Gehrig Normand redshirted in his first season with Michigan State basketball but he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
The Michigan State basketball season came to an abrupt end on Saturday as the Spartans lost to North Carolina 85-69 in the NCAA Tournament. Now that the season is over, it’s time to look back and reflect on the season MSU had. That includes the coaching staff and players, who all will reflect on the season they just had as well. One person you might not expect to hear much from is redshirt freshman Gehrig Normand. He did not play for the Spartans this season as he decided to redshirt.
However, that didn’t stop him from provided an interesting perspective on the season that just occurred.
Gehrig Normand doesn’t regret this season
I have to imagine that redshirting for a season is very difficult to do, especially someone with Gehrig’s abilities. His whole life growing up he likely was a star on whatever team he played for, then the second he gets to college he has to sit out for an entire season. Sure he still gets to practice with the team, but not being able to play in games had to feel weird to him.
Normand has no regrets on his decision to redshirt, however, and come to Michigan State in the first place. Gehrig recently said, “If I would’ve went somewhere else and started and played the whole time, wouldn’t have cared. I’d rather do this and hang out with a bunch of my buddies, my best friends.”
Out of high school, Normand was a four-star prospect and the No. 124 player in the country. So he could’ve gone to almost any school and could’ve been a day one starter at some schools as well. He still chose to come to MSU where he probably already knew he might redshirt.
Relationships matter the most
But it was the relationships he formed that made coming to Michigan State all worth it. This freshman class was an extremely tight unit from the second they came to campus. After all four members committed to the program, they regularly were seen in group FaceTimes and chatting with each other on a regular basis.
It’s not very often you see this from teammates before they even play together, but you can tell they all became best friends early on.
Thats what makes the entire last year worth it for him. Now he, and Spartan fans, can look forward to seeing him in the court next year. Gehrig is an elite shooter who is deadly from well beyond the 3-point line. I doubt he’ll be a starter next year, but he will no doubt get significant playing time.
Normand also is someone I can see taking on a leadership role for this team. Relationships with his teammates obviously matters a lot to him, so I see him being someone that can push and motivate everyone else on the team.
I’m very excited to see him on the court next year. Not only for what he can bring to the team, but also because of his attitude. I think Normand has a chance to go down as one of the all-time favorite Spartans for fans, simply because of his positive and infectious personality.
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