Tum Tum Narin Jr. makes Olympic history with Michigan transfer

The rise of former Michigan State basketball star Lourawls “Tum Tum” Narin Jr. since graduating from Michigan State in 2017 has been nothing short of astonishing.

After graduating from Michigan State, he returned to East Lansing as an assistant in 2019 before becoming the head coach for the first time at his alma mater, Sunrise Christian Academy. From there, he became an assistant coach at Southern Utah in 2022 before taking the same position at Bowling Green in 2023. Now, in 2024, Tum Tum has been promoted and is the associate head coach at Bowling Green.

This is one of the fastest rises up the coaching hierarchy you’ll see, but that shouldn’t come as a surprise to any Spartan fan. Despite all this coaching, however, Tum Tum has found a way to continue playing for the Bahamas national team.

And he is making history by doing something that is a first in the history of Olympic basketball.

Tum Tum and the Bahamas won their Olympic qualifying tournament 2-0 and need two more wins to qualify for this summer’s games. Tum Tum’s next game against Lebanon will see history made by a current coach and one of his players facing off against each other for the first time in Olympic basketball history.

Youssef Khayat is a member of Team Lebanon and spent his last college season at Michigan before transferring to Bowling Green, where Tum Tum is the assistant head coach.

No other coach and player have ever competed against each other in Olympic basketball history. And honestly, how cool is it for them to be able to do this on such a big stage?

Tum Tum has averaged 2.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and an assist per game in 12.5 minutes per game in this tournament. The team from the Bahamas is actually quite talented, having NBA elite players Buddy Hield, Eric Gordon and Deandre Ayton on their roster.

The Bahamas and Lebanon will face off at 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday for a place in the final. The winner will face the winner of Spain vs. Finland for a spot in the Summer Olympics.