Michigan State University Notable Alumni

Magic Johnson, the now retired American basketball player was one of the most powerful players of the 1980s and led NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers to five championships during his thirteen years career. His real name is Earvin Johnson and he earned his nickname Magic during his high school days. He retired after testing positive for HIV and currently heads Magic Johnson Enterprises.

Best known for playing the iconic character of Sonny Corleone in the movie, The Godfather, James Caan is a practising martial artist, apart from being an actor and director. He has trained under Japanese-American master of karate, Takayuki Kubota, for almost 30 years. For his contributions to arts, he was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Professional basketball player Draymond Green currently plays for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays primarily at the power forward position. A three-time NBA champion and a three-time NBA All-Star, he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2017. He identifies himself as a Christian and follows a modest lifestyle.

Robert Urich was an American actor whose contribution to the TV industry earned him a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; he was the only person on the walk with a name starting with the alphabet U until Usher was added. Apart from his contribution to the entertainment industry, Robert Urich also worked towards raising money for cancer research.

Chris Hansen is an American YouTube personality and television journalist known for his work on the popular news magazine/reality legal show, Dateline NBC. The winner of eight Emmy Awards, Hansen's work on one of Dateline NBC's former segments To Catch a Predator, which focused on zeroing in on potential Internet sex predators, received much appreciation.

While he experimented with gymnastics and long jump in school, Danish footballer Morten Andersen, also known as the Great Dane, began his stint with football playing for the New Orleans Saints. The seven-time Pro Bowl and the five-time First-team All-Pro retired from NFL after 25 seasons.

Former politician, Kwame Kilpatrick, served as the mayor of Detroit from 2002 to 2008. Previously, he had been a Democratic Michigan state representative. A controversial person, he was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2008 and had to step down as mayor. In 2013, he was again convicted of many federal felony counts.