Tigers Star Tarik Skubal Sends MSU's Carson Cooper Special Gift
Detroit Tigers star pitcher and reigning American league Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal has made it clear he is a fan of Michigan State basketball.
That was recently made even more evident when Skubal sent Spartan senior center Carson Cooper an autographed jersey. Cooper posted a picture of the gift on his Instagram story.
Tarik Skubal sent Carson Cooper a signed jersey (via his instagram story.)🔥
— Michigan State Content (@msucontent) June 22, 2025
To: Carson
“Go Green!”
How could someone not like this guy⁉️ pic.twitter.com/14N2xCvNk4
Skubal attended Michigan State's home game against Illinois last season, a Sunday afternoon showdown between the No. 12 Spartans and No. 19 Fighting Illini. Michigan State narrowly came away victorious, 80-78.
"It was pretty neat" Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said after the hard-fought contest. "I don't know how we got in contact. He (Skubal) wanted to come up for a game, and he was a great guy. I mean, a great, great guy. The players met him before the game, and then he was in the locker room after, and I just said, 'A little different than baseball, huh?' The little place was rocking, and there's 5 seconds left, and he was great. I thought he jumped right in with everybody else.
"He walks in my office wearing Mateen's (Cleaves) jersey, just kind of cool. He played in college at Seattle. But he said, not the same, and I think he really enjoyed that. Ironically, I think the Cy Young thing is in New York next weekend, and we go to New York.
"So, I told him, skip out of there a little early, come on back, bring us some good luck. But that was great having him there. I appreciate it, Mateen appreciated it, and our great fans do. That's some of the neat things that get to happen to you and you have some success. We got to see a Cy Young winner in our building. It was pretty cool."
That Sunday afternoon consisted of a packed Breslin crowd that was there to see -- at the time -- arguably the two best teams in the conference. It had been the first ranked opponent the Spartans saw since they defeated North Carolina in overtime in the Maui Invitational.
Skubal is once again having a stellar season. His 2.06 ERA and 117 strikeouts each rank fourth in the MLB.
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