Sam Vincent for Michigan State Hall of Fame Induction
9/10/2025 5:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Alongside four other standout student-athletes and one iconic coach, former Michigan State men's basketball All-American Sam Vincent has been selected for induction into the Michigan State Athletics Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Celebration will take place on Friday, Sept. 12. There will also be a special recognition of the 2025 MSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class during the Michigan State-Youngstown State football game at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13. The MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, located in the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center, opened on Oct. 1, 1999, and displays plaques of the 187 previous inductees. The charter class of 30 former Spartan student-athletes, coaches and administrators was inducted in 1992.Â
Sam Vincent
Men's Basketball (1981-85)
Lansing, Mich.
Sam Vincent didn't realize the impact basketball would have on him, and his life, when he first started playing the game.
As a youngster growing up in Lansing, and through high school at Lansing Eastern, to his days at Michigan State, where he became one of the top players in program history, to the NBA, where he won an NBA Championship with the Boston Celtics, and in the 40 ensuing years since he graduated and became a coach, the game has allowed him to impact lives around the world.
"When I first started playing, I didn't have big, big dreams in terms of global projects or reach, particularly with basketball," Vincent said over the phone from South Africa. "My goal was to follow in the footsteps of Jay (Vincent, his older brother) and Magic (Johnson), but as time evolved, and I got to college and reached the professional ranks, I think that's when an interest grew in trying to have a bigger impact on the game.
"I never would have thought that I'd reach multiple international countries and have the ability to teach and coach the game as I've had coming from Lansing. But it's been an incredible journey."
Vincent credits much of the success and opportunity he's had in his life and career to his time at Michigan State. That's why it meant so much when he learned that he was part of Michigan State's 2025 Athletics Hall of Fame class.
"It means everything, really, it does," Vincent said. "I think coming from Lansing, neighboring East Lansing, playing at (Lansing) Eastern and having always looked over to Michigan State as the ultimate destination and to be part of, and to make it there and to now be recognized as a Hall of Fame honoree, it's special. And to be one of the names in the 2025 Class, including Coach (Mark) Dantonio who signifies everything you to want to be connected to as a coach and a person, it's just such an honor to be in the Hall of Fame and associated with this class."
Vincent graduated from Michigan State in 1985, and 40 years later, he still stands among the top 10 all-time in scoring, currently No. 8 all-time with 1,851 points.
He came to Michigan State as a freshman in 1981-82 just after his older brother Jay, who ranks No. 7 all-time in scoring, graduated. Following in his brother's footsteps was part of it, but he also grew up with the Spartans.
"I think that was a big part of it, but even before Jay came, there was Kirk (Gibson), there were football legends that I remember either watching on TV or supporting," Vincent said. "There was Terry Furlow and Bob Chapman. There were guys I connected with. But when Jay and Magic came along, it became more of a reality that I could come to Michigan State."
Playing alongside one of the all-time leading scorers in Michigan State history, Scott Skiles, who ranks No. 3 all-time, Vincent paved his path. He started 27 of 28 games as a freshman, averaging 11.7 points. As a sophomore, he led the team in scoring with 16.6 points and was an All-Big Ten Second Team selection.
That was the first of three-straight years leading MSU in scoring. He averaged 15.6 points in 1983-84 to earn All-Big Ten Third Team honors. And as a senior in 1984-85, Vincent averaged 23.0 points to help lead the team to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since the Spartans won the national championship in 1979, earning first team all-conference recognition.
Vincent was named an All-American that year, earning first team honors from the Sporting News, second team accolades from Basketball Times and the National Association of Basketball Coaches and third team recognition from the Associated Press and United Press International. He joined his brother Jay (1981) as the only Spartan brothers to earn All-America honors and led the Big Ten in scoring with 23.7 points, one of eight Big Ten scoring champions all-time at MSU, the year before the 3-point shot became a permanent part of college basketball.
"I remember a lot about that senior year," Vincent said. "I felt like it was my best individual year, but there was so much more I wanted to accomplish for the team. It meant a lot (to make the NCAA Tournament) because the previous years, we hadn't had that success.
"I kind of looked at it like, we reopened that door and then the next year, they went further. There was a lapse there from the championship years to get back there, and it felt really good to bridge that gap and participate in it. I just wish we could have gone further."
Vincent finished his career at MSU ranked third all-time in scoring (now eighth), averaging 16.8 points, while shooting 52.9 percent from the floor and starting 109 of 110 games played. His career did not have the NCAA Tournament legacy he desired, but in his one appearance, against Alabama-Birmingham in 1985, he scored a game-high 32 points in 39 minutes.
Following his graduation from MSU, Vincent was the 20th pick in the first round of the 1985 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics. He spent two years in Boston, winning an NBA Championship in 1985 with one of the greatest teams in league history, and played seven total seasons, including stints with the Seattle Supersonics, the Chicago Bulls and the Orlando Magic.
Following one year playing in Greece in 1993-94, Vincent's global impact truly started. Internationally, he has coached teams in Greece, the Netherlands, Bahrain and South Africa, Nigeria. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, he led the Nigerian women's basketball team to the first-ever victory by an African nation.
Closer to home, Vincent coached for two seasons in the NBA, first as an assistant for the Dallas Mavericks in 2006-07, before being named head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats, where he worked for one year in 2007-08. He also had coaching stops with teams in the NBA G League (also known as the National Basketball Development League and the NBA D-League).
In 2022, he become the head coach at Beacon College in Florida, a liberal arts school that specifically serves students with learning differences, before returning to Africa in 2025 as a head coach in the Basketball Africa League.