In addition, two of the Little Rock Nine attended Michigan State, including Ernest Green, the first black student to graduate from Little Rock Central High School, and Carlotta Walls LaNier. The university awarded an honorary degree to Robert Mugabe in 1990, but revoked it in 2008.
Spartans have made their mark in all major American sports. MSU alumni formerly or currently in the NBA include point guard and three-time MVP Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Greg Kelser, Jay Vincent, Steve Smith, Scott Skiles, Jason Richardson, and Zach Randolph.
In the National Football League, MSU alumni include Carl Banks, who was a member of the Giants teams that won Super Bowls XXI and XXV and a member of the NFL's 1980's All-Decade Team; twenty-one year veteran quarterback Earl Morrall, defensive end and actor Bubba Smith, former Detroit Lions head coach Wayne Fontes, NFL games-played leader Morten Andersen, Plaxico Burress, Andre Rison, Derrick Mason, Muhsin Muhammad, T. J. Duckett, Flozell Adams, Julian Peterson, Charles Rogers, …
