Michigan State legend Lorenzo White voted into Michigan Sports Hall of Fame
One of the best athletes to ever don the Green and White will soon take his rightful place within the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.
Michigan State legend Lorenzo White, the most prolific tailback in program history, will be inducted into the hall of fame this September, alongside former MSU hockey goalie Ryan Miller and coach Rick Comley in the Class of 2023.
White, a two-time All-American for the Spartans, has already been enshrined in the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame and Rose Bowl Hall of Fame. He led Michigan State in rushing each of his four seasons (1984-87) in East Lansing, including a Big Ten record-setting sophomore season in 1985 in which White rushed for 2,066 yards. That remains the most single-season rushing yards by a Spartan in school history.
At the time, White was the only player in Big Ten history to eclipse the 2,000-yard mark in a single season. He finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting that season.
After an injury-plagued junior year, White rebounded as a senior to rush for 1,572 yards and 16 touchdowns while leading the Spartans to a Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl victory over Southern California. He once again finished fourth in the Heisman voting that season.
White is still MSU Football's record-holder for career rushing yards (4,887), career rushing touchdowns (43) and career rush attempts (1,082), a mark which set a Big Ten record at the time and is still the fourth-most in conference history. White's 419 carries in 1985 still stand as the most in a Big Ten single season.
While White's 2,066 rushing yards as a sophomore in 1985 remain the most in a single-season in program history, his 1,572 yards as a senior rank as the fifth-best mark behind Le'Veon Bell in 2012 (1,793), Javon Ringer in 2008 (1,673) and Kenneth Walker III in 2021 (1,636).
White's single-season touchdown marks of 17 in 1985 and 16 in 1987 rank tied for eighth and tenth, respectively, in MSU history. He also holds second- and third-most single game rushing yards in school history with 292 against Indiana in 1987 and 286 vs. the Hoosiers in 1985.
In addition to Michigan State representatives White, Miller and Comley, the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame class of 2023 also includes former Detroit Pistons standout Richard "Rip" Hamilton, former Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg, former Michigan softball player Sierra Romero, former Michigan football player LaMarr Woodley and hockey broadcaster Mike "Doc" Emrick. Other 2023 inductees will include Detroit native Dawn Riley, the most honored woman in the history of United State sailboat racing, and pioneer sports agent Colleen Howe — who represented her husband Gordie and her son Mark in their hockey and business interests.
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