so he just has this look on his face and pats me on the head and goes 'way to go kid,' and walked away, but I was just gassed and I had to go back on the field and play defense again; I was just bagged but had to go out for the next play."
Bass was in on the next play, and plenty of plays throughout his time as a Spartan, thanks in part to a fairly injury-free career.
"I'm proud of the fact that I never got hurt much, I never had any knee surgeries or anything like that. I started all 44 games of my Michigan State career, so I'm very proud of that," Bass said.
Bass has additional pride in his background growing up in Bath, Michigan, and how it shaped and formed him.
"I'm also proud of being from a small town, playing at Michigan State and playing in the Big Ten was something that I look back at now and realize how big of a deal that was and how tough it was to accomplish," Bass said. "I think the right time and the right opportunity came along at just the right time for me, because I was probably wasn't at the top of the board for recruiting when I signed with Michigan State, but I got the opportunity and I made the most of that opportunity. That's probably what I'm most proud of, that I made the best out of that opportunity, and don't feel that Michigan State wasted a scholarship on me.
"I wouldn't do anything different. Coming from a small town, I had a level head and was grateful for my opportunity. I had some good coaches, good teammates, that I always tried to take something from and use in life. I had a great upbringing from my parents and my grandparents, they just taught me things about life and to take advantage of it and be who you are. I would never change anything about what I did."
What he did in becoming one of the best tacklers in Michigan State football history is something that he also credits to his up-bringing and his coaches at MSU.
"It's funny, your freshman year, you're just trying to absorb the game and realize that things are different and it's much faster," Bass said with a chuckle. "I was very lucky that I had the speed, but the thing the coaches did with me was they really worked with me; I had a knack to get to the ball, but they worked with me in not changing too much, but just how to read the linemen and their blocking and if they pulled and where they were going, which was a big thing compared to high school, where you pretty much just read the backfield and reacted from there. I was pretty lucky to have that ability ahead of time that the coaches worked with me to get better, and they spent time with me breaking down film and that was a big learning curve with me, just learning things and tendencies from teams watching film, and that definitely helps you."
Those lessons learned in the film room propelled Bass' career, as he went on to an 11-year Canadian Football League career. He started with the Toronto Argonauts in 1980, then played for the Calgary Stampeders from 1981–1983 and the Edmonton Eskimos from 1984-1991. He won a Grey Cup for the Eskimos in 1987 and played in another two title games for them in 1986 and 1990. Bass was voted one of the CFL's top 50 players at No. 44 by Canadian sports network TSN.
In 1995, Bass was inducted into the Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame. His CFL career was acknowledged by being inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame will be his third Hall of Fame.
"It's quite an honor, it feels good," Bass said. "When I look back from as a kid when my dad took me to my first Michigan State game and from there on, all I wanted to do was play football at Michigan State, and have the opportunity, and take advantage of everything that I did, from high school, to college, to the pros. You never know what you're going to get that opportunity and you can't take it for granted. I was always taught that there's probably someone out there that's going to be better, don't get hurt because if you do get hurt, your replacement might be better than you, and I didn't want to sit on the bench, so I guess that always forced me to be at the top of my game."
Bass has kept tabs on Michigan State since he left, and reminisces with teammates about both their playing days and what is going on with the current MSU team.
"I'm always watching the Spartans. When they were in the College Football Playoff, my family all got together and watched and cheered. We get together as a family as much as we can to watch. It's always great to talk with my kids about my playing days there, and about Michigan State," Bass said. "I still keep in touch a lot with Mark Anderson, the free safety and my teammate from when I played, and we go hunting together, and we're always talking about Spartan football, and about what's going on today. I like seeing the Spartans everywhere."
Bass and his wife, Karen, have three children, Tracy, Kaylee and Dan Jr., and one grandson, Drew, and are expecting a granddaughter in September.
Bass has stayed in the Edmonton area since his playing days ended, where he is sales manager at Lakewood Chevrolet, a career in the car business that like his football career, have strong roots at Michigan State.
"I enjoy it, I enjoy meeting people, and talking with them and get to know them. Coming from Michigan State, I worked at Story Oldsmobile in Lansing during the offseason and that got my feet wet in the car business, and that established some more hard-working values in me combined with what I learned in football, and has helped me get to where I am today," Bass said.
That path has now taken Bass to the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame, which is not a joke, but another of his major accomplishments.
Karen Dennis
Track & Field (Athlete 1974-77 | Head Track Coach 1981-92)
Detroit, Michigan
A pioneer in the sport of track & field, Karen Dennis has done nothing but push boundaries since arriving on campus in 1974. She would hold many titles at Michigan State from All-American to national champion to head coach, but one constant was her desire to win. She was victorious as a student-athlete and she continued that success as she later transitioned to a coaching role.
Dennis was elated when she was told by MSU Director of Athletics Bill Beekman that she was the latest in a long line of track & field athletes to enter the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.
"I've had so many of my former students (Molly Brennan - 1993, Judi Brown - 1995, Anne Pewe - 2016) go in the Hall, and I was so excited for them and my first thought was I'm glad I'm going. Yey! That was my first thought," Dennis said. "It's just a testament to the strength of the quality of the athletes that we've conditioned or we've recruited to Michigan State, as well as the ability for them to develop at Michigan State and to go on to some amazing, if not professional careers; just some amazing careers, period. We've had some students that are now professors, that are teachers, that are politicians, that are entrepreneurs, patent-holders, just some amazing women."
Dennis enjoyed a successful collegiate career as a standout sprinter at Michigan State where she helped the 1975 Spartans to a fourth-place finish at the AIAW National Championship. She was the Spartans' first female national champion with a victory in the 220-yard dash with a time of 24.90. Dennis ended her MSU career as a two-time All-American in the 220-yard dash and the 440-yard relay in 1975.
She is still one of four different Spartan women to win a National Championship in either indoor or outdoor seasons.
Dennis was not only a champion, but also managed thrive as a student-athlete and a mother to Ebony. Her success at all these facets of her life were not a surprise to the talented multi-tasker, but she also had a strong support system. Her head coach, Jim Bibbs, and his family were a key part of her success both on the track and off. He entered the MSU Hall of Fame in 2010, and now she will join him as a Hall of Famer.
"Women have tentacles. We're like octopuses, we have lots of arms. But it's all about the support system you have. Gil Michael was my advisor, Dr. (Clarence) Underwood was always there to support me; Coach Bibbs and his family, they did a heavy load for me by keeping Ebony while I was on the road. She really grew up in the Bibbs' home when she wasn't in my home," Dennis said. "It was a juggling match but at the same time I had my family, I had the Bibbs family, I had my Spartan family, that just sort of surrounded me. I loved the sport; I loved track. I wanted to be able to do my best in track despite being a mother. I wanted to participate in a sport that I loved, and Michigan State gave me that opportunity."
She also gained valuable experience running internationally. Dennis was part of a world record-setting 4×160-yard relay team for Michigan State and a fifth-place finisher in the 220-yard dash at the 1968 U.S. Olympic Trials.
"I think that wanting to reach the highest level of athleticism in your sport is a goal and to be a National Champion at Michigan State, that was obviously one of the highlights of my athletic career," she said. "Then to proceed with helping other athletes, other students, achieve that same level of success as a coach were probably the more memorable and more significant moments in my life. But it was exciting, our whole team finished fourth in the country in 1975 with Sue Latter. We had a 4x100; Sue ran the 800. I think I ran the 400. We had a 2x100. It was a small team but a quality team nonetheless."
After her competition days were over, Dennis was not done as a Spartan, as she transitioned to a coaching role. She was part of the Michigan State coaching staff for 15 seasons, spending four years with the program as an assistant coach (1977-1981) and 11 as head coach (1981-1992).
"The transition was pretty easy. Easy from the standpoint of, at that point, at that time, you didn't really have any training to be a coach so I really leaned on or watched Jud Heathcote, I watched what he did with basketball. Of course Coach Bibbs was my rock, he was my mentor. He really coached me to be a coach. I did some of the recruiting; Dr. (Nell) Jackson was still there. I think because I was young, I had a good rapport with bringing in other young people and because I had success at Michigan State then it allowed me to be able to help my successors and encourage other young people, 'Hey, you can do the same and or better than me if you come to Michigan State and run with us'," Dennis said.
The Spartans thrived under her direction, producing a number of outstanding athletes. Judi Brown earned a silver in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Odessa Smalls was a three-time All-American sprinter and was a 12-time Big Ten champion. Anne Pewe was a two-time All-American along with Mary Shea, who was an All-American and Big Ten champion.
In 1982, the Spartan women captured their first Big Ten outdoor championship with Dennis earning District IV Coach of the Year honors.
As Dennis was collecting accolades and leading women throughout her career, she was too busy to think about her trailblazing career. She was crashing through a glass ceiling as an African-American women in a male dominated sport.
"When you are in it, I find it hard to see myself as a trailblazer. I am starting to see it now as time goes on. I have always thought that women should be able to do anything that men do. I was lucky to have Coach Bibbs to support me as a coach," added Dennis.
Dennis is very aware that she was not alone in all her achievements both as an athlete and as a coach.
"I have to thank my parents first of all who were both college educated and I am second generation. I have kids that I coach now that are first generation college educated," Dennis said. "I have to thank Coach Bibbs and his family who helped me raise Ebony while I was in school and competing. Coach Bibbs was the one who discovered me and saw some talent. He pointed me in the right direction in terms of how to train and how to be an athlete, as well as how to compete."
As the current Director of Track and Field and Cross Country at Ohio State, Dennis has continued her success at the Big Ten level. She was unanimously selected as the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third time in her career in 2018, leading the Buckeyes to their third Big Ten indoor title after similar victories in 2011 and 2015.
"Outside of the Ivy League, the Big Ten leads the nation in academics. When I went west, I really realized the emphasis that the Big Ten puts on academics. I have loved my time in the Big Ten because of the priority it places not only on athletics, but also on academics," Dennis said about the conference that she has called home for so long.
Dennis may wear less green and white these days, but she will always bleed green.
"I am always proud of Michigan State to this day. I am proud to have been a part of the first Big Ten championship in 1982, and I am proud when Michigan State won the title 30 years later. I still say, 'Go Green,'" she concluded.
Dennis graduated from MSU with a bachelor's degree in public affairs in 1977 and a master's degree in physical education in 1979. Her daughter, Dr. Ebony Dennis Mundy is a practicing clinical psychologist.
Along with pioneer, athlete, coach and mother, Dennis can now add Hall of Famer to her many roles and titles.
Mike Donnelly
Hockey (1982-86)
Livonia, Michigan
No one has scored more goals in a single season of college hockey than Mike Donnelly.
In one of the most successful eras of Michigan State hockey that produced a multitude of elite players, Donnelly proved to be one of the best.
Donnelly came to Michigan State in 1982 for the start of Coach Ron Mason's fourth year behind the Spartan bench.
"Shawn Walsh was the one that really recruited me and had a lot to do with me coming to Michigan State. I remember talking to Shawn and he said they didn't have any available scholarships to offer me, but they have a new thing called a 'recruited walk-on.' That's Shawn for you right there," Donnelly said with a laugh. "Thank God he got me."
A year after improving their win total by 14 games and finishing second in the CCHA standings, the '82-83 Spartans were looking to make another significant leap in restoring the program to national prominence.
"When I was a freshman, Mark Hamway was captain and the leaders we had were awesome," Donnelly said. "I thought the program was really special then, but I didn't know that it would become elite. It was a start and there were building blocks, but you could see it was an awesome place to play. We had a really good locker room and there were a lot of quality players. We had great coaching – Coach Mason was an awesome coach and we learned so much from him with his system and style."
The Spartans started 8-0 Donnelly's freshman season en route to the program's first 30-win season. After a second place finish during the regular season, the Spartans won their second straight CCHA Tournament title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament as Donnelly recorded 20 points, including seven goals, in 24 games.
The 1983-84 Spartans furthered the program's climb, winning 34 games, another CCHA Tournament title and finishing fourth in the NCAA Tournament. Donnelly played in all but two games that sophomore season, chipping in 18 goals and 14 assists for 32 points.
"Each year seemed like we got better players and we were just more competitive and I just think the talent pool just grew from my freshman year on," Donnelly said. "(Assistant coaches) Terry Christensen and Shawn Walsh were doing an awesome job and bringing in players. It was almost like a pro development team – the way practices were ran and the way guys competed against each other was unbelievable."
Donnelly was a part of one of the most dominant teams in program history in 1984-85. In going 38-6, Mason's "Dream Team" outscored opponents by a combined 262-100. The Spartans put together a program-best 22-game winning streak, won the CCHA regular season and captured a record fourth consecutive CCHA Tournament title. But the season came to a stunning end at the hands of Providence in the NCAA Tournament regional at Munn.
"We weren't overconfident, we just thought we had so much depth and so much talent we weren't scared of losing to anybody. We thought we could beat anybody," Donnelly said. "After that season there was a huge letdown - I think even more on the coaching side of it. It was devastating with the team we had."
While Donnelly's output increased for the third straight year as he was sixth on the team in points (47) and fourth in goals (26) in 1984-85, the NCAA Tournament loss weighed on the returning players' minds heading into 1985-86.
"Going into the next year after the high expectations with that team, it was kind of like we have to refigure our team," Donnelly said. "We have a bunch of new kids coming in and we might be rebuilding a bit."
Despite 10 newcomers, the retooled Spartans didn't miss a beat – largely due to Donnelly's offensive explosion.
"Earlier in my career, I always wanted more ice time," Donnelly said. "It seemed like I was always fighting for ice time and I didn't get a lot early on. I had a role on the team and I wasn't in the top six on the power play my junior year and I was disappointed, but I understood we had a really good team that was dominating."
Donnelly's increased ice time as a senior led to the best goal-scoring season by a player in the history of college hockey. He had 10 goals in the first 12 games, then put up 20 over the next 13 contests.
In an era without Internet and accessible real-time statistic updates, Donnelly rarely knew where his scoring prowess placed him among other top players around the nation.
"We'd get a copy of the CCHA stats here and there, but I never realized where I stood," Donnelly recalled. "I think one time around Christmas some of the guys said 'Hey, you have more goals than Brett Hull.'
"Today, everything is tracked so closely and everyone knows, but back then, I had no idea. There was no Internet and you just didn't know where everyone stood. Looking back on it, it's kind of funny."
Donnelly's program-record 16-game scoring streak, over which he scored 28 goals, helped the Spartans to a second straight CCHA regular season crown and a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. In the tournament, the Spartans dispatched Boston College in the quarterfinals and then topped Minnesota in the national semifinal, setting up a title game against Harvard.
Prior to the game, Donnelly learned that despite being the nation's leader in goals and ranking in the top three in points, he was not voted winner of the Hobey Baker Award. But Donnelly didn't let the personal setback linger.
"Coach Mason and I talked about it and he gave me his thoughts on why I didn't win it and I said, 'Coach, I'm good with it – I want to win a championship.' I would take a championship over winning that award any day."
The Spartans trailed Harvard, 3-1, early in the second period, but the teams traded goals and Donnelly's tally late in the middle stanza made it a one-goal came heading into the third.
"We were never nervous. I always believed in our team – we had so much talent and were a really good team," Donnelly said.
MSU scored twice early in the third to take its first lead, but Harvard made it 5-5 later on. The game entered the final minutes with the score tied when a faceoff in the Harvard zone turned into a memorable moment.
"We knew their goalie would come way out on faceoffs in their zone, like almost challenging the guy in the faceoff dot," Donnelly said. "So, I remember we talked about it and I told Murph (Joe Murphy), 'If you can win it back, I'll have half the net to shoot at,' and it ended up happening."
Donnelly's goal from the left circle came with 2:51 on the clock and proved to be the difference in a 6-5 Spartan win, giving MSU its second national championship.
Donnelly was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament and was a first team All-America selection. His 59 goals that season remain an NCAA record and one that will likely last for the foreseeable future; only one player has reached 50 since Donnelly with no one recording more than 52.
Donnelly's 97 points in 1985-86 ranked third in the nation and are tied for the third-highest single-season total in program history. Donnelly is tied for 15th on the Spartans' all-time point list at 196 and is fourth on the all-time goals list with 110.
Today, Donnelly works in player development for the Los Angeles Kings, the NHL club with which he played over 300 games and helped to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final. In total, Donnelly's NHL career spanned 11 seasons and 465 games.
"I was shocked when I got the call from Bill Beekman," Donnelly said. "He left me a message and I had no idea why he was calling. When he told me, I was really excited. A lot of different thoughts went through my head.
"I think it means more too when you're older; you appreciate it a lot more. When I was in school, I never thought about something like this – I just wanted to win. Now that you're older, I think it means so much."
Tom Milkovich
Wrestling (1969-73)
Maple Heights, Ohio
Forever a student of the sport, wrestler Tom Milkovich considered himself a hard-worker. In fact, to this day he has always taken his father's advice of "If you put hard work into it, that's what you'll get out of it. It always comes back around and pays dividends," and put that advice to good use. Milkovich is now reaping one of those dividends and will be rewarded by being a 2019 inductee into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.
"To be inducted into the Michigan State Hall of Fame with all of the great athletes and coaches is quite an honor. I was thrilled," Milkovich said about being notified of his induction by MSU Athletics Director Bill Beekman. "I thought and hoped that at some point I might get in since I still hold a few records and because of the career I had. It took a lot of hard work and lot of people behind the scenes."
Milkovich's hard work paid off to the tune of being a national champion as a junior in 1972 at 142 pounds, along with being a four-time Big Ten Tournament champion, a feat so rare, that in the prestigious history of Big Ten wrestling, Milkovich was only the third wrestler to accomplish that feat at the time and presently only 16 wrestlers have won four Big Ten titles. Prior to his fourth conference championship crown in 1973, no one had been a four-time winner since 1950. No one was again until 1981.
Even more impressive and rare, Milkovich was undefeated in conference matches, not just one or two of his years as a Spartan, or even three, but all four years, becoming the first-ever Big Ten wrestler to go through conference competitions completely unblemished. That accomplishment was so rare that Milkovich was in uncharted territory, alone on an island as the first person in Big Ten history to do so.
"Of course I'm proud of my national championship, but I'm also proud that I won four Big Ten championships and I never got beat by anybody in the Big Ten, whether it was in a dual meet or a tournament. That record held for a long time until David Taylor (Penn State, 2011-14) and Ed Ruth (Penn State, 2011-14) equaled it. That's a long time to hold that record without anybody else accomplishing it," Milkovich said.
During his junior season of 1972, no one beat Milkovich in any match, conference or otherwise, winning the NCAA title at 142 pounds, finishing with a perfect 23-0 record.
He thought his career was ended just shy of the Big Ten Championships his senior season, as on the eve of the opening day of action, Milkovich broke his collarbone at practice.
"The doctor's told me that my career was over at Michigan State and that I couldn't wrestle with a broken collarbone. I told them 'I'm going to go to the Big Ten championships and the national championships and I'm going to try to win a fourth Big Ten championship. So you tell me what I have to do to get this done.' I had to be taped from my elbow up to my shoulder against my rib cage. I couldn't lift my arm because of the broken collarbone, but I wrestled that way," Milkovich said.
He figured out how to not just wrestle that way, but successfully wrestle that way, as he won the Big Ten title and went on the NCAA Tournament, reaching the semifinals before losing.
"By the time I got to the national tournament I had no strength in my shoulder," Milkovich said. "It was my fault I lost in the semi-finals. I was winning the match, but I was in so much pain that I had just had enough of it. The kid put a move on me and I couldn't get out of it because I just didn't have the strength."
Milkovich ended his career with an overall ledger of 93-7-1 with 11 pins. He won two Big Ten championships at 134 pounds his first two years as a Spartan. Moving up to 142 pounds as a junior didn't phase him, as he also won the Big Ten title on the way to his national championship. He completed the four-peat in 1973 also at 142 pounds, earning the Big Ten Conference's Most Outstanding Wrestler award.
Spanning beyond the Big Ten Conference, Milkovich was a three-time All-American and was on the East-West Collegiate All-Star team twice. He led the Spartans to three Big Ten team championships from 1970-1972.
Success was part of his family's business. One of six children of Mike and Barbara Milkovich, Tom learned his wrestling ways from his father, who was head coach at Maple Heights High School. Mike Milkovich was not only a charter member of the Ohio Wrestling Hall of Fame, but was also one of the few high school coaches elected to the Helms National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He led Maple Heights to 16 undefeated seasons, with 10 state championships, nine state runner-up finishes and 37 individual state champions.
Along with the sport of wrestling, Tom Milkovich learned about life through wrestling.
"The sport inherently teaches you a lot about life because it's a lot of hard work and you realize that you get out of the sport what you put into it," Milkovich said. "Like my father always told me, 'if you put hard work into it, that's what you'll get out of it. It always comes back around and pays dividends. If you don't work hard, like anything else in life you shouldn't expect to get very far.' I still believe that's the biggest thing people can learn from wrestling."
After a well-decorated high school career, Milkovich came to Michigan State and his success blossomed. He was later joined by his younger brother, Pat, who would become a two-time NCAA champion and four-time NCAA finalist for the Spartans.
Among all of Tom Milkovich's honors and memories, his brother, Pat, is the main role in one of the biggest.
"I have a lot of favorite memories from my time at Michigan State, but my proudest moment was when my brother Pat and I went to the national tournament, and Pat won the national championship as a 17 year-old freshman. I was really proud of that because he didn't have any scholarship money and walked on after I introduced him to MSU," Tom Milkovich said.
Milkovich's individual and family success is something that he's certainly very proud of, but he also takes great pride in the performances that went on with everything.
"I tried my best to be a good example to my fellow teammates and fans at Michigan State. I conducted myself as hardworking and professional. More than anything, I had a great love of entertaining the people that came to watch me wrestle. It was important to me that people came into the gym to watch Michigan State wrestling. We put a good show on," Milkovich said.
He remembered many matches that there were so many fans there to see that "good show," that the fans and wrestlers were mixed together on the sidelines.
"When I wrestled there we had great fans and they packed the gymnasium for us which was what excited us, particularly me, the most," Milkovich said proudly. "I remember there were matches at the IM Center where it was so packed that people were sitting on the floor between our bench and the wrestling mat. We had to step over them to get to the mat. They were loving the action because they were right there, and we were wrestling Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Michigan. I felt like it was my obligation to give them the very best I had."
Another one of Milkovich's fondest memories is one of, if not the saddest of his time at Michigan State, but also one that perhaps taught him the most, affecting him for the rest of life.
Earning some recognition of one of the rewards of his "big man on campus" status, Milkovich was classmates with "one of the prettiest girls on campus." After two years of being so shy to say anything more than 'hello' or 'good luck on your test,' to, Milkovich was approached by this same girl at lunch one day and said that she had a friend on her floor that was very anxious to meet him. Well, after meeting her friend, Milkovich started dating the friend, Candice Mikula. A year-and-a-half later, Tom and Candice were 'going steady,' and 'in love.'
One late summer Sunday afternoon, Milkovich was on his way back home to East Lansing from working a wrestling camp in Ohio, and 35 miles from East Lansing, witnessed a car accident on a fairly deserted highway, seeing the car go through the guard-rail on a bridge and overturning into a creek bed. Milkovich stopped and tried to help, coming to the driver first, who was unresponsive and wasn't showing any signs of life. He went over to the passenger, who was badly bleeding and barely breathing from the horrible accident, completely unrecognizable. Milkovich and another passing motorist carried her back up to the side of the road and began CPR and waited for help to arrive. An ambulance later came and took over treatment of the passenger, but she passed away in the back of the ambulance. A short time later Milkovich learned that the unrecognizable passenger was none other than Candice, the love of his life.
Milkovich later received a phone call from Mrs. Mikula, thanking him for everything he did in taking care of her daughter in her last moments of life. Milkovich was heart-broken, stunned, devastated and in shock, full of thoughts and emotions. He wondered why God had put him there, on that very road, at that very moment, for that accident, and take care of this passenger that was so badly mangled that he didn't recognize as the girl that he had fallen in love with. Milkovich used that emotion as fuel for not just his wrestling career, but everyday life, knowing that any moment could be the last.
"You never know what kind of things are going to happen to you when you go to school, or in life, and you have to be able to deal with it," Milkovich said. "No matter who you are in this world, there's going to be times where things don't go your way. Your life isn't always going to go the way you dream it up and you're going to have to make an adjustment."
Throughout the road of his ups and downs, Milkovich has made adjustments and gained success from those adjustments, but not without a support system of his coaches and teammates.
"My coaches, Grady Peninger and Doug Blubaugh, were so inspirational and motivational to me. I learned so much about not just wrestling, but also life from them," Milkovich said. "I'm especially grateful to all of my teammates and especially my brother Pat because we worked hand in hand when I went to school there."
Milkovich also was thankful and is forever grateful to innumerable teammates, fellow student-athletes and friends, fondly including his roommates and close friends, in a sort of "who's who" of Michigan State athletics at that time.
"Brad Van Pelt, Joe DeLamielleure and John Shinsky were my long-time roommates, and they all inspired me to strive for greatness," Milkovich said. "I was also close friends with basketball players Gary Ganakas and Brian Breslin, and baseball player Steve Garvey, and they were all so great to be around and learn from. I also attribute part of my success to my close friend and training partner, Conrad Calendar, who I convinced to come to Michigan State after transferring from Kent State."
Milkovich took what he learned from his roommates and fellow student-athletes in other sports that when paired with his hard work led to a well-decorated wrestling career, as well as a successful career after wrestling.
He started coaching wrestling right after his own wrestling career came to a close, and like his father, Milkovich became a successful wrestling head coach, and has coached on some level every year since leaving MSU after graduating in in 1974 with a business degree.
Milkovich's coaching stops included Cleveland State, then Auburn, before temporarily retiring from collegiate head coaching, then later resuming it at the high school level in several high schools across Ohio, then back to the collegiate ranks, and is currently head coach at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He was a high school vocational education skills teacher, teaching at risk youth not just about school, but life after high school and beyond, retiring a few years ago.
Milkovich has left a lasting impression on former students and athletes that's he has coached and taught over time, passing along many of the messages he's learned from his father, continuing to get rewarded for all the hard work he's put in.
Mike Robinson
Basketball (1971-74)
Detroit, Michigan
Mike Robinson left Michigan State as one of the most prolific scorers in program history.
Robinson, who arrived at MSU two years before freshmen were allowed to play, carried the greatest scoring average in program history at 24.2 points per game in three seasons.
"My first reaction was shock, I was just shocked," Robinson said upon learning about his selection to the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. "I had to sit a while and absorb the thought. It means quite a bit to me. One of the things I thought about was Coach (Gus) Ganakas and the faith he had in me as far as my playing basketball."
Robinson, who grew up in the Brewster projects in Detroit and went to a smaller high school, Detroit Northeastern, came to Michigan State and faced some culture shock in being at a large, state school, but settled in East Lansing playing under Ganakas.
"He was very important to me," Robinson said of Ganakas. "He was a very compassionate person. He was a player's coach and was one you'd say, 'Let's win one for the Gipper.' You could see he cared and he had some intangibles that you can't explain. Caring went a long way with me."
To this day, Robinson still ranks 10th all-time in scoring at MSU with 1,717 points in 71 games between 1971-74. Robinson reached the 1,000-point mark for his career in his 41st game, the fastest of any player in program history. He scored 35 points or more four times and posted a career high of 40 against Northwestern in 1973.
But there were a trio of games he remembered distinctly, all coming in his first varsity season, 1971-72.
"There was a game against Indiana in Bobby Knight's first year," Robinson recalled. "We didn't have a lot of TV games at that time and I just remember thinking, 'Wow, you're really going to have to lace up your shoes and be ready.' That was one of the turning points of my career (Robinson scored 34 points in an 83-73 MSU win).
"My first varsity game against Missouri. It was a tough game. It was my first test. The defense was very tough and it was not easy to get around players and I scored 25 points.
"Another game that was pretty big was one at Kentucky early that year. I hadn't been that far South in my life and I had never seen so many cowboy hats in my life. It was pretty intimidating, back in the days when Adolph Rupp was still coaching. I scored about 32 points, 12 in the first half and 20 in the second, and we won that game down there (91-85)."
His career scoring average of 24.2 points per game is the all-time best, three points ahead of the program's all-time leading scorer, Shawn Respert, who averaged 21.2 points per game. Robinson is the only three-year player in the history of the program to rank among the top-20 scorers.
In 1971-72 as a sophomore, Robinson averaged 24.7 points per game, which still ranks as the eighth-best single season average in program history. One year later, in 1972-73, Robinson averaged 25.3 points per game, the sixth-best single-season at MSU and the record for a junior. As a senior in 1973-74, the 6-foot guard averaged 22.4 points per game.
"It's hard to imagine that I'm still up there," Robinson said. "There are so many great players who have come to Michigan State and now you have the three-point shot and it still baffles me that I'm up there on that list. I take a lot of pride in that. Consistency was very important to me."
He is one of three MSU players (along with teammate Terry Furlow and Jay Vincent) to lead the Big Ten in scoring twice and is one of just three Spartans (Johnny Green and Mateen Cleaves) to be named First Team All-Big Ten three times.
"That is huge," Robinson said when he heard his named mentioned with Green. "I remember watching Johnny Green when he was in the NBA. And then I came here to Michigan State and people said I was too small to play Big Ten ball. I prided myself on being in good shape and to hear my name with Johnny Green, well, I guess I did something."
Robinson was selected in the seventh round of the 1974 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He earned his bachelor's degree in recreation administration, a master's degree in intramural administration from MSU and a second master's in information systems from Walsh College.
Robinson retired in 2015 after a professional career that included working for Meijer in its distribution center, General Dynamics as a senior analyst of materials, for Coca-Cola as a warehouse supervisor, for Solomon Software as a programmer and for Consumers Energy as a software business analyst. He enjoys watching his son Mike, a rising senior at Huron High School, play basketball and continues to follow the Spartans.
"I still follow the team very closely and Tom (Izzo) has a reunion every year that I make sure to be there for," Robinson said. "We're a very close group and it's filled with a lot of class. No one is obsolete and no matter how long you've been away, you're still relevant."
The Celebrate 2019 weekend includes the 10th-annual Varsity Letter Jacket Presentation and Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 24 and then a special recognition of the Hall of Famers during the Michigan State – Penn State football game at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 26.
The MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, located in the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center, opened on Oct. 1, 1999, and displays key moments in Spartan Athletics history as well as plaques of the 149 previous inductees. The charter class of 30 former Spartan student-athletes, coaches and administrators was inducted in 1992.
"This is an outstanding class that includes national and school record holders, trailblazers and national champions," Michigan State Athletic Director Bill Beekman said. "When I look at the credentials of each honoree, I'm a bit surprised that they weren't already in the Hall of Fame, which speaks to the overall strength of this class.
"Michigan State football has an outstanding tradition, especially on the defensive side of the football, but no one has recorded more tackles in a career or a single game than Dan Bass. The numbers he put up have withstood the test of time.
"Karen Dennis was a pioneer in the sport of women's track and field, excelling both as an athlete and a coach, while helping build the foundation for the Spartan program. She was the first Spartan woman to win an AIAW (or NCAA) Championship in 1975, and seven years later she was serving as head coach and guiding the Spartans to their first Big Ten Championship.
"There's a saying that records are made to be broken, but I'm not sure Mike Donnelly's NCAA record of 59 goals in a single-season will be touched for some time. But beyond his massive goal total, it's a singular goal that has cemented his place in MSU hockey lore, as he scored the game winner in the 1986 NCAA Championship game.
"It's hard to pick the most amazing thing about Tom Milkovich's career. He never lost a conference match, either in a dual or in a tournament, and he won the last of his four Big Ten Championships while wrestling with a broken collar bone. A three-time All-American and 1972 NCAA Champion, Milkovich is among the most decorated wrestlers in MSU history.
"Mike Robinson is arguably the greatest scorer in Michigan State basketball history as his career scoring average is three points better than anyone else. A two-time Big Ten scoring champion, he scored his 1,000th career point in his 41st game; no other Spartan did it in fewer than 53 games. He still ranks 10th on the MSU career scoring chart, despite playing half as many games as most of today's players play."
Dan Bass
Football (1976-79)
Bath, Michigan
When Dan Bass got the phone call from Michigan State Athletics Director Bill Beekman, the humble former Spartan football linebacker thought it was someone playing a joke on him.
"At first I thought it was maybe someone playing a joke, but the phone number did say it was from Michigan State University, so that made it real pretty quick, but I was surprised," Bass said about the call from Beekman informing him of his induction to the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. "The reason for that surprise was that I was not a first-team All-American and almost all the other inductees have been first-team All-Americans and had greater awards, so I guess I never thought I'd have the opportunity to be there and for it to be a reality."
It is a reality, and Bass is very humbled by the honor and excited about joining other great Spartans.
"It's an honor, I never really thought about it, but it's an honor to be there. I didn't think I would have the opportunity to be there, but there's a lot of great football players and a lot of great athletes there, and I'm just very honored to be included with them and very happy to be a part of it," Bass said.
Looking back on his highly decorated Spartan career as an MSU linebacker, which includes 1979 second-team All-America and first-team All-Big Ten accolades, one of Bass' favorite memories is from his debut game in a Green & White MSU uniform, on Sept. 11, 1976, in Columbus, Ohio.
"I'll never forget my very first game my freshman year when head coach Darryl Rogers came up to me and said, 'okay kid, we're going to start you against Ohio State.' With me coming from a small town of Bath, Michigan, that didn't have a lot of people, I looked at him and said 'okay, that's no problem, it's just like playing in front of the fans in Bath.' He said 'no son, it's not, we're playing Ohio State,' but I said, 'no, we'll be okay.' So then he just gave me a grin and said 'just promise me you won't wet your pants in front of 85,000 people.' So I've always appreciated him having the faith in me because I know it probably wasn't the easiest thing for him to start a true freshman his very first game at Ohio State," the reflective Bass said.
Bass proved Coach Rogers' faith in him to be worth it, as he went on to collect 541 tackles during his four years as a Spartan, still the most in Michigan State history. He led MSU in tackles all four years in the Green & White. During his senior season of 1979, Bass posted a then-school record 160 stops, which is still good for the fifth-most tackles on the MSU single-season tackles list. He also recovered 12 fumbles during his career in a Spartan uniform, a school record that still stands today.
Another of his marks in the MSU record book that still stands is his 32 tackles in a single game, also against Ohio State, on Oct. 27, 1979, a mark that Bass is bittersweet about.
"It is an honor, but then it's kind of not, because in that game we got the crap kicked out of us, so it meant that I was on the field a lot. I would have rather won the game and had five tackles," Bass said. "It might be hard for someone, but there's always going to be somebody out there that's better and will break it, and good for that guy, I hope he wins!"
Bass won plenty as of games as a Spartan, especially in 1978, when he helped lead MSU to an 8-3 overall record and a share of the Big Ten Conference championship. That championship season was memorable for Bass.
"That was just a fantastic year, and getting to play with great players, guys like Eddie Smith, Kirk Gibson, Mark Brammer, the offense was just fantastic, and we had Melvin Land and Mark Anderson on defense, so it was just an exciting time with how we played as a team and what our offense could do," Bass said. "To be part of it and be co-Big Ten Champions was a huge honor. We had a really good team and it was a really close-knit team. That really pulled us together and is something that we'll always have as a bond, and that's something that I'll never forget, and of course when you're winning, you're having a lot of fun."
Bass and his teammates also had a great deal of fun celebrating Bass' 99-yard interception return for a touchdown against Wisconsin on Oct. 28, 1978, that is still the longest interception return in Spartan history. Legend and lore has gone back-and-forth about whether he capped his return with a flip or a dive into the end zone.
"It wasn't really a flip, let's not get too carried away," Bass said laughing. "It was more of a dive into the end zone; I didn't know what to do, and I'd always thought and dreamed about what I would do because defensive players don't really score many touchdowns, but a lot of people thought I collapsed because of running so long and I wasn't used to running that far that fast. So, I just kind of fell into the end zone with a dive. The worst part was that everyone then jumped on top of me, and I couldn't breathe. I was yelling at all my teammates, 'get off me, I can't breathe!' but they were just high-fiving and celebrating. There's video of me when I'm walking to the sidelines and Darryl Rogers is there waiting to congratulate me, and I just stopped and put both hands on my knees and am just sucking air, and so he just has this look on his face and pats me on the head and goes 'way to go kid,' and walked away, but I was just gassed and I had to go back on the field and play defense again; I was just bagged but had to go out for the next play."
Bass was in on the next play, and plenty of plays throughout his time as a Spartan, thanks in part to a fairly injury-free career.
"I'm proud of the fact that I never got hurt much, I never had any knee surgeries or anything like that. I started all 44 games of my Michigan State career, so I'm very proud of that," Bass said.
Bass has additional pride in his background growing up in Bath, Michigan, and how it shaped and formed him.
"I'm also proud of being from a small town, playing at Michigan State and playing in the Big Ten was something that I look back at now and realize how big of a deal that was and how tough it was to accomplish," Bass said. "I think the right time and the right opportunity came along at just the right time for me, because I was probably wasn't at the top of the board for recruiting when I signed with Michigan State, but I got the opportunity and I made the most of that opportunity. That's probably what I'm most proud of, that I made the best out of that opportunity, and don't feel that Michigan State wasted a scholarship on me.
"I wouldn't do anything different. Coming from a small town, I had a level head and was grateful for my opportunity. I had some good coaches, good teammates, that I always tried to take something from and use in life. I had a great upbringing from my parents and my grandparents, they just taught me things about life and to take advantage of it and be who you are. I would never change anything about what I did."
What he did in becoming one of the best tacklers in Michigan State football history is something that he also credits to his up-bringing and his coaches at MSU.
"It's funny, your freshman year, you're just trying to absorb the game and realize that things are different and it's much faster," Bass said with a chuckle. "I was very lucky that I had the speed, but the thing the coaches did with me was they really worked with me; I had a knack to get to the ball, but they worked with me in not changing too much, but just how to read the linemen and their blocking and if they pulled and where they were going, which was a big thing compared to high school, where you pretty much just read the backfield and reacted from there. I was pretty lucky to have that ability ahead of time that the coaches worked with me to get better, and they spent time with me breaking down film and that was a big learning curve with me, just learning things and tendencies from teams watching film, and that definitely helps you."
Those lessons learned in the film room propelled Bass' career, as he went on to an 11-year Canadian Football League career. He started with the Toronto Argonauts in 1980, then played for the Calgary Stampeders from 1981–1983 and the Edmonton Eskimos from 1984-1991. He won a Grey Cup for the Eskimos in 1987 and played in another two title games for them in 1986 and 1990. Bass was voted one of the CFL's top 50 players at No. 44 by Canadian sports network TSN.
In 1995, Bass was inducted into the Greater Lansing Area Sports Hall of Fame. His CFL career was acknowledged by being inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2000, and the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame will be his third Hall of Fame.
"It's quite an honor, it feels good," Bass said. "When I look back from as a kid when my dad took me to my first Michigan State game and from there on, all I wanted to do was play football at Michigan State, and have the opportunity, and take advantage of everything that I did, from high school, to college, to the pros. You never know what you're going to get that opportunity and you can't take it for granted. I was always taught that there's probably someone out there that's going to be better, don't get hurt because if you do get hurt, your replacement might be better than you, and I didn't want to sit on the bench, so I guess that always forced me to be at the top of my game."
Bass has kept tabs on Michigan State since he left, and reminisces with teammates about both their playing days and what is going on with the current MSU team.
"I'm always watching the Spartans. When they were in the College Football Playoff, my family all got together and watched and cheered. We get together as a family as much as we can to watch. It's always great to talk with my kids about my playing days there, and about Michigan State," Bass said. "I still keep in touch a lot with Mark Anderson, the free safety and my teammate from when I played, and we go hunting together, and we're always talking about Spartan football, and about what's going on today. I like seeing the Spartans everywhere."
Bass and his wife, Karen, have three children, Tracy, Kaylee and Dan Jr., and one grandson, Drew, and are expecting a granddaughter in September.
Bass has stayed in the Edmonton area since his playing days ended, where he is sales manager at Lakewood Chevrolet, a career in the car business that like his football career, have strong roots at Michigan State.
"I enjoy it, I enjoy meeting people, and talking with them and get to know them. Coming from Michigan State, I worked at Story Oldsmobile in Lansing during the offseason and that got my feet wet in the car business, and that established some more hard-working values in me combined with what I learned in football, and has helped me get to where I am today," Bass said.
That path has now taken Bass to the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame, which is not a joke, but another of his major accomplishments.
Karen Dennis
Track & Field (Athlete 1974-77 | Head Track Coach 1981-92)
Detroit, Michigan
A pioneer in the sport of track & field, Karen Dennis has done nothing but push boundaries since arriving on campus in 1974. She would hold many titles at Michigan State from All-American to national champion to head coach, but one constant was her desire to win. She was victorious as a student-athlete and she continued that success as she later transitioned to a coaching role.
Dennis was elated when she was told by MSU Director of Athletics Bill Beekman that she was the latest in a long line of track & field athletes to enter the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.
"I've had so many of my former students (Molly Brennan - 1993, Judi Brown - 1995, Anne Pewe - 2016) go in the Hall, and I was so excited for them and my first thought was I'm glad I'm going. Yey! That was my first thought," Dennis said. "It's just a testament to the strength of the quality of the athletes that we've conditioned or we've recruited to Michigan State, as well as the ability for them to develop at Michigan State and to go on to some amazing, if not professional careers; just some amazing careers, period. We've had some students that are now professors, that are teachers, that are politicians, that are entrepreneurs, patent-holders, just some amazing women."
Dennis enjoyed a successful collegiate career as a standout sprinter at Michigan State where she helped the 1975 Spartans to a fourth-place finish at the AIAW National Championship. She was the Spartans' first female national champion with a victory in the 220-yard dash with a time of 24.90. Dennis ended her MSU career as a two-time All-American in the 220-yard dash and the 440-yard relay in 1975.
She is still one of four different Spartan women to win a National Championship in either indoor or outdoor seasons.
Dennis was not only a champion, but also managed thrive as a student-athlete and a mother to Ebony. Her success at all these facets of her life were not a surprise to the talented multi-tasker, but she also had a strong support system. Her head coach, Jim Bibbs, and his family were a key part of her success both on the track and off. He entered the MSU Hall of Fame in 2010, and now she will join him as a Hall of Famer.
"Women have tentacles. We're like octopuses, we have lots of arms. But it's all about the support system you have. Gil Michael was my advisor, Dr. (Clarence) Underwood was always there to support me; Coach Bibbs and his family, they did a heavy load for me by keeping Ebony while I was on the road. She really grew up in the Bibbs' home when she wasn't in my home," Dennis said. "It was a juggling match but at the same time I had my family, I had the Bibbs family, I had my Spartan family, that just sort of surrounded me. I loved the sport; I loved track. I wanted to be able to do my best in track despite being a mother. I wanted to participate in a sport that I loved, and Michigan State gave me that opportunity."
She also gained valuable experience running internationally. Dennis was part of a world record-setting 4×160-yard relay team for Michigan State and a fifth-place finisher in the 220-yard dash at the 1968 U.S. Olympic Trials.
"I think that wanting to reach the highest level of athleticism in your sport is a goal and to be a National Champion at Michigan State, that was obviously one of the highlights of my athletic career," she said. "Then to proceed with helping other athletes, other students, achieve that same level of success as a coach were probably the more memorable and more significant moments in my life. But it was exciting, our whole team finished fourth in the country in 1975 with Sue Latter. We had a 4x100; Sue ran the 800. I think I ran the 400. We had a 2x100. It was a small team but a quality team nonetheless."
After her competition days were over, Dennis was not done as a Spartan, as she transitioned to a coaching role. She was part of the Michigan State coaching staff for 15 seasons, spending four years with the program as an assistant coach (1977-1981) and 11 as head coach (1981-1992).
"The transition was pretty easy. Easy from the standpoint of, at that point, at that time, you didn't really have any training to be a coach so I really leaned on or watched Jud Heathcote, I watched what he did with basketball. Of course Coach Bibbs was my rock, he was my mentor. He really coached me to be a coach. I did some of the recruiting; Dr. (Nell) Jackson was still there. I think because I was young, I had a good rapport with bringing in other young people and because I had success at Michigan State then it allowed me to be able to help my successors and encourage other young people, 'Hey, you can do the same and or better than me if you come to Michigan State and run with us'," Dennis said.
The Spartans thrived under her direction, producing a number of outstanding athletes. Judi Brown earned a silver in the 400-meter hurdles at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Odessa Smalls was a three-time All-American sprinter and was a 12-time Big Ten champion. Anne Pewe was a two-time All-American along with Mary Shea, who was an All-American and Big Ten champion.
In 1982, the Spartan women captured their first Big Ten outdoor championship with Dennis earning District IV Coach of the Year honors.
As Dennis was collecting accolades and leading women throughout her career, she was too busy to think about her trailblazing career. She was crashing through a glass ceiling as an African-American women in a male dominated sport.
"When you are in it, I find it hard to see myself as a trailblazer. I am starting to see it now as time goes on. I have always thought that women should be able to do anything that men do. I was lucky to have Coach Bibbs to support me as a coach," added Dennis.
Dennis is very aware that she was not alone in all her achievements both as an athlete and as a coach.
"I have to thank my parents first of all who were both college educated and I am second generation. I have kids that I coach now that are first generation college educated," Dennis said. "I have to thank Coach Bibbs and his family who helped me raise Ebony while I was in school and competing. Coach Bibbs was the one who discovered me and saw some talent. He pointed me in the right direction in terms of how to train and how to be an athlete, as well as how to compete."
As the current Director of Track and Field and Cross Country at Ohio State, Dennis has continued her success at the Big Ten level. She was unanimously selected as the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the third time in her career in 2018, leading the Buckeyes to their third Big Ten indoor title after similar victories in 2011 and 2015.
"Outside of the Ivy League, the Big Ten leads the nation in academics. When I went west, I really realized the emphasis that the Big Ten puts on academics. I have loved my time in the Big Ten because of the priority it places not only on athletics, but also on academics," Dennis said about the conference that she has called home for so long.
Dennis may wear less green and white these days, but she will always bleed green.
"I am always proud of Michigan State to this day. I am proud to have been a part of the first Big Ten championship in 1982, and I am proud when Michigan State won the title 30 years later. I still say, 'Go Green,'" she concluded.
Dennis graduated from MSU with a bachelor's degree in public affairs in 1977 and a master's degree in physical education in 1979. Her daughter, Dr. Ebony Dennis Mundy is a practicing clinical psychologist.
Along with pioneer, athlete, coach and mother, Dennis can now add Hall of Famer to her many roles and titles.
Mike Donnelly
Hockey (1982-86)
Livonia, Michigan
No one has scored more goals in a single season of college hockey than Mike Donnelly.
In one of the most successful eras of Michigan State hockey that produced a multitude of elite players, Donnelly proved to be one of the best.
Donnelly came to Michigan State in 1982 for the start of Coach Ron Mason's fourth year behind the Spartan bench.
"Shawn Walsh was the one that really recruited me and had a lot to do with me coming to Michigan State. I remember talking to Shawn and he said they didn't have any available scholarships to offer me, but they have a new thing called a 'recruited walk-on.' That's Shawn for you right there," Donnelly said with a laugh. "Thank God he got me."
A year after improving their win total by 14 games and finishing second in the CCHA standings, the '82-83 Spartans were looking to make another significant leap in restoring the program to national prominence.
"When I was a freshman, Mark Hamway was captain and the leaders we had were awesome," Donnelly said. "I thought the program was really special then, but I didn't know that it would become elite. It was a start and there were building blocks, but you could see it was an awesome place to play. We had a really good locker room and there were a lot of quality players. We had great coaching – Coach Mason was an awesome coach and we learned so much from him with his system and style."
The Spartans started 8-0 Donnelly's freshman season en route to the program's first 30-win season. After a second place finish during the regular season, the Spartans won their second straight CCHA Tournament title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament as Donnelly recorded 20 points, including seven goals, in 24 games.
The 1983-84 Spartans furthered the program's climb, winning 34 games, another CCHA Tournament title and finishing fourth in the NCAA Tournament. Donnelly played in all but two games that sophomore season, chipping in 18 goals and 14 assists for 32 points.
"Each year seemed like we got better players and we were just more competitive and I just think the talent pool just grew from my freshman year on," Donnelly said. "(Assistant coaches) Terry Christensen and Shawn Walsh were doing an awesome job and bringing in players. It was almost like a pro development team – the way practices were ran and the way guys competed against each other was unbelievable."
Donnelly was a part of one of the most dominant teams in program history in 1984-85. In going 38-6, Mason's "Dream Team" outscored opponents by a combined 262-100. The Spartans put together a program-best 22-game winning streak, won the CCHA regular season and captured a record fourth consecutive CCHA Tournament title. But the season came to a stunning end at the hands of Providence in the NCAA Tournament regional at Munn.
"We weren't overconfident, we just thought we had so much depth and so much talent we weren't scared of losing to anybody. We thought we could beat anybody," Donnelly said. "After that season there was a huge letdown - I think even more on the coaching side of it. It was devastating with the team we had."
While Donnelly's output increased for the third straight year as he was sixth on the team in points (47) and fourth in goals (26) in 1984-85, the NCAA Tournament loss weighed on the returning players' minds heading into 1985-86.
"Going into the next year after the high expectations with that team, it was kind of like we have to refigure our team," Donnelly said. "We have a bunch of new kids coming in and we might be rebuilding a bit."
Despite 10 newcomers, the retooled Spartans didn't miss a beat – largely due to Donnelly's offensive explosion.
"Earlier in my career, I always wanted more ice time," Donnelly said. "It seemed like I was always fighting for ice time and I didn't get a lot early on. I had a role on the team and I wasn't in the top six on the power play my junior year and I was disappointed, but I understood we had a really good team that was dominating."
Donnelly's increased ice time as a senior led to the best goal-scoring season by a player in the history of college hockey. He had 10 goals in the first 12 games, then put up 20 over the next 13 contests.
In an era without Internet and accessible real-time statistic updates, Donnelly rarely knew where his scoring prowess placed him among other top players around the nation.
"We'd get a copy of the CCHA stats here and there, but I never realized where I stood," Donnelly recalled. "I think one time around Christmas some of the guys said 'Hey, you have more goals than Brett Hull.'
"Today, everything is tracked so closely and everyone knows, but back then, I had no idea. There was no Internet and you just didn't know where everyone stood. Looking back on it, it's kind of funny."
Donnelly's program-record 16-game scoring streak, over which he scored 28 goals, helped the Spartans to a second straight CCHA regular season crown and a fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. In the tournament, the Spartans dispatched Boston College in the quarterfinals and then topped Minnesota in the national semifinal, setting up a title game against Harvard.
Prior to the game, Donnelly learned that despite being the nation's leader in goals and ranking in the top three in points, he was not voted winner of the Hobey Baker Award. But Donnelly didn't let the personal setback linger.
"Coach Mason and I talked about it and he gave me his thoughts on why I didn't win it and I said, 'Coach, I'm good with it – I want to win a championship.' I would take a championship over winning that award any day."
The Spartans trailed Harvard, 3-1, early in the second period, but the teams traded goals and Donnelly's tally late in the middle stanza made it a one-goal came heading into the third.
"We were never nervous. I always believed in our team – we had so much talent and were a really good team," Donnelly said.
MSU scored twice early in the third to take its first lead, but Harvard made it 5-5 later on. The game entered the final minutes with the score tied when a faceoff in the Harvard zone turned into a memorable moment.
"We knew their goalie would come way out on faceoffs in their zone, like almost challenging the guy in the faceoff dot," Donnelly said. "So, I remember we talked about it and I told Murph (Joe Murphy), 'If you can win it back, I'll have half the net to shoot at,' and it ended up happening."
Donnelly's goal from the left circle came with 2:51 on the clock and proved to be the difference in a 6-5 Spartan win, giving MSU its second national championship.
Donnelly was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament and was a first team All-America selection. His 59 goals that season remain an NCAA record and one that will likely last for the foreseeable future; only one player has reached 50 since Donnelly with no one recording more than 52.
Donnelly's 97 points in 1985-86 ranked third in the nation and are tied for the third-highest single-season total in program history. Donnelly is tied for 15th on the Spartans' all-time point list at 196 and is fourth on the all-time goals list with 110.
Today, Donnelly works in player development for the Los Angeles Kings, the NHL club with which he played over 300 games and helped to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final. In total, Donnelly's NHL career spanned 11 seasons and 465 games.
"I was shocked when I got the call from Bill Beekman," Donnelly said. "He left me a message and I had no idea why he was calling. When he told me, I was really excited. A lot of different thoughts went through my head.
"I think it means more too when you're older; you appreciate it a lot more. When I was in school, I never thought about something like this – I just wanted to win. Now that you're older, I think it means so much."
Tom Milkovich
Wrestling (1969-73)
Maple Heights, Ohio
Forever a student of the sport, wrestler Tom Milkovich considered himself a hard-worker. In fact, to this day he has always taken his father's advice of "If you put hard work into it, that's what you'll get out of it. It always comes back around and pays dividends," and put that advice to good use. Milkovich is now reaping one of those dividends and will be rewarded by being a 2019 inductee into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.
"To be inducted into the Michigan State Hall of Fame with all of the great athletes and coaches is quite an honor. I was thrilled," Milkovich said about being notified of his induction by MSU Athletics Director Bill Beekman. "I thought and hoped that at some point I might get in since I still hold a few records and because of the career I had. It took a lot of hard work and lot of people behind the scenes."
Milkovich's hard work paid off to the tune of being a national champion as a junior in 1972 at 142 pounds, along with being a four-time Big Ten Tournament champion, a feat so rare, that in the prestigious history of Big Ten wrestling, Milkovich was only the third wrestler to accomplish that feat at the time and presently only 16 wrestlers have won four Big Ten titles. Prior to his fourth conference championship crown in 1973, no one had been a four-time winner since 1950. No one was again until 1981.
Even more impressive and rare, Milkovich was undefeated in conference matches, not just one or two of his years as a Spartan, or even three, but all four years, becoming the first-ever Big Ten wrestler to go through conference competitions completely unblemished. That accomplishment was so rare that Milkovich was in uncharted territory, alone on an island as the first person in Big Ten history to do so.
"Of course I'm proud of my national championship, but I'm also proud that I won four Big Ten championships and I never got beat by anybody in the Big Ten, whether it was in a dual meet or a tournament. That record held for a long time until David Taylor (Penn State, 2011-14) and Ed Ruth (Penn State, 2011-14) equaled it. That's a long time to hold that record without anybody else accomplishing it," Milkovich said.
During his junior season of 1972, no one beat Milkovich in any match, conference or otherwise, winning the NCAA title at 142 pounds, finishing with a perfect 23-0 record.
He thought his career was ended just shy of the Big Ten Championships his senior season, as on the eve of the opening day of action, Milkovich broke his collarbone at practice.
"The doctor's told me that my career was over at Michigan State and that I couldn't wrestle with a broken collarbone. I told them 'I'm going to go to the Big Ten championships and the national championships and I'm going to try to win a fourth Big Ten championship. So you tell me what I have to do to get this done.' I had to be taped from my elbow up to my shoulder against my rib cage. I couldn't lift my arm because of the broken collarbone, but I wrestled that way," Milkovich said.
He figured out how to not just wrestle that way, but successfully wrestle that way, as he won the Big Ten title and went on the NCAA Tournament, reaching the semifinals before losing.
"By the time I got to the national tournament I had no strength in my shoulder," Milkovich said. "It was my fault I lost in the semi-finals. I was winning the match, but I was in so much pain that I had just had enough of it. The kid put a move on me and I couldn't get out of it because I just didn't have the strength."
Milkovich ended his career with an overall ledger of 93-7-1 with 11 pins. He won two Big Ten championships at 134 pounds his first two years as a Spartan. Moving up to 142 pounds as a junior didn't phase him, as he also won the Big Ten title on the way to his national championship. He completed the four-peat in 1973 also at 142 pounds, earning the Big Ten Conference's Most Outstanding Wrestler award.
Spanning beyond the Big Ten Conference, Milkovich was a three-time All-American and was on the East-West Collegiate All-Star team twice. He led the Spartans to three Big Ten team championships from 1970-1972.
Success was part of his family's business. One of six children of Mike and Barbara Milkovich, Tom learned his wrestling ways from his father, who was head coach at Maple Heights High School. Mike Milkovich was not only a charter member of the Ohio Wrestling Hall of Fame, but was also one of the few high school coaches elected to the Helms National Wrestling Hall of Fame. He led Maple Heights to 16 undefeated seasons, with 10 state championships, nine state runner-up finishes and 37 individual state champions.
Along with the sport of wrestling, Tom Milkovich learned about life through wrestling.
"The sport inherently teaches you a lot about life because it's a lot of hard work and you realize that you get out of the sport what you put into it," Milkovich said. "Like my father always told me, 'if you put hard work into it, that's what you'll get out of it. It always comes back around and pays dividends. If you don't work hard, like anything else in life you shouldn't expect to get very far.' I still believe that's the biggest thing people can learn from wrestling."
After a well-decorated high school career, Milkovich came to Michigan State and his success blossomed. He was later joined by his younger brother, Pat, who would become a two-time NCAA champion and four-time NCAA finalist for the Spartans.
Among all of Tom Milkovich's honors and memories, his brother, Pat, is the main role in one of the biggest.
"I have a lot of favorite memories from my time at Michigan State, but my proudest moment was when my brother Pat and I went to the national tournament, and Pat won the national championship as a 17 year-old freshman. I was really proud of that because he didn't have any scholarship money and walked on after I introduced him to MSU," Tom Milkovich said.
Milkovich's individual and family success is something that he's certainly very proud of, but he also takes great pride in the performances that went on with everything.
"I tried my best to be a good example to my fellow teammates and fans at Michigan State. I conducted myself as hardworking and professional. More than anything, I had a great love of entertaining the people that came to watch me wrestle. It was important to me that people came into the gym to watch Michigan State wrestling. We put a good show on," Milkovich said.
He remembered many matches that there were so many fans there to see that "good show," that the fans and wrestlers were mixed together on the sidelines.
"When I wrestled there we had great fans and they packed the gymnasium for us which was what excited us, particularly me, the most," Milkovich said proudly. "I remember there were matches at the IM Center where it was so packed that people were sitting on the floor between our bench and the wrestling mat. We had to step over them to get to the mat. They were loving the action because they were right there, and we were wrestling Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Michigan. I felt like it was my obligation to give them the very best I had."
Another one of Milkovich's fondest memories is one of, if not the saddest of his time at Michigan State, but also one that perhaps taught him the most, affecting him for the rest of life.
Earning some recognition of one of the rewards of his "big man on campus" status, Milkovich was classmates with "one of the prettiest girls on campus." After two years of being so shy to say anything more than 'hello' or 'good luck on your test,' to, Milkovich was approached by this same girl at lunch one day and said that she had a friend on her floor that was very anxious to meet him. Well, after meeting her friend, Milkovich started dating the friend, Candice Mikula. A year-and-a-half later, Tom and Candice were 'going steady,' and 'in love.'
One late summer Sunday afternoon, Milkovich was on his way back home to East Lansing from working a wrestling camp in Ohio, and 35 miles from East Lansing, witnessed a car accident on a fairly deserted highway, seeing the car go through the guard-rail on a bridge and overturning into a creek bed. Milkovich stopped and tried to help, coming to the driver first, who was unresponsive and wasn't showing any signs of life. He went over to the passenger, who was badly bleeding and barely breathing from the horrible accident, completely unrecognizable. Milkovich and another passing motorist carried her back up to the side of the road and began CPR and waited for help to arrive. An ambulance later came and took over treatment of the passenger, but she passed away in the back of the ambulance. A short time later Milkovich learned that the unrecognizable passenger was none other than Candice, the love of his life.
Milkovich later received a phone call from Mrs. Mikula, thanking him for everything he did in taking care of her daughter in her last moments of life. Milkovich was heart-broken, stunned, devastated and in shock, full of thoughts and emotions. He wondered why God had put him there, on that very road, at that very moment, for that accident, and take care of this passenger that was so badly mangled that he didn't recognize as the girl that he had fallen in love with. Milkovich used that emotion as fuel for not just his wrestling career, but everyday life, knowing that any moment could be the last.
"You never know what kind of things are going to happen to you when you go to school, or in life, and you have to be able to deal with it," Milkovich said. "No matter who you are in this world, there's going to be times where things don't go your way. Your life isn't always going to go the way you dream it up and you're going to have to make an adjustment."
Throughout the road of his ups and downs, Milkovich has made adjustments and gained success from those adjustments, but not without a support system of his coaches and teammates.
"My coaches, Grady Peninger and Doug Blubaugh, were so inspirational and motivational to me. I learned so much about not just wrestling, but also life from them," Milkovich said. "I'm especially grateful to all of my teammates and especially my brother Pat because we worked hand in hand when I went to school there."
Milkovich also was thankful and is forever grateful to innumerable teammates, fellow student-athletes and friends, fondly including his roommates and close friends, in a sort of "who's who" of Michigan State athletics at that time.
"Brad Van Pelt, Joe DeLamielleure and John Shinsky were my long-time roommates, and they all inspired me to strive for greatness," Milkovich said. "I was also close friends with basketball players Gary Ganakas and Brian Breslin, and baseball player Steve Garvey, and they were all so great to be around and learn from. I also attribute part of my success to my close friend and training partner, Conrad Calendar, who I convinced to come to Michigan State after transferring from Kent State."
Milkovich took what he learned from his roommates and fellow student-athletes in other sports that when paired with his hard work led to a well-decorated wrestling career, as well as a successful career after wrestling.
He started coaching wrestling right after his own wrestling career came to a close, and like his father, Milkovich became a successful wrestling head coach, and has coached on some level every year since leaving MSU after graduating in in 1974 with a business degree.
Milkovich's coaching stops included Cleveland State, then Auburn, before temporarily retiring from collegiate head coaching, then later resuming it at the high school level in several high schools across Ohio, then back to the collegiate ranks, and is currently head coach at Walsh Jesuit High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He was a high school vocational education skills teacher, teaching at risk youth not just about school, but life after high school and beyond, retiring a few years ago.
Milkovich has left a lasting impression on former students and athletes that's he has coached and taught over time, passing along many of the messages he's learned from his father, continuing to get rewarded for all the hard work he's put in.
Mike Robinson
Basketball (1971-74)
Detroit, Michigan
Mike Robinson left Michigan State as one of the most prolific scorers in program history.
Robinson, who arrived at MSU two years before freshmen were allowed to play, carried the greatest scoring average in program history at 24.2 points per game in three seasons.
"My first reaction was shock, I was just shocked," Robinson said upon learning about his selection to the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. "I had to sit a while and absorb the thought. It means quite a bit to me. One of the things I thought about was Coach (Gus) Ganakas and the faith he had in me as far as my playing basketball."
Robinson, who grew up in the Brewster projects in Detroit and went to a smaller high school, Detroit Northeastern, came to Michigan State and faced some culture shock in being at a large, state school, but settled in East Lansing playing under Ganakas.
"He was very important to me," Robinson said of Ganakas. "He was a very compassionate person. He was a player's coach and was one you'd say, 'Let's win one for the Gipper.' You could see he cared and he had some intangibles that you can't explain. Caring went a long way with me."
To this day, Robinson still ranks 10th all-time in scoring at MSU with 1,717 points in 71 games between 1971-74. Robinson reached the 1,000-point mark for his career in his 41st game, the fastest of any player in program history. He scored 35 points or more four times and posted a career high of 40 against Northwestern in 1973.
But there were a trio of games he remembered distinctly, all coming in his first varsity season, 1971-72.
"There was a game against Indiana in Bobby Knight's first year," Robinson recalled. "We didn't have a lot of TV games at that time and I just remember thinking, 'Wow, you're really going to have to lace up your shoes and be ready.' That was one of the turning points of my career (Robinson scored 34 points in an 83-73 MSU win).
"My first varsity game against Missouri. It was a tough game. It was my first test. The defense was very tough and it was not easy to get around players and I scored 25 points.
"Another game that was pretty big was one at Kentucky early that year. I hadn't been that far South in my life and I had never seen so many cowboy hats in my life. It was pretty intimidating, back in the days when Adolph Rupp was still coaching. I scored about 32 points, 12 in the first half and 20 in the second, and we won that game down there (91-85)."
His career scoring average of 24.2 points per game is the all-time best, three points ahead of the program's all-time leading scorer, Shawn Respert, who averaged 21.2 points per game. Robinson is the only three-year player in the history of the program to rank among the top-20 scorers.
In 1971-72 as a sophomore, Robinson averaged 24.7 points per game, which still ranks as the eighth-best single season average in program history. One year later, in 1972-73, Robinson averaged 25.3 points per game, the sixth-best single-season at MSU and the record for a junior. As a senior in 1973-74, the 6-foot guard averaged 22.4 points per game.
"It's hard to imagine that I'm still up there," Robinson said. "There are so many great players who have come to Michigan State and now you have the three-point shot and it still baffles me that I'm up there on that list. I take a lot of pride in that. Consistency was very important to me."
He is one of three MSU players (along with teammate Terry Furlow and Jay Vincent) to lead the Big Ten in scoring twice and is one of just three Spartans (Johnny Green and Mateen Cleaves) to be named First Team All-Big Ten three times.
"That is huge," Robinson said when he heard his named mentioned with Green. "I remember watching Johnny Green when he was in the NBA. And then I came here to Michigan State and people said I was too small to play Big Ten ball. I prided myself on being in good shape and to hear my name with Johnny Green, well, I guess I did something."
Robinson was selected in the seventh round of the 1974 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He earned his bachelor's degree in recreation administration, a master's degree in intramural administration from MSU and a second master's in information systems from Walsh College.
Robinson retired in 2015 after a professional career that included working for Meijer in its distribution center, General Dynamics as a senior analyst of materials, for Coca-Cola as a warehouse supervisor, for Solomon Software as a programmer and for Consumers Energy as a software business analyst. He enjoys watching his son Mike, a rising senior at Huron High School, play basketball and continues to follow the Spartans.
"I still follow the team very closely and Tom (Izzo) has a reunion every year that I make sure to be there for," Robinson said. "We're a very close group and it's filled with a lot of class. No one is obsolete and no matter how long you've been away, you're still relevant."
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