ORLANDO - Probably the first athlete you think of associated with Michigan State University is Magic Johnson, a five-time NBA champion, 12-time All-Star and three-time league MVP. But Johnson isn’t the only former Spartan to have NBA success, albeit with far fewer accolades and notoriety.
It’s somewhat of a subjective topic, but arguably no school has produced more “overachievers” in NBA history than Michigan State. “Overachievers” in this context represents players that exceeded external expectations during their NBA careers. Usually, the draft slot players are selected at determines the expectations others have of them.
Going all the way back to Ralph Simpson, the 11th pick in the 1972 NBA Draft who made five All-Star appearances in the ABA, there have been several former Spartans outperform those peripheral expectations.