Warriors' Draymond Green to Have No. 23 Michigan State Jersey Retired

Michigan State is retiring Draymond Green's No. 23 jersey on Dec. 3, when the Spartans host No. 4 Duke.

Prior to winning three NBA titles and becoming a three-time All-Star with the Golden State Warriors, Green was the 2012 Big Ten Player of the Year as Michigan State reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Green didn't get off to a great start in East Lansing. Bruce Simmons, who was one of his assistant coaches in high school, told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne he had vented about possibly transferring from the school as a freshman:

"His freshman year at Michigan State, he got one minute against Ohio State. He called and said, 'Coach Bruce, I'm going to transfer. F--k this s--t.' And I said, 'Noooo. We don't do that. This is what you're going to do. You're going to go into practice. [Senior] Marquise Gray is getting your minutes. Bust his ass. Talk s--t to him. And then when you're doing that, look at Izzo, because Izzo is putting this [guy] on the court instead of you.'"

Green obviously stayed and steadily improved across each year with the Spartans. He went from averaging 11.4 minutes as a freshman to winning the Big Ten's Sixth Man of the Year award as a sophomore in 2009-10. In his junior year, he became a regular member of the starting rotation.

By the time he left, he was 18th all time at Michigan State in scoring (1,517 points) and first in rebounds (1,096).

Green's legacy has lasted well beyond his on-court career, too. A few months after signing a five-year, $82 million contract with the Warriors, he donated $3.1 million to Michigan State athletics in September 2015.

Green will be the 10th player to have his jersey officially retired by the school. The other nine are: Scott Skiles, Mateen Cleaves, Steve Smith, Johnny Green, Shawn Respert, Jay Vincent, Gregory Kelser, Magic Johnson and Morris Peterson.