Tom Izzo delivers somber goodbye to 'Tum Tum' Nairn, Gavin Schilling after upset loss
Cody Tucker
DETROIT — Lourawls Nairn Jr. sat attentively in his locker stall Sunday afternoon, eagerly addressing every postgame inquiry from reporters.
With dozens of cameras and microphones pointed in his face, the Michigan State senior known as “Tum Tum” even flashed his trademark smile once or twice. Then, he thanked the media throng inside the cramped and somber dressing room and awaited the next round of questioning.
He didn’t look like a man who played just two minutes in his final college basketball game.
A few lockers over, Gavin Schilling stared at the ground, answering questions in a monotone voice, stopping only to sniffle and wipe his eyes with the top of his white Spartans’ jersey. Even after a mandated 10-minute cooling-off period, only short answers came easy. Explanations didn’t.
Schilling had the look of a man who played zero minutes in his last game.
MSU head coach Tom Izzo spoke from the heart during his postgame press conference. He discussed his team’s poor shooting performance, which aided in the 55-53 upset loss to 11th-seeded Syracuse. He apologized to his fan base, which filled most of Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena with green over the weekend.
Then, he talked about two of his seniors.
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Pausing for extended stretches to collect his thoughts and fight back tears, the Hall of Fame coach praised Nairn and Schilling. He also expressed remorse in his reflection.
These two played for Izzo’s 2015 Final Four team. Nairn, a freshman then, and Schilling started that semifinal game in Indy.
Sunday, the Spartans were officially eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. For Nairn and Schilling, it’s the end of the road.
“I felt sad that I didn’t get — I didn’t get Schilling in,” an emotional Izzo said from the podium. “I didn’t get Tum many minutes. It was just the game. I talked to him about it before. It was just the situation.”
Schilling said he was healthy. He could’ve contributed but wouldn’t venture a guess at why he never left the MSU bench. He was a different type of hurt. His red, watery eyes proved that.
“My role? I don’t know, ask coach,” he responded when asked why he didn’t play. “I’m not sure why. I guess he felt like … I don’t know. I don’t know. It sucks. For me not to play in my last game of my career, it sucks.”
Visibly emotional and in the moment, the 6-foot-9 forward from Chicago said he wanted to digest what had just transpired. When asked to reflect, Schilling offered up what he could.
“It’s tough. Like I said, I didn’t see this ending this way,” he said, referring to fellow seniors Ben Carter and Nairn. “It’s tough for me. It’s tough for all of us. This is our last college game. We had goals set for each other. Unfortunately, we didn’t accomplish those goals.”
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Nairn’s stat line was filled with zeros Sunday afternoon in Detroit. He didn’t record an assist, a rebound or even a shot, but he was arguably the most important player on the Spartans’ roster.
Miles Bridges, the sophomore standout from Flint, passed up millions of dollars in last season’s NBA Draft to stay at MSU. He was chasing a championship, but he also admits that he wanted one more go of it with Nairn.
Bridges loves the point guard.
His coach does, too.
Izzo often dishes credit to Nairn, because on most nights throughout his career, his stats haven’t been the most important element of his game. The public isn’t always privy to Nairn’s many intangibles.
Sunday evening, Izzo spread the gospel of Tum one last time.
“That kid has meant the world to our program, our community, our team, and … me,” a teary-eyed Izzo said, voice cracking. “I don’t know if there is another Tum out there … He has been rock solid through a lot of things this year, and I love him for that.
“… Tum’s not God, but he’s right there.”
After the final buzzer, the Spartans slowly made their way off the playing surface as the Syracuse band blared and the guys in orange celebrated in the background.
Some consoled, others stared blankly into the crowd. Freshman Jaren Jackson Jr. covered his mouth, a look of shock across his face. Carter peered up toward the sky, looking for answers.
When the team arrived to the locker room, Nairn, its unquestioned leader, stepped up and added perspective to the situation. He, like his coach, spoke from the heart. He always does.
“It’s part of life,” he told his teammates. “Basketball is what we play, so it hurts. It sucks when you lose a game and you don’t have any more, but nobody on our team is battling cancer. Nobody’s fighting for their life. I’m not trying to say losing doesn’t hurt, but there is so much pain going on outside of this game of basketball that people are facing — kids not eating, homeless people, people that are fighting disease. Nobody on this team is in that position."
Izzo said he is taking Nairn’s advice — not hanging his head, but being proud of the accomplishments this team did achieve.
But that doesn’t make it any easier. Especially when you have to say goodbye.
“I did look everybody in the eye and say I love every one of these kids, and that’s coach speak,” Izzo said. “I don’t give coach speak very often, I give heart speak.
“And from the bottom of my heart, that’s the way I feel about them.”
Contact Cody Tucker at (517) 377-1070 or cjtucker@lsj.com and follow him on Twitter @CodyTucker_LSJ.